A few reasons why you may want to postpone your fundraising activities and some ways to facilitate that.

1. 8 Reasons to Bootstrap as
Long as You Can
Alan Mendelevič
Founder & CEO
AdDuplex
@ailon

2. In general parlance, bootstrapping usually refers to the starting of
a self-sustaining process that is supposed to proceed without
external input.
Bootstrapping in business means
starting a business without
external help or capital.

3. Just a few bootstrapped companies
(at least for quite a while)

4. Empowering developers to
help each other grow.
• Launched in early 2011 (solo founder)
• Break-even in late 2011
• FFF investment in late 2011 + first
employee
• Ramen-profitable in late 2012
• Seed investment from Practica Capital
in mid-2013
• Current status: 12 employees,
profitable
www.adduplex.com
The largest cross-promotion
network for Windows Phone
and Windows Store apps
Looking for:
• Business developer – mid-to-large
game/app developers and publishers
• Senior .NET developer
Details at www.adduplex.com/jobs

5. My assumptions about you…
• You have never sold a
company for millions
• You have never raised
money from institutional
investors
• You don’t have a high-
level position in a high
profile company on your
resume
• You are not in Silicon
Valley
• You don’t have a product
with decent traction

6. Reason #1. The obvious one.
No one will
fund your
PowerPoint
deck

7. 2015 definition
• Pre-funding: You talk about your idea, you build a
prototype & launch an MVP.
• Seed Round: The funding necessary to get product traction.
• A Round: The funding necessary to scale your product.
• B Round: The funding necessary to get founder liquidity, build groovy headquarters,
and make competitors give up (or not start in the first place).
Jason Calacanis
http://calacanis.com/2015/01/18/the-official-definitions-of-seed-series-a-and-series-b-rounds/

8. Reason #2.
Fundraising
takes time.
Spend it on
building your
product.

9. Reason #3.
The best time to raise funding is when you
don’t need the money.

10. Reason #4.
Cash constraints make you think
about the business side of your
business.

11. Reason #5.
Cash constraints make you more
creative in marketing and customer
acquisition.

12. Reason #6.
Cash
constraints
instill
discipline.

13. Reason #7.
You became an
entrepreneur to
be your own
boss.

14. Reason #8.
You can fail faster.

15. Yeah, OK,
but how?

16. Don’t quit your 9-to-5
job too early

17. Ensure some
passive income

18. Learn how to code
or find a technical
co-founder

19. Be Jack of All Trades

20. Start selling
early. Help your
customers fund
you.

21. Leverage
startup offers
from tech
giants
• Microsoft
• Amazon
• Google
• etc.

22. Personal debt

23. Thank you
Alan Mendelevič
Founder & CEO
AdDuplex
alan@adduplex.com
@ailon