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Hey RB2Bers!

After a KILLER live event with Alina, CEO of Chili Piper, last week (click here for recording), I’m thrilled to announce that Anthony Kennada is joining on Tuesday.

AK literally wrote the book on Category Creation.

We’re going to discuss:

• How (and when) you should try to create a category

• The opportunity AK identified in the market from being CMO of two unicorns in a row

• What AK is doing today - as an early stage founder - that he ALSO did at Gainsight and Hoppin

Join us Tuesday Sep 17 at 3pm ET for more killer LIVE content.

Sign up here.

(and check that haircut out)

What Makes a Bootstrapper?

Last month I got very offended by a comment that said I wasn’t REALLY a bootstrapper because I’m not eating Ramen in my parent’s basement. What makes a real bootstrapper?

It’s not what you think:

1. You love doing more with less.

Prioritizing efficiency and having insanely high standards for what you want to get back from what you’re doing (and spending) is what a bootstrapper lives and breathes. If you run your business this way but pay yourself $30m per year (like Ross Andrew Paquette), you are still a bootstrapper.

2. You love small teams.

You believe that companies should be able to get farther with fewer people (and the friction that comes with it) than the world believes - like Ryan Babenzien, who just made his 4th hire at $40m revenue.

3. You love running profitable, growing businesses.

This is the anti-SaaS playbook, but if you’re wired this way, you’re a bootstrapper, Ramen or not.

4. You value freedom more than growth.

Few understand the true deal with the devil that they enter when they take on VC money. Bootstrappers know that customers funding their growth is the only way to avoid becoming an underpaid, overworked salary man with the title “CEO”.

5. You aren’t building for an exit.

Bootstrappers know that businesses get bought, not sold, and that creating a great business - that turns a profit in the meantime - creates something that a buyer will want someday.

6. You have ridiculously high standards for what’s “working”.

Some people call this capital efficiency, I call it having high standards. If you’re bootstrapping, you can only afford to do things that have a truly absurd return on your time and money because you need a quick CAC payback to keep growing.

7. You pursue ideas that are not venture fundable - but customers WANT.

If you are reliant on VC, you will only be able to pursue ideas that they approve of. This eliminates a massive amount of opportunity to pursue profitable, efficient, growing SaaS. You also eliminate the competing interest between what your customers want and what investors want to hear.

TAKEAWAY

I get offended when people say that I’m not a bootstrapper.

They say it’s not fair for me to say - mostly because I have resources.

I don’t believe bootstrapping is about the amount of resources you have …

It’s about how you deploy those resources.

How you run your company.

And how you plan to grow.

Because it’s not about living in your parents’ basement…

Bootstrapping is a state of mind.

PS - There’s a great video and comments section on the actual LinkedIn post.

Click here to join the conversation.

Last but Not Least … RB2B Build In Public

1. Here are our live SaaS metrics for those following from home.

The summary is now is the time reducing churn has to become the top priority of everybody on our team. We have a few different approaches we are taking, which I will describe in the coming weeks.

If you have churned and you feel like writing me a brutally honest reason as to why …

Not just “too expensive”, but like … EXACTLY what you were trying to do and what wasn’t working about it …

I would REALLY, REALLY, REALLY appreciate that.

Just reply to the email and LMK.

2. We launched our ICP filter - now called Hot Leads - which I acknowledge is hard to use at the moment, but soon we will make industry searchable and that should help.

Any feedback there is also appreciated.

3. We’re making major progress on native integrations. We now either HAVE or will soon LAUNCH integrations with:
   

   1. HireQuotient

   2. Samplead

   3. Reply.io

   4. HeyReach

   5. Pitchit

   6. BetterContact

   7. Pitchlane

   8. Warmly,

   9. MixMax

If you are reading this and you are interested in integrating and doing some JV promo, please reach out, I will connect you to Pete and Robb.

That’s all I got for this week.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Feedback is always welcome!!!

Anybody want to make a gentleman’s bet that I can lower our monthly churn rate from the 14.9% it is today to between 7 and 8pct per month in 12mo?

I just want some extra incentive 😄 

Have a great weekend, and keep building.

Adam