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10 Ways to Bootstrap to $10M By Doing Things That Don’t Scale
Lloyed Lobo shares 10 lessons learned from bootstrapping to $10 million in revenue with a focus on company alignment, the importance of sales, and validation during growth phases. Key takeaways emphasize building strong customer relationships, scaling thoughtfully, and ensuring product stickiness through consistent engagement. Additionally, he advises on establishing a healthy company culture and the significance of knowing your ideal customer profile for successful growth.
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10 Ways to Bootstrap to $10M By Doing Things That Don’t Scale
- 1. LLOYED LOBO Co-founder Boast.AI @lloyedlobo 10 LESSONSFROM BOOTSTRAPPING TO $10M
- 2. 2007 2010 201 3 201 5 Now AL SYSTEMS TICKETLEA P AUTOMATICL Y SPEAKEAS Y BOAST.A I Warehouse Control System andOrder Fulfillment Automation Online ticket sales and event marketing company Chatbot to help agents automate customer support Sales playbook automation backed by Bessemer & Salesforce Automate govt funding Bootstrapped to 8 figs before Series A My Life In Startups 4x failed founder and exec Now BOAST.A IAutomate govt funding Bootstrapped to 8 figs before Series A
- 3. START WITH VALUES Ithelps you make tough decisions especially during difficult times #1
- 4. GREAT COMPANIES HAVEGREAT ALIGNMENT
- 5. ‣ Purpose -why do we exist? ‣ Vision - what will the world look like because of us? ‣ Mission - how do we do it? ‣ Values - how do we behave? GREAT COMPANIES HAVE GREAT ALIGNMENT
- 6. TOP SKILL YOUNEED… #2 Sales fixes everything
- 7. ‣ Customers ‣ Employees ‣Investors ‣ Media SELLING IS EVERYTHING
- 8. ‣ 10 callsa day ‣ Evangelize everyone ‣ Shadow the best sales reps you know ‣ SPIN Selling, Made To Stick, Pitch Anything PRACTICE MAKES YOU BETTER
- 9. DON'T BOIL THEOCEAN Build your startup in phases… #3
- 10. Validation PM-Fit PC-FitScale Goal 10 unaffiliated paying customers Retention Scalable unit economics Revenue growth rate Leading Indicator Pilots Engagement Channel performance Mini brand TM Innovator Early Adopter Early Majority Own the market GTM Founder-led Founder + AEs Codified, scalable 75% scale, 25% new Demand Network + referrals Network + referrals 1 scalable, measurable channel Multi-channel Pricing Solve for commitment Solve for commitment Solve for unit economics Assess disruption risk Funding Seed Series A Series B BOOM! STAY FOCUSED & TIME BOX EACH PHASE
- 11. KNOW WHEN TO INVESTIN GROWH #4
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- 13. 12M users in18 months by simply adding that to the bottom of each email
- 14. AirBnb jumpstarted growth bysending automated emails to people listing on Craigslist
- 15. “Don't do somethingbecause other people are doing it. Boil things down to the most fundamental truths… and then reason up from there.” - Elon Musk
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- 17. Signs you’re notready to grow 1. No Ideal Customer. People don’t come to your product to get a specific job done 1. Poor Retention. People don’t keep coming back to your product anytime they want to get that job done
- 18. START WITH ONEICP Focus will give your messaging clarity & lift your conversion rates #5
- 19. ‣ Who areyour customers (title, industry, geo, etc.)? ‣ What are the key outcomes they’re looking for? ‣ What are the tasks to get to those outcomes? ‣ How do they do those tasks today? ‣ What are the unnecessary steps & how can you reduce them? ‣ What does the delighted state look like? WRITE DOWN…
- 20. ICP Market PayAccess Contact Conv Calls NRR Contact % People ACV ARR CS Enterprise Tech 3 4 4 1,000 1% 10 100% 100,000 0.10 100 CS Enterprise CPG 5 4 3 1,000 0% 1 100% 100,000 1% 1000 $10k $10M USE DATA TO NAIL YOUR ICP
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- 22. NAIL, THEN SCALE 1customer, 1 channel, 1 offering #6
- 23. “If you canget even a single distribution channel to work, you have a great business. If you try for several, but don’t nail one, you’re finished. So it’s worth thinking real hard about nailing one channel.” - Peter Thiel
- 25. USE DATA TONAIL YOUR CHANNEL ‣ Brainstorm a few channels ‣ Use RICE to prioritize ‣ Run tests and iterate ‣ Double down on what's generating results Channel Reach Impact Confidence Effort RICE score Community 450 3 100% 2 675 SDR 2,000 1 80% 4 400 SEO 1,000 2 50% 3 333
- 26. MAKE IT STICK Themore I engage the better it gets or the more I engage, the more I lose if I were to leave #7
- 27. New followers/ follows +investment in your identity makes it sticky
- 28. The more notesyou add, the more value you get and the harder it is to leave
- 29. SHOW UP CONSISTENTLY Doingthings with cadence and depth builds trust #8
- 30. ‣ Vision ‣ Culture ‣Communication ‣ Recruiting ‣ Investor relations ‣ Go-to when things go south THE JOB OF A FOUNDER IS…
- 31. MORE SWISS ARMYKNIVES If you keep promoting people based on tenure over trajectory, you will become the very thing you set out to disrupt #9
- 32. ‣ Don't abstractfrom IC to C-Suite too soon ‣ No big company execs ‣ The jack-of-all can stretch longer than you think ‣ More doers less talkers ‣ Hold people accountable to values ‣ Zero tolerance for toxicity ‣ Hire slow, fire fast GET THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE BUS
- 33. 6 traits ofa great culture Connection Autonomy Mastery Purpose Energy Recognition
- 34. WATCH THE LEADINGINDICATORS Engagement, Retention, Growth, Cash #10
- 35. Stage State Conversion% Estimated Value Acquisition How do you find them? Acquisition How do you get them to try it? Activation Do they stay? Retention Do they keep coming back? Revenue Do they pay? Referral Do they bring their friends? THINK ABOUT…
- 36. TAKEAWAYS 1. Great companieshave great alignment 2. Get good at selling 3. Build your startup in phases 4. Don't invest in growth without engagement and retention 5. Use data to determine your ICP and map the circle of influence 6. Nail then scale - 1 customer, 1 channel, 1 offering can get you to +10 7. Make your product sticky 8. Success is a one (or few) things done consistently well over time 9. More swiss army knives, more doers, always trajectory over tenure 10.Obsess about the leading indicators
- 37. Make sure youremployees are engaged, customers are happy, and you don't run out of money ULTIMATELY…
- 38. Double click toedit Double click to edit Double click to edit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consec etur adip iscin elit. Suspe disse place rat, felis in biben dum trist ique, lectu magna fini bus dolor, ut sagit tis nibh lorem in massa. In eget purus et torto lobor tis auctor non vel ex. Cura bitur ac ultri cies enim. Nulam dictu massa id neque ornar, vel ornar diam pulvi nar. Integer vitae vesti bulu enim. If you chase impact, you will build something big! Lloyed Lobo
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