B O O T S T R A P P I N G 1 0 1B Y @ B R E N N A N D U N N

T H E D R E A M

• Eventually we realize that we don’t own our income.

• Our most valuable asset is our time — both to us and our employers / clients.

• Ergo, we want to separate time from money.

F O R M O S T, I T ’ S A P I P E D R E A M .

• “Make money while you sleep!”

• “Make $XX,XXX from home!”

• “Move to San Francisco and apply for YC!”

My goal tonight is to present a low risk framework for augmenting / replacing

your income.

MealsNearMe DEAD ON ARRIVAL

S O W H O I S T H I S G U Y ?

• Ran a consultancy in Norfolk, “We Are Titans” — maxed at 11 FT employees.

• Got tired of client work. Bootstrapped a SaaS called Planscope.

• Have since written two books, teach a number of workshops, and speak on consulting / bootstrapping.

• In less than 2 years, run rate of $10-40k/month with NO OUTSIDE MONEY.

D E R I V I N G A N I D E AS T E P 1

– E V E R Y W A N T R A P R E N E U R E V E R ( A N D M O S T O F M Y F O R M E R C L I E N T S )

“Disrupt. Game changer. TechCrunche’d. Scale.”

P L AY I N G T H E S TA R T U P L O T T O .

• “Wouldn’t it be cool IF…”

• We mostly read about the successes, but not the failures.

• Low likelihood to succeed, but high pay-off if you do.

• A + B

D E F I N I N G T H E P E R F E C T B O O T S T R A P P E D P R O D U C T…

• Business-to-Business

• Non point-in-time (e.g. weddings, events, job finding)

• Naturally recurring (PM, accounting, scheduling)

• Turnkey (doesn’t require a network effect)

D E F I N I N G T H E P E R F E C T B O O T S T R A P P E D P R O D U C T… ( C O N T )

• Lots and lots of competition

• Customer pays more than they cost

• Money maker

• Money saver

VA L I D AT I N GS T E P 2

VA L I D AT I N G Y O U R P R O D U C T

• Your product is the bridge between “OMG this sucks” and :-)

• Product validation requires understanding the net effect of removing problem X from a set of companies

• By focusing on the problem (e.g. making client communication more transparent) you’ll be naturally constrained to ship only what matters.

Q U I C K W I N S F O R VA L I D AT I N G

• Stalk Internet forums for common themes, shared language, and raw pains.

• Google around for “Why X sucks” (X being a well-established player.)

• Go door to door asking “Will you write me a check for this?” NOT “Would you use this?” (Universal truth: people don’t like making other people feel bad. They will, however, refuse to pay for stuff.)

M A K I N G A N I N C O M ES T E P 3

T H E B L U E P R I N T F O R G U E R R I L L A P R O D U C T S A L E S

• Create an audience. Be the hero who slays Problem X.

• Produce content around the problem and solutions, with all arrows pointing toward your product.

• Aggressively hunt down your first 50 customers. (See Robert Graham’s great book on cold calling for startups.)

• EMAIL.

T H E B L U E P R I N T F O R G U E R R I L L A P R O D U C T S A L E S ( C O N T )

• Think about the friction that someone needs to overcome to use your product. How can you offer a low hanging fruit?

• Borrow other people’s audiences. See: Constant Contact, guest blogging.

• Offer concierge onboarding.

• Collect as much qualitative AND quantitative data as you can.

W E ’ V E C O V E R E D A L O T O F TA C T I C S . L E T ’ S TA L K S T R AT E G Y.

W R A P P I N G U P

• Understand and verify core problems that affect a businesses’ ability to thrive.

• Build a MVP that solves (or partially solves) that problem.

• Market through the solution, don’t sell the product.

• Offer low hanging fruit or impulse buys if your product requires big workflow changes.

@brennandunn brennan@planscope.io

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See my funnel in action: freelancersweekly.com