Indeed, An Almost Entirely Bootstrapped Job Search Giant, Gets A Monster Exit
Published in 2012, this chronicle by @nabraham 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 ★ 83 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 23 comments
Since when does taking $5M in VC mean bootstrapped? Well, judging from the comments, it seems that many perceive bootstrapping only applies to the early stages of the company. But I find that hard to stomach as someone who is also bootstrapping a company. When you bootstrap, you use your own revenues to finance growth. Getting investors is an alternative to that strategy. I don't see how you can both bootstrap AND have investors.
Looking at it differently, maybe they didn't need the capital, but they took it. You don't just accidentally get $5M from Union Square... term sheets happen. Lawyers are involved. Cap tables are adjusted. That doesn't happen when you bootstrap. It happens when you use other people's money to finance growth. AKA not bootstrapping.
That being said, it seems they did this particularly intelligently and Union Square was a fabulous choice for everyone involved.
Having used Indeed during tough times I am happy for their success. It's a great search engine and without it I'm certain that my job-searching productivity would not have been as high as it was back when I was looking - which is crucial when trying to pump out as many (good quality) applications as you can to increase your chances of an interview.
I love their product and it's still the first site I visit when I'm curious about what's available in different areas. Congrats to the team!
Indeed is one of my business' main revenue streams, so I was relieved to see that they'll be kept as a wholly owned subsidiary. The rumor last night was that LinkedIn was going to buy Indeed, and that scared the crap out of me.
Bootstrapping (adj): a self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help.
Not bootstrapping: $5M in VC.
There is no "partially bootstrapped," you either are or aren't. Can somebody update the headline?
This is some really sloppy headline-writing right here. Not only is the company not bootstrapped, but in the context of job search, it seems to imply that Monster (the job listing website) was a party to the deal.