Bootstrapping / startup-life-hacks we’ve learned (so far)
Published in 2011, this chronicle by @turoczy details the mechanics of building a profitable, self-funded business without venture backing.
Core Principles for Independent Builders:
Charging customers from day one acts as the ultimate filter for building software that solves genuine, high-urgency problems.
Keeping fixed overhead low and leveraging lean infrastructure allows founders to stay alive until market tailwinds kick in.
Small, repetitive improvements in customer retention and conversion rates yield massive returns over multi-year horizons.
Community Debate Themes:
The community focused on B2B customer acquisition channels, cold email vs SEO distribution, and balancing full-time employment with side-project development.
CATEGORY Bootstrapping & MRR →
HISTORICAL ERA Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013)
COMMUNITY SCORE ★ 90 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 28 comments
Just for the authors' edification, Scriptlance is very "meh." I found the providers to usually be at least a tier below Elance, oDesk etc in terms of quality. $5 dollar-esque bids are the norm, which usually translates into that level of quality when it comes to code, imagery etc. But as with any freelance site, it's about the providers first & foremost. Pay close attention to the portfolios & ask detailed, focused questions before beginning any job.
Also watch out for North American middlemen that go out and farm your projects out to programmers in India, Bangladesh etc whose quality (or lack of quality) you may have no awareness of. Not that I haven't been burned in the past or anything...
A Rogers bill! You're missing out... Teksavvy is a rogers reseller that is cheaper with no caps... since you're in the GTA you may be able to save a couple bucks through them!
Good tips - I find that the heat of all the PCs/equipment isn't that bad, but why not opt for somewhere all-inclusive (a ton of condo's have this, since it seems you're in a condo building)
The ping pong desk is a cool idea, I'd want to make mandatory chill out times though where say every thursday at 5pm you have a ping pong tourney or something.
A solid alternative to working from an apartment is to find coworking spaces in your city. In Atlanta, myself and my cofounder work out of a place that has plenty of space, tables, printers, etc. and only costs $80/month/person. Also a great networking tool, as you meet other bootstrapping entrepreneurs!
Additionally, if your city has an entrepeneurship society or network of any kind, go for the food if nothing else - aside from meeting other entrepreneurship-minded people, nothing better than a free meal.
If the original title begins with a number or number + gratuitous adjective, we'd appreciate it if you'd crop it. E.g. translate "10 Ways To Do X" to "How To Do X," and "14 Amazing Ys" to "Ys." Exception: when the number is meaningful, e.g. "The 5 Platonic Solids."
— http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
The bag of rice propping the door open brought a smile to my face. I can just imagine someone needing to cook some rice then realizing the quantity needed may tip the balance in favor of the door. A second of hesitation before the aha moment and finding a new door prop...till the next day when someone goes "Where the hell is the rice?"
ya.....I need to get back to work!