This document provides advice and strategies for bootstrapping a startup with little initial capital. It discusses leveraging personal finances, selling services on the side, keeping overhead low, tapping relationships for discounted services, using interns and contractors to reduce costs, focusing on sales, and seeking government grants and crowdfunding as sources of early funding. While start-up capital is not the strongest predictor of success, companies with more seed money are able to grow larger by employing more people and generating more revenue. The document recommends bootstrapping forces entrepreneurs to prioritize and make the most of their resources to build a business.

3. So
you’ve
got
a
great
(validated!)
idea,
tested
your
business
model,
and
you’re
ready
to
launch
your
new
startup…

4. Now
you
need
money
(and
lots
of
it)!

5. Bootstrappers’
Hall
of
Fame

7. • Starting a business with little capital or formal investment"
"
• Using your own finances (savings, credit card, loans) or
‘friends, family and fools’"
"
• Selling your time/expertise on the side (consulting)"
"
• Selling an early product to fund company development"
"
• Leveraging other sources of funding (government grants,
crowdfunding)"
"
"

8. • Bootstrapping is the only option for companies that won’t
grow quickly or provide a significant ROI to investors"
"
• Even companies who will get investment later may need to
reach certain milestones/levels of traction on their own first"
"
• Some entrepreneurs choose to bootstrap to maintain
control/full ownership over their company"
• Forces you to focus on priorities and leverage what you
have (time, expertise, money)"
"
"

9. Start-up capital is NOT the leading predictor of success: "
"
• Companies started with <$1000 as likely to be profitable as those
starting with >$100K"
"
• Companies launched with <$10K achieved almost as rapid a
median growth rate as those that were loaded with start-up
capital before company’s first sale"
But size affected: "
"
• Companies with >$100K seed capital employed on average 150
people and had $21M in revenue; <$1000 seed capital had 56
employees and $13M sales"

10. • Keep overhead low!
• Share office space or work from home"
• Use QuickBooks, Wordpress. etc. and other affordable technology solutions"
• Low fixed costs; keep costs variable"
"
• Leverage relationships!
• Tap network for discounted services/deferred fees"
• Use advisors and mentors"
• Find employees who will share the risk (and upside)"
• Leverage suppliers to only get paid when you make money"
• Paid product development: customer that needs your solution badly"
"
• Do-it-yourself marketing and hiring!
• Use interns and contractors to keep costs flexible"
• Pay commission-only for sales people"
"
• Money management!
• Line up credit before you quit your job"
• Look for service opportunities related to your business"
• Focus on sales not just product development"
"
• Pick the right business (short selling cycles, recurring revenue)"
"

11. A search tool on the MaRSDD website to help entrepreneurs
connect to more than $30 billion in 4,500 government funding programs
• $26B in grants and $4B in tax credits. "
• Average grant size among the top 500 recipients is about $1.8M. "
• About 1.5% of grants are over $10M"
• 76% of grants are paid to companies and about 95% of these are paid
to SMEs"
• 28% of recipients are based in Ontario "
• Top sectors are manufacturing, media, and tech"
"
"
"
marsdd.com/funding !
!

12. • Kickstarter: Passed $1 billion in pledges from 5.7m people
in 224 countries; Canada: 1400 projects had $44m in
pledges raising $14m"
" PROS
CONS
Validate
an
idea
Lots
of
failed
campaigns
Pre-­‐sales/Sell
first
product
Launch
too
early
Build
market
awareness
UnderesFmaFng
cost
of
fulfillment
No
equity
Wrong
price
point
Works
well
for
NFT/arts
ventures
Wrong
product

13. Pg 13"
The Crowdfunding Success
Pattern!
"
Learn how your startup can leverage and
maximize crowdfunding from Brian Meece of
RocketHub. "
Crowdfunding Change: Tips
and tricks for social
innovators from Indiegogo!
"
Amy Lesnick, Head of Social Innovation and Non-
Profits, Indiegogo, discusses how crowdfunding
has become a transformational tool for social
innovators."
"