This document provides advice on how to build a startup without venture capital. It recommends focusing on assembling a team to build a minimum viable product (MVP) in order to validate hypotheses about customer needs and a potential growth mechanism. Key steps include clarifying the startup's purpose and vision, recruiting team members, developing an MVP through hypothesis testing and pitching, establishing a clear process using tools like lean canvases, and getting funding only after achieving product-market fit and building relationships. The overall message is that bootstrapping a startup is possible by following lean startup principles.

1. Bootstrapping
Coursepad
!
How we managed to
build a startup without
venture capital — and
how you can too!

5. My Story
?

6. How you can start!
• Purpose!
• Team!
• MVP!
• Clear process!
• Keep it rolling!

7. Purpose
• What excites you?
• What wrong do you
want to right?
• What is your vision of
the future?
• What is the size of your
ambition?

8. Avengers Assemble!
• Hacker, Hustler, Hipster
• MVP ready
• Guerrilla recruiting

9. Get in the community!
• Echelon, Startup Asia
• Founders Drinks
(e27.co/fd)
• Founder’s Institute
(fi.co)
• Hackerspace.SG
• FB Groups

10. Lean Startup

11. Validate Hypotheses
• Value Hypothesis:
• Do people want to use?
• Are you solving a real problem?
• Growth Hypothesis:
• Do you have a mechanism to scale?

12. MVP
• Minimum Viable
Product
• Hypothesis testing
• Sell with PowerPoint
• Pitching = Research

13. Clear Process
• Hypotheses
• Boards
• Lean Canvas
(leanlaunchlab.com)
• Pain Points
• Ideas
• Evernote

14. Getting Funded
• Build relationships early
• Go when you have
good product-market fit
• All about social proof +
scarcity + urgency
• Believe - don’t ask a
crack dealer if crack is
good!
Guy Kawasaki, author + mentor

15. http://bit.do/bootstrapCP
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