Bootstrapping :: Build First, Chase Investor Later

Listen, if you are starting a business, you must raise capital, or you won’t survive.

That is how most of the first time founder start their thinking process. But let me tell you this: spending all your time chasing investors instead of customers is a surefire way to lose sight of what really matters, “building your business”.

Fun fact: In the early stages, 99% of investors are not interested in your idea. And the kicker is : after hearing your pitch, that number often jumps to 100%. Ironic, isn’t it?
So, why waste time convincing people to believe in you, when you can focus on proving your concept to those who matter most, “your customers”?

First, start by building a product or service and reach an acceptable level where your offering solves real problems and creates value. It doesn’t matter if this is your first venture or your tenth, one truth remains constant: the future is uncertain. So, focus on what you can control : bringing your dream to life.
Between surviving today and building for tomorrow, you must identify your profit center. This will be your cash flow engine, fuelling your growth without needing outside capital.

Sure, external funding might become necessary at some point, and that is fine. But as an entrepreneur, your ultimate goal should be to build a profitable, sustainable business. Aim to maximize your profit margins—because trust me, walking the uncharted path of “profitability-first-entrepreneurship” is the most rewarding and fulfilling journey of all.

A 10 year long journey from 0 to $1B valuation with zero funding and nearly zero marketing. Let’s look at the fiery example of building trust with disruption business model. With focus on enabling and educating the market to participate in trading activities, Zerodah maximises its market share to become one of the most successful startups in the world. Zerodha in every way has defied start-up aggressive fund-raise, fast-paced growth and excessive burn rate. They altogether fix the inefficiencies which leads to an efficient system making a investment easy for a common man, this leads to paradigm shift in the consumer behaviour and hence the profitability. Find inefficiency and fix the system, isn’t this the best way to find your idea?