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.

Solo Entrepreneur to $10M+ Niche E-commerce Success: DoggieLawn Founder Natalie Youn (Part 1)

Natalie has done a superb job of positioning a niche product and building a great business starting solo.

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

Featured Videos

From Developer to Entrepreneur: A Guide to Bootstrapping and Startup Creation

Millions of developers sit at their computers daydreaming about running their own company and making a difference in the world. They may even have fantastic ideas, but because they know nothing about business creation, they do not know how to turn ideas into a real company. 

The developer-to-entrepreneur way is not an easy one, but it can be done. It has been done repeatedly. At 1Mby1M, we specialize in helping developers make this transition effectively and successfully. 

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Bootstrapping to $3M a month: Prequel CEO Timur Khabirov (Part 1)

Timur has bootstrapped a digital app to $3M a month. Read on to learn how.

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

Building a Robotics Company from India: Ritukar Vijay CEO of Ottonomy (Part 1)

This is a very interesting story of bringing really complex technology from India to the global market with a complex sales cycle.

The long term potential is huge. The short term complexity of the business is equally huge. The founding team is doing an admirable job navigating the opportunity with commitment and resolve.

Rapid Growth and $58 Million in Financing with a Virtual Company: Storyblok CEO Dominik Angerer (Part 1)

Dominik has built a 230-people virtual company and raised $58 million in Financing. But first, he and his Brazilian co-founder bootstrapped to $1M ARR before raising a penny! Clever SEO strategy was at the heart of the first success. Read on for more!

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to you as well as to Storyblok.

Solo Entrepreneur Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture to $12 Million: Sawyer Twain CEO Chris Turner (Part 1)

It is very difficult to find gaps in e-commerce these days. Chris found one and executed the hell out of it.

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

Chris Turner: I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. I graduated from Arizona State University back in 2004.

Building a PropTech Venture with a Virtual Team: Discount Lots President Paul Hersko (Part 1)

Paul and his co-founder have built a capital-efficient PropTech venture using primarily a virtual team. It’s an interesting niche that is largely underserved.

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

From Developer to Cyber Security Entrepreneur with $10M Revenue and $18M Funding: LoginRadius CEO Deepak Gupta (Part 1)

Deepak tells a textbook story of a developer turned entrepreneur. He and his cofounder started by bootstrapping with a paycheck, validated the hypothesis, and then quit their jobs. We love stories like this, as you know.

Sramana Mitra: Tell me where you’re from, born, raised. What kind of background?

Bootstrapping Using Services to $35M from Ireland, Then Raising $70M: Teamwork CEO Peter Coppinger (Part 1)

Peter has led a terrific vertical cloud business from Ireland and now runs a global SaaS company that is kicking ass.

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

Building a Public FinTech Company From Scratch: OppFi CEO Todd Schwartz (Part 1)

Todd has built a public FinTech business with $7M of family money and another $8M of debt. OppFi went public in 2021. Impressive, capital-efficient, fundamentals-oriented journey.

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

Todd Schwartz: I was raised in the suburbs of Chicago. I lived there most of my life. I went through the Northbrook Illinois school system. I enjoyed my childhood there.