The Startup Velocity Question: What Hinders Acceleration in VC Funded Companies?

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.

Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.

Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis. 

1Mby1M Udemy Courses with Sramana Mitra: Bootstrapping

Over the course of two years, we have released over 70 courses on Udemy with the aim to democratize entrepreneurship education at scale globally. This series of posts aims to help you find the one you need easily and provide you with discount coupons.

Bootstrapping from Australia: Emagine CEO Dave Peters (Part 1)

Dave Peters has managed to bootstrap a significant software company from Australia. The focus is on TELCO churn management, and the customer base is primarily Australian, Asian, and African. Read this interview to learn more of the nuances.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Dave Peters: I’m Australian. I grew up in a little town of 8,000 people, about five hours west of Sydney. It was a farming community and my father was an Anglican minister. That’s a pretty unlikely starting point for an entrepreneur.

Sramana Mitra: Where did you do your schooling?
>>>

Featured Videos

Bootstrapping to $200 Million: Jorn Lyseggen, CEO of Meltwater (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.

Jorn started Meltwater in Norway and has scaled the company organically to $200 million. Fascinating journey!

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of circumstances?

Jorn Lyseggen: I was actually born in Korea. I came to Norway as a very small child. I was three years old. I actually grew up in a little farm in the middle of a deep, dark forest in Norway. You drive for hours into the deep, dark forest and then suddenly, there’s a small opening. Then, you come to a little village with 168 families. One of those families is mine.

Sramana Mitra: That’s charming.
>>>

Bootstrapping from London to $10 Million: Alexandre Wentzo, CEO of Casewise (Part 1)

Alex tells the story of a bootstrapped company from London that has gone all the way to $10 million in just over 10 years and is now looking to scale further, perhaps with outside capital.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Tell us where you’re from, where you were born, raised, and in what kind of background.

Alexandre Wentzo: I was born outside of Paris in a little suburb. I come from a low social background. I would say that when I was around 13 years old, I started to set up my business. I used to check out every shop around my place. I started to offer brochures and create any marketing collaterals they needed and offered the complete package, from the design to the printing.

Sramana Mitra: Where was this? >>>

Bootstrapping Lessons: FairWarning CEO Kurt Long (Part 1)

Kurt has tried different permutations and combinations of bootstrapping, several of them successfully. Listen to his perspective on each of those.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Kurt Long: I was raised in Clearwater, Florida. I grew up in Florida at a very special time where we enjoyed being outside and in the waters. As I grew up, I watched the Apollo missions and other NASA-based missions take off from the Kennedy Space Center, which is on the other coast but you could still see the launches. From a very early age, those made an impression on me that I wanted to participate in innovation and exploration. That’s something that has stayed with me through my whole career. As I went through high school and college, I held on to the dream and even wrote letters to Kennedy Space Center to ask about the Space Center and how it worked. >>>

Concept Financing from Andreessen Horowitz: Andrew Rubin, CEO of Illumio (Part 1)

Concept financings are extremely rare in the industry these days, but here is a story of an entrepreneur who did raise $8 million on a concept from Andreessen Horowitz.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Andrew Rubin: I was born in Brooklyn, New York back in 1976. Most people hear New York City and they think of Manhattan right away, but Brooklyn is right next to Manhattan. That’s where my life began. I was born and raised in New York. I’ve lived in New York all the way up until I left at the end of high school. That’s where my journey begins.

Sramana Mitra: After high school, where did you go? Where did you do your college? >>>

A Serial Entrepreneur’s Process: Todd Dunlop, CEO of RingPartner (Part 1)

Most serial entrepreneurs have figured out certain unique ways in which they operate. In this story, we get to learn about Todd’s process.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Todd Dunlop: I was born in Montreal but I grew up in the suburbs just outside of Toronto. I have grown my entrepreneurial journey from my lawn maintenance business back when I was a kid and evolved that to where I now live which is on the most western part of Canada.

Sramana Mitra: Where did you do all your schooling? >>>

Bootstrapping a Virtualization Services Company: Chris Grandi, CEO of Abacus Group (Part 1)

Chris had significant domain knowledge in the hedge fund industry. He has self-financed a successful company offering to secure virtualization services to the segment with high service levels.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Chris Grandi: I was born and raised on the East Coast outside of Washington DC, and I grew up in suburban Maryland. For university, I went to the West Coast and attended UCLA. I then continued on to graduate work. I got my MBA from Harvard Business School. I moved out to San Francisco, California where I’ve been for approximately 20 years. >>>

Building a Unicorn from Prague: Avast CEO Vince Steckler (Part 1)

Vince has built a $300 million a year security software company out of Prague, with a global customer base. Fantastic story, a must read!

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Vince Steckler: I’m originally from LA but I don’t remember much of it. We left when I was two. I grew up in Orange County in a place that we lovingly call Garbage Grove. Its official name was Garden Grove. I was always a geek. I studied Mathematics and Computer Science in school. I finished two Bachelor’s in four years.

Sramana Mitra: Where was that?

Vince Steckler: University of California – Irvine. This was back in the late 70s. I graduated in 1980. I kicked around as a programmer for many years. I worked on, strangely enough, nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons safety. I eventually moved back to the East Coast, working >>>

Bootstrapping a Virtual Company to Scale: Taso Du Val, CEO of Toptal (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.

There’s a lot of controversy around whether virtual teams scale. Taso Du Val has scaled a sizeable business using a virtual team. Read on to learn more.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your personal entrepreneurial journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background?

Taso Du Val: I grew up in Massachusetts and Westchester, New York. I’m a high school dropout who started Toptal at the age of 25.

Sramana Mitra: What was going on in your life around 25 that led you to start Toptal? >>>

Building an AI-Driven Sales Optimization Company: Vincent Yang, CEO of EverString (Part 1)

I did a company in the sales lead generation and qualification space using Artificial Intelligence back in 1998. We were very, very early. It’s exciting to see the movements in the space, and how EverString is succeeding almost 20 years later.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with the very beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where were your born, raised, and in what kind of circumstances?

Vincent Yang: I was originally born and raised in China. I was born in Shanghai. I went to college in China. When I was studying in high school, I was very interested in mathematics. I was one of the few students in high school who didn’t go to any class for help in mathematics and computer science. Obviously, right after high school, I selected mathematics as my undergraduate. I went to one of the top universities in China and studied mathematics.

Sramana Mitra: What year did you finish university? >>>