This is a post by Jesse Pujji. Jessi a serial entrepreneur that lives in the US. He has:
- Bootstrapped to an 8-figure exist with his previous startup, Ampush
- Is currently building GatewayX, a venture studio that he plans to bootstrap to $1B+
- Executive Chairman & Founder of GrowthAssistant.com
- ex-McKinsey Consultant
Guest Author: Jesse Pujji
3 Years Ago, I started 3 businesses in ONE year.
It was stupid and kind of crazy.
Since then,
One is 8 figures, profitable and growing
One pivoted and is finding its footing
One has been completely dissolved.
Here are some of my learnings:
1/ Good ideas matter.
I used to think I could outexecute anyone on anything. And maybe I can. But when you actually have a good idea, it makes EVERYTHING easier.
Lesson: spend >1 month and < 3 months on your idea and keep iterating it.
2/ Problems matter.
Speaking of good ideas, what makes it Good? It solves a REAL problem. Kahani was a “cool” idea (IG stories for ecomm) but it wasn’t a GOOD idea. GrowthAssistant (offshore marketing talent) solved a REAL problem and that made it a good idea.
3/ There is ONLY one CEO.
Regardless of who had the idea, the ownership or anything else. Single points of accountability matter at every level of a company. They improve speed and decisiveness.
Btw, the corollary: If there is no named CEO, YOU (founder/chairman) are the CEO.
4/ Unfair advantages matter. And distribution is the ultimate unfair advantage.
GrowthAssistant over half of our first 20 customers were former Ampush employees. Imagine your old boss calling you and asking you to try his new service. The conversion rate was >50%.
The other two businesses didn’t come close to that.
5/ The earlier you are, the more focus matters.
This is why we will only now launch ONE new company a year. We learned the hard way. Think of new companies like newborns. They are volatile, unpredictable and in constant need of care. Even with multiple people, 3 newborns at a time is virtually impossible.
6/ Trust is everything. And Trust can be accelerated but not faked.
To build any company, lots of trust has to exist. But to partner with multiple CEOs at one time, it is the most core value needed. I want my CEOs as partners running the businesses not employees asking me what to do.
Trust gets built via vulnerability on both sides. And empathy.
7/ Capital efficiency comes down to multiple things:
A) Business model (services is king here)
B) Distribution advantages (free mktg is king here)
C) Product Market Fit ( a good idea)
Ecommerce and software are not NEARLY as bootstrappable as I believed them to be.
8/ The biggest thing that gets in most peoples way as an entrepreneur is INACTION.
And the reason for inaction is… FEAR.
Address the fear, love the fear, feel the fear. Also, taking action usually calms the fear.
Those are 8 lessons (for now) around trying to build a bootstrapped venture studio!
Enjoy it? Share this with someone building and follow me @jspujji for more learnings as I attempt to build up Gateway X – a growth marketing centric venture studio.
