Hey bootstrappers,

First, a HUGE thank you to everyone who gave us feedback last week. 

We’re over the moon with your responses and already working your feedback into future issues. In the meantime, if you missed the form, there’s still time to tell us what you think here.

Back to this week’s issue…

Many people, including us, say it’s easier than ever to start a business. While true, it downplays the courage you need to step into the unknown. (The part no one can help with.)

We all fear rejection, failure, or falling short of society’s expectations. Comparing oneself to others only makes this worse. Only you know what’s best for you in the long run. 

Will you find success following the expectations of your friends, family, and society? Or, like this week’s founders, will you find it in the unknown? 

Going your own way is scarier, but it could lead to more success than you ever thought possible. How bad do you want it?

Chris Roper

Managing Editor

Matt Ruiz had big ambitions and the right qualifications and and yet no tech company would hire him. One coding bootcamp later and he’s now a leading employer of diverse talent.

How a Pay-It-Forward Approach Helped This Founder Create Opportunities for Underrepresented Communities

Matt Ruiz was on the verge of joining his uncle’s construction company when a coding bootcamp saved him from a lifetime of bug-infested crawl spaces. He graduated top of his class, taught fellow students, and eventually founded an app development company.

Today, Matt helps companies build MVPs with a diverse team he trained himself, who often then go on to work at other startups. Finally, Matt has achieved his dream of giving others opportunities he'd never had himself.

“Our team knows how to build a product and we know how to build it very cheaply. We pass these savings on to our clients. We don’t build the flashiest and fanciest MVP, but we build a great product that we scale over time with new features, efficiency, and all that fun stuff.”

Turning points

1. Applying for and being accepted onto a coding bootcamp. Matt already knew Swift, but learning other languages and networking with coders were invaluable later.

2. Listening to his clients complain of poor work that had cost them thousands. Matt knew he could do better, which gave him the confidence to start a business.

3. Adjusting from milestone to weekly payments. This solved an early cashflow issue that helped him pay his employees on time rather than at the end of every project.

Dashiell Bark-Huss challenged herself to code for a year while living in a van. When a friend came to her with a business idea, she built an MVP without spending a cent on marketing.

From Coding in a Van to Powering $1 Million in Wishlists: How This Founder Escaped Her Comfort Zone

Most people would call a van breaking down bad luck. Not Dashiell Bark-Huss. It was then she found her first coding book in a nearby Barnes & Noble. A few months later, she was already working on a business idea – a gift registry platform for influencers.

WishTender launched 18 months after Dashiell began coding. Using boilerplate copy and sending up to 200 messages per day, Dashiell got her first customers through the door with nothing but Twitter outreach. Then she wowed them. 

“People liked that they’d found a company with a face. Someone who cared and gave them personal support. This also propelled them to share it with their community on social media. We also added share buttons for customers to share WishTender when they received gifts.”

Turning points

1. Committing to a 365-day coding challenge. Had she not done this, Dashiell might never have been ready to build an MVP when her friend gave her the business idea.

2. Choosing a blunt-force outreach campaign. With no marketing budget, her only hope was to acquire and delight just enough customers so they’d recommend her to others.

3. Being available and helpful to early customers. People were skeptical of WishTender in the beginning but Dashiell worked hard to build trust with her community.

Joe Binder fought an ongoing battle against self-doubt and imposter syndrome – the enemies of every solo founder – while building his multimillion-dollar social media agency.

Doing It Solo: How Joe Binder Built a $1.3 Million Company at 21 Years Old

Despite his entrepreneurial flair, people told Joe Binder he wouldn’t amount to much unless he got better grades in school. He listened, studied hard, and eventually won a place at Cambridge University. But it was life at Cambridge that inspired his business, not his studies.

YouTubing his experience at university taught Joe how to build a personal brand online. Later, after a disappointing experience at a startup, Joe realized he could market his skills to help businesses grow their online reputation. But going it alone – and so young – was terrifying.

“In the early stages, self-belief was nowhere to be found. I would compare myself to my friends, which has always been a struggle of mine, who had stability, money, and a clear direction – and I had none of that. That was a difficult thing to grapple with, especially as a 21-year-old.”

Turning points

1. Doing something for fun that taught him marketable skills. Joe never wanted to be a pro YouTuber, but the experience taught him how to build online reputations.

2. Believing he could do better as an entrepreneur than an employee. He'd seen the value of social-media-as-a-service in his first job but knew he could offer clients better results. 

3. Choosing to run free campaigns to win his first customers. YouTube subscribers didn’t equate to sales, so Joe resorted to acquiring testimonials to win new business.

Advice of the Week

“Looking back, the real advice I needed was, 'Keep doing what you’re doing.' The platform needed time to grow. And since I didn’t have the funding to put into marketing, I had to let things play out and be patient on a bootstrapped budget.”

 - Dashiell Bark-Huss, WishTender

If you've got a great story about your bootstrapped company, we want to help tell it. Fill out this form and we'll be in touch soon. 

What did you think of this week's stories?