The risk of a startup can be well worth the reward, but if you are brand-new to the startup game, how do you know what you should be doing? How does “bootstrapping” work, and are you doing it right? We asked three CEOs for their best tips for all newbie bootstrappers: Todd Vernon, CEO of VictorOps; Michael Ward, CEO of Net-Results; and Eric Hubbell, CEO of MyHub share the advice they wish someone had told them.

When starting a company, people want to make sure their idea is the first one out there, and everyone races to get to market and bring in revenue. Those are both extremely important, according to Todd Vernon, CEO and founder of VictorOps, but it’s ultimately better to be patient and do things in an organized, sequential way versus trying to do it all at once.

 

“Stage out your business by forming plans that take it one step at a time,” he says. “This way you get to see what truly works and what doesn’t versus sending a potentially great feature into the market that’s been poorly executed.”

People who have done what you want to do are great people to look to for advice. Michael Ward says he was sure he was advised to do this before he founded Net-Results, but he didn’t find a mentor. “There’s no reason to go it alone as an entrepreneur,” he says. “Get busy making connections. Generally speaking, successful entrepreneurs are happy to help those who are willing to help themselves.”

 

Mentors should be able to help with every avenue when it comes startups, especially what entrepreneurs need to do to attract investors. “The market is getting tougher; with more startups and more developers, you have more ideas by passionate folks,” Eric Hubbell, CEO and founder of MyHub said. “Because of this, you have to truly stand out, and to do that, you have to work your tail off. It’s slightly easier if you have a mentor giving you great advice.”

It doesn’t cost anything to go talk to potential customers of your potential product ahead of time, according to Vernon, and getting their feedback is key – these could be your future customers. At least, that’s what you want, and you need to make sure you are targeting your market correctly.

 

“Spend time creating the resources so they can grasp the product you are envisioning,” he says. “Expect that at first they may have a hard time visualizing your product, so start by validating the need (or pain point your product solves) independent of your actual solution.

 

Then, move on to discuss the way your product solves that problem. You are mostly looking for extreme negative or extreme positive reactions. Middle of the road opinions don’t count. If you do this first, before making any radical moves, you will save a lot of time and money.” \

 

Hubbell agrees:  “Internally, I felt like I had a clear mission and product in mind, but I wasn’t able to convey it clearly enough and it showed in some product development and decision-making. Develop mockups and get in front of your target market as quickly as possible. Ask open-ended questions and let them explore the concept and ask questions in return. You will need a business plan when talking with investors, but concepts will help focus your idea and bring it to life.”

If possible, always work with people you have worked with before. Even better if you have worked with them during hard times, because bootstrapping and startups are stressful. “Unpredictable behavior on the part of an early employee can be devastating to a startup,” Vernon says. “The next best are people who have worked in startups before and know what they are getting into.”

When bootstrapping, it can be easy to focus on sales and revenue. Hey, existing customers pay the bills! But try to focus on delivering value and maintaining early customer relationships. “Customers are paying for value,” Ward says. “Deliver it in spades and maintain strong relationships with these customers; they are the people whose feedback and money will allow you to find product-market fit. They are your early fans and can help you build something much bigger.”