Bootstrap Bootcamp Fall 2007
- AmazonUnbox
The Eight Obstacles to Becoming an Inspired Entrepreneur: Part 1: Too Few Entrepreneurial Heroes & Heroines
Anita Roddick on Entrepreneurship
What is it that keeps pushing you towards start-ups?
Krugle CEO Steve Larsen: constraints breed creativity
Examining Oprah's Religion: Many Ways to God? (1of2)
B-school for Disabled Vets
Bootstrap Bootcamp Fall 2007
What do founders Amar Bose (Bose), Scott Cook (Intuit), Richard Branson (Virgin), John Paul DeJoria (Paul Mitchell), Michael Dell (Dell), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), George Lucas (Lucasfilm), Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines), John Mackey (Whole Foods Market), Anita Roddick (The Body Shop) and Oprah Winfrey (Harpo) have in common? They are all entrepreneurs who took a bootstrap approach to building their companies. Bootstrapping is often contrasted with the Venture Capital model of entrepreneurship and much of the discussion centers around avoiding funding from investors. This commonly used definition falls far short of the true essence of bootstrapping. Phrases like: right action right time; constraint creates innovation; use everything; power of 2; demo/sell/build - all hint at what is really at work. Bootstrapping is simple yet mysterious, obvious yet subtle, tactical yet enduring. Neither cookie-cutter nor funding-driven, it is a third way of entrepreneurship involving the modern hero's journey. Bootstraps might start out looking similar to other businesses, but quickly evolve into totally unique entities. They might even take external funding, but it will be to scale rather than develop the business. The competitive advantage of a Bootstrap lies in the accumulated steps taken on its thousand-mile journey. For this reason, Bootstraps tend to be long-lived, weathering many challenges long after their startup days. Bootstrapping is also used by large organi...
AmazonUnbox | November 7, 2007
