Many argue that entrepreneurship is a possible solution to some of our economy problems. After all, if you can have people create new businesses, then that would obviously lead to new jobs, which will lead to lower unemployment, and so on and so on.
The problem is that too many start-ups die everybody. According to Sramana Mitra, an idea called “bootstrapping” is the way for new businesses to go. Mitra is the author of the book, Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction, a technology entrepreneur, strategy consultant in Silicon Valley, and writes a business blog.
This idea of “bootstrapping” basically means that you buckle down, hustle, and try to grow your business, while using relatively less help.
“Bootstrapping is a discovery process. Rather than building an ark, waiting for animals to come, and hoping the tide rises – you take an incremental approach and discover a legitimate, real-world value proposition.”
One of the examples include not rushing to receive venture capital funding. With early capital, these start-ups get a false sense about how much money they are really generating. Getting funding early can also lead to a bigger chunk of your say going out the window because these venture capitalist will want to direct more.
Overall, Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction, is a great read for anybody looking to start or already running a new start-up. Mitra uses interviews with a dozen of successul entreprenuers and combines them with lessons these business owners used to make their start-up sucessful.