Venture Backed or Bootstrapped? There’s a Third Way. Just Raise One Round.
This edition of the SaaStr Insider! is sponsored in part by Stripe
There’s so much debate on social media and elsewhere on bootstrapped vs VC.
?Bootstrapped you maintain control, and the unit economics. ?But many see it as so much harder. ?And it’s almost always longer. ?VC can let you go faster, but it can become an addiction. ?And the dilution all-in generally ends up being 60%-70% by the time you approach an IPO.
The debate misses a simple, clear Third Way: ?Just Raise One VC Round.
A few folks that have done this, more or less:
They just raised enough to get a real business going.
There are more stories like this. ?It doesn’t have to literally just be 1 round. ?Raising 2 small VC rounds < $10m or so together can also work.
The point is, if you raise less than $10m, especially less than $5m or so, you really do maintain almost all your optionality and control. ?And most of the cap table.
One round might dilute you from 100% ownership to 70%, but that’s it. ?And if you raise say $3m, your investors may hope for a $3 Billion IPO. ?But realistically, any “exit” will make them money, ?No one (or at least, almost no one) is going to block an exit or create a lot of drama.
Raise $3m, you can sell for $10m, $30m, $100m, whatever you want really. ?Maintain control. ?And still use that $3m to get off the ground and fund the initial core team.
It’s not so crazy. ?Really, I did a version of this myself, raising $9m in each of my two startups and stopping there. ?It has its cons. ?You have to stay very efficient, and the competition can often outspend you. ?It’s not always the right strategy.
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But there is a lot of freedom in being capital efficient but also raising just enough to start that people can eat.
It’s at least worth thinking about.
One and Done in raising VC. ?It’s a real option.
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And a great convo in this 20VC on how The Trade Desk maintained optionality by raising a small amount of capital in the early days:
And a related post here:
This edition of the SaaStr Insider! is sponsored in part by Stripe
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CEO @ Dinetix | 20+ Years of Effective Paid Media Strategies | Driving Success with the 3x3 by Dinetix? Method |
1 个月Smart capital efficiency! When you grow organically, every dollar works twice as hard. Shows that great unit economics beat fancy pitch decks.
RVP of Sales West at Varonis - We Protect Data
1 个月A breath of fresh air. Back to the fundamentals of a healthy business. More of this??
Marketer, driving 20M in sales through strategic creative | I create breakthrough marketing for results-driven leaders
1 个月I think One and Done is a brilliant approach for many founders! It offers a smart balance of raising enough capital to fuel growth without losing too much control or equity. It allows you to scale efficiently and maintain flexibility while keeping the focus on profitability and long-term vision. It’s a strategy worth considering, Jason M. Lemkin
CEO @ Team&Tonic?? | 2x Founder | Startup mentor | $90M+ raised for startups | Helping AI & tech startups scale with the best 0.8% of designers, marketers, and pitch deck experts
1 个月OneStream, Zapier, and Veeva prove you don’t need endless rounds to reach $100m+ ARR. Raise just enough to fund your core team, stay lean, and keep optionality. Thanks sharing Jason M. Lemkin!
Build, Launch, and Scale your Venture Studio (Faster) | Trusted by 500+ Venture Studios globally | DM me “9P8” for more info
1 个月Adapting this to a studio strategy seems like a powerful option.