How I Quit My Job and Bootstrapped My Startup with Tutorspree
Published in 2012, this chronicle by @zds 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 ★ 65 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 8 comments
Almost two years ago, we started recruiting hackers as tutors by saying that they could bootstrap their startups by doing so (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2236188). It took us a little while to get there, but it is so awesome to see that it actually worked.
There was a lot of high fiving in the office when John told us what he was doing and how.
And, incidentally, we're still looking for more programming tutors, it's one of our most popular categories - everyone from 11 year olds to professionals looking to switch careers are asking for it: http://www.tutorspree.com/update-profile/new
“We are working with Tutorspree to market our weekend development workshops. These workshops give absolute beginners the ability to create an Instagram-like app by the end of the second day: hands on, project focused learning. Maximum 12 students, 2 teachers, 1 assistant”. If you’re interested in the workshop, drop us a line at workshops@tutorspree.com."
Call me a cynic, but it's one thing to argue from a technical skills background, but there's no way anyone could bootstrap 'an instagram'.
This is really cool. I'm currently bootstrapping my own startup and have tried to find tutoring work on the side to boost my income. It's been tough to find clients though, and navigating Craigslist and Kijiji is a pain.
How do you intend to promote Tutorspree in other cities. I'm guessing it is biggest in NYC right now?
I've been meaning to do some iOS tutoring for a while now, but unfortunately the site I was planning to use, TutorCloud, shut down recently. Is Tutorspree the best alternative? Does anyone have additional recommendations?