Hey bootstrappers,

When you’re as big a movie fan as me, you can’t help but see the clichés. 

One in particular sticks out: the cigar-smoking general who needs the “best of the best” for some covert rescue mission. (Cue explosive shenanigans as said hero gets the job done, never mind the collateral damage.)

While extreme circumstances often call for a special set of skills, hiring the best of the best for your startup is fast way to burn cash. Especially in the early stages when you’re still proving product-market fit. 

Instead, look beyond the recruitment agencies pitching you six-figure salaries. Ditch c-suite execs for college grads. Hire for smarts not experience, offer flexibility over cash, or better yet, knuckle down and stay lean.  

Will that hire help you grow or slow you down?

Over and out. 

Chris Roper

Managing Editor

Many Logistics Firms Can’t Afford the Software to Manage Their Supply Chains, So These Founders Built It

No other industry has gone through so many changes, so quickly, as logistics. Smaller businesses have struggled the most, but Akhil and Matvey are putting out their fires.

Akhil Oltikar and his cofounder and Matvey Kazakov spent years improving supply chains for Blackberry, Google, and HTC. While working as product managers, they realized that smaller companies couldn’t afford to manage their supply chains using existing software.

With smaller businesses priced out of the market, Akhil and Matvey built Omnics, an affordable alternative. They assembled a team and pitched contacts, winning customers they’d worked with before, and eventually set up a pipeline of new hires from universities.

“We are tying ourselves up with academia. We believe that’s where the next generation is coming from. Some students come in with internships and then if they like us they join full-time. Professors in San Diego and Washington send people over to us.”

Turning points

1. Assembling a team that had worked together before. All founders fear their staff won’t gel, but Akhil had worked with his founding team before – he knew they’d fit.

2. Pitching businesses before building. Akhil pitched the idea to his professional network and past clients to establish demand before investing in the product.

3. Building a modular solution. Omnics offers upgrades and add-ons to its base configuration, offering upselling opportunities and customization for clients.

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This PR Agency Went from Zero to $1 Million ARR in Its First Year By Helping Startup Founders Share Their Stories

Michael Stern is sick of pay-to-play PR. It’s not hard to win press when you’ve got the right story – and Michael’s agency will help you tell it.

After a stint as executive producer at a local TV show, Michael Stern was exhausted. Two AM starts and long days covering urgent issues like the pandemic took the wind out of his sails. Like many others, he switched lanes to PR only to find it as interesting as a bucket of sand.

The problem, Michael argues, was that few PR agencies understood how to win press. They’d labor over dead angles for months while startups footed the bill. But Michael’s journalism team knows how to pitch a story – without charging fees for advertorials and other pay-to-play PR.

“A young team means we haven’t spent decades in the PR world. Many of HeadStart’s team members are former journalists or producers, like me. This is their first job in PR. Now they get to tell stories differently. We’re always open to trying new things.”

Turning points

1. Sharing his knowledge to help others. After winning top-tier coverage for a founder who’d asked a simple PR question, Michael knew he could monetize his skill set.

2. Using his first client as a case study. After getting his first client coverage on MSNBC and Business Insider, his first success hooked in new clients as a testimonial.

3. Hiring people like himself. By hiring ex-journalists and people from the media industry who understand what publications want, Michael’s clients get results fast.

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Dreamlike AI Paintings Drawn From Your Words: How This Founder Made One of the Most Popular Businesses in AI Art

While it might seem like the stuff of nightmares, Angus Russel’s AI-art generator is an exercise in giving people what they want: the power to create (and with disturbing results!).

Angus Russel built Nightcafe Studio to help people create unique wall art. Over time, he soon realized people were more interested in creating wildly inventive images than printing out their designs. With OpenAI creating media buzz with DALL-E, he quickly switched lanes.

After Reddit featured his user’s AI-created art, users flooded his site with new image requests, temporarily breaking it. Now he charges for his user’s creations and earns roughly $100,000 ARR. Key to his growth, Angus argues, has been keeping his team lean and mean.

“We figured out what brought people back and leveraged that. Ironically, we’re a company working with AI without an AI specialist on staff. We figured out that building a good community and good UX was more important than specializing in the technology.”

Turning points

1. Searching for art to liven up his apartment. Not finding any art he liked, he decided to create his own using AI he’d found while researching, which led to Nightcafe Studio.

2. Deploying a credit system. Angus’s server costs skyrocketed when people began creating thousands of images, so he monetized the product with a credit system.

3. Focusing on online communities. Angus credits his success with building a community around AI-generated art, including a popular Instagram account.

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