The document discusses alternatives to raising funding for startups, including bootstrapping a business using customers. It recommends focusing on building a minimum viable product, validating the product with customers, and using customer payments to fund further development rather than seeking investors. Specifically, it suggests (1) focusing on a step-by-step process of building features, determining customer value, and setting pricing based on data; (2) outsourcing non-essential tasks; and (3) only raising funding once there is high customer demand, clear milestones are in place, and the business is already seeing traction.

1. presents
Don’t Get Funded: How to Use
Customers to Bootstrap
Patrick Campbell
@Patticus

2. Price Intelligently | HOBSONS
AGENDA
• Quick overview of Price Intelligently and myself
• Why you need to rethink funding?
• When funding is necessary?
• Alternatives to Funding
• Building a business without funding
• Things to look for when raising cash

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A Caveat.

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A Caveat.
Investors can be superheroes,
you just need to raise right.

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LET’S TALK ABOUT

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Deep customer pricing intelligence for
software companies.

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PRICING AND
KEY MILESTONES:
• May 2012: Founded in Boston
• Nov. 2012: 50+ Customers
International Expansion to UK, Canada, & Australia
• Jan. 2013: Expanded Team to 10
• April 2013: Completed Over 100,000 Pricing Studies
LEADERSHIP:
• CEO/Co-Founder: Patrick Campbell
• Technologist/Co-Founder: Christopher O’Donnell
• Technologist/Co-Founder: Aaron White
Over 30+ Years of Economics & Technology Experience

8. Price Intelligently | HOBSONS
EXPERIENCE IN SOFTWARE
"The Price Intelligently team removed the
guesswork from our pricing strategy, providing
us with hard data from real people that fit our
personas. Pricing is something we have to
get right; our business depends on it.
"We were incredibly pleased with Price
Intelligently. I would recommend them to
anyone who wants real data on the value
customers and prospective customers
place on your products and features.”
“Price Intelligently was able to collect and
compile more information than we ever could.
PriceIntel helped us quickly understand the
customer value of our product, which was data
that we couldn’t get anywhere else.”
"To me, pricing is the one area that marketers
need to consider first and foremost. PriceIntel
makes the pricing process painless and
remarkably powerful with its extraordinary
findings and in-depth analysis.”
CEO – Nick Francis Director of Product – Chris Bulger
CEO – Chris Savage CMO – Jeanne Hopkins

9. Price Intelligently | HOBSONS
ACTIVITY #1:

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WHY YOU NEED TO

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THE

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THE
BUT,
ONLY 1%
OF
COMPAN
IES RAISE
MONEY

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COSTS ARE

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SPEED ISN’T GOOD IF
YOU’RE RUNNING IN
THE WRONG
DIRECTION

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FUNDING IS

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1. HIGH CAPITAL

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2. WHEN YOU KNOW

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3. WHEN YOU’VE

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TONS OF

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1. KICKSTARTER

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BUILDING A BUSINESS

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FOCUS ON A STEP-

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ACTIVITY #2:

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FOCUS ON WHAT

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YOUR BUSINESS
Product and Company
Persona 1
Features E,F,G,H
Value Proposition 1,2,3,4 Value Proposition 5,6,7,8
Pricing
Features A,B,C,D
Value Proposition 1,2,3,4
Price Sensitivity & Value Metrics
Features C,D,E,F
Value Proposition 5,6,7,8
Price Sensitivity & Value Metrics
Persona 2

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OUTSOURCE AND

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ACTIVITY #3:

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OUTSOURCE AND

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ACTIVITY #4:

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THINGS TO LOOK FOR

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DON’T:

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DO:

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GREAT VCS:

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QUESTIONS &

35. Course Title
Course Title
INSTRUCTOR NAME