Greetings from your founder next door
A no BS column on what it's like to build a company without an abundance of resources or friends in high places.
Hi, it’s Melissa, and welcome to “your founder next door”, my bi-weekly column with relatable stories of my journey bootstrapping eWebinar to $5m ARR. No BS, just straight-up truth bombs on what it’s like to build a company without an abundance of resources or friends in high places.
A few months ago, I decided to hop on the newsletter bandwagon and start a column. But before I could type my first sentence, I hit a wall and got “bored-out” of my business. I wrote about that uninspired, unmotivated period of 3 months…which is now behind me – here…maybe you can relate?
Since this is my first column, I wanted to start by giving you a bit of background about who I am and what I’m going to write about, so you can decide if it’s something compelling enough for you to stick around for. Hopefully, the answer is “YES!!”
About me 👋
I’ve spent 14 years in startups and built three companies without venture capital backing. In startups, we call that “bootstrapping”; which is why you’ll see “3x bootstrapper” beside my name on most platforms.
My previous startup, Spacio, which was and still is the leading open house check-in system in real estate, was acquired in 2019. My first 2 companies were both in proptech, and doing repetitive webinars daily to train agents (our user base) on how to use our software was the bane of my existence. That’s why, 2 months after Spacio was acquired, I founded eWebinar to turn videos into interactive webinars and solve that problem once and for all. I’m now on a mission to save people from “webinar hell”, free them from their computers, and give them their time back so they can do literally anything else.
Over the last decade, I’ve come to believe that happiness should be the foundation of one’s career, not the other way around, and that the way to achieve this is by intentional life design. “Life design” is designing the life you want to live; the one that gives you the most joy. For me, that started with being my own boss: no investors, no board, nobody telling me what to do.
In the last couple years, all the content I’ve written, mostly shared on LinkedIn, has been about my trials and tribulations bootstrapping startups. In sharing my own journey, I’ve hoped to lead by example and show entrepreneurs out there that it can be done without raising VC. You can build a successful business and have the lifestyle you want without the guilt of returning 100x capital looming over your head.
Why ‘founder next door’? 🏡
When I started sharing daily on social media, I asked myself how I could possibly differentiate myself from the sea of people who were way smarter and more experienced than me. Most people seemed like business demigods and I was nowhere near that ascent.
I decided then that I was going to be just me: your average, every day, relatable founder – the founder next door.
As I grew my audience to over 38k on LinkedIn, I noticed my most viral posts were ones that offered a window into the reality of what it’s like to build a startup with very few resources (not the “I’m always killing it” narrative) — this has become my expertise.
Overwhelmingly, the feedback I’ve gotten from readers on these posts has been about how refreshingly authentic it is to hear from a non-unicorn founder.
I didn’t make 30 Under 30, or even 40 Under 40. I didn’t go to Harvard.
I’m just your founder next door who’s figuring it out as I go.
No BS, only truth 📢
There’s so much BS out there, people claiming to know the secret to building a billion dollar company 🦄…foolproof playbooks that get you to $10m ARR (annual recurring revenue) so you can sell for $100m and go sip mojitos on a yacht in Ibiza. That content is not relevant to the majority of entrepreneurs in this world. Only 4% of SaaS businesses reach $1m ARR, 0.4% reach $10m ARR, and 0.001% make it to $50m ARR. On top of that, there’s simply no equation to success, just a bunch of loose algorithms.
My goal is to give you a glimpse into what it’s really like to build a company without an abundance of resources or friends in high places…because odds are that’s what you’re doing too.
With me, you’ll get relatable stories and personal experiences that will reassure you that you’re exactly where you need to be. As opposed to feeling completely inadequate for not being featured on Techcrunch.
Building a company “without an abundance of resources or friends in high places” is a completely different ballgame than when you are flush with cash and connections. I know this because I see my MIT, Harvard, and Stanford peers raising money quicker than it takes for my Uber to arrive. Opportunities up there are not available to people like us down here on earth.
‘your founder next door’ is my way of speaking directly to people like you who enjoy my writing and hopefully can benefit from my bootstrapping successes and failures.
What to expect from me 📝
I’m going to share more about how I became “your founder next door”. Expect career and life-defining stories, like my greatest hustle story when I invited Zillow’s CEO to my house for dinner, how moving to New York was the butterfly effect that led me to meeting my life partner and nomading around the world, and how I sold Spacio by confiding in a friend that I desperately needed to get out of real estate.
💌 P.S. Everything I write on here will not be published in its entirety anywhere else.
You’ve gotten this far - THANK YOU for your support!
Special thanks 🤟
I’d like to send a special thank you to Naomi, the coolest English teacher, who became my first paid subscriber right when I pre-launched this thing, even though it took me so long to push out this first post. You’re awesome, and thank you for the encouragement!
And to David from DAST, for becoming my first “founding member subscriber”, contributing extra love for that little extra recognition. Thank you for your kind words, and I will keep paying it forward, too!
"Your posts on LinkedIn have really resonated with me over the past year. I lead a successful startup so the extra money is a small price to pay for a little extra recognition. Gotta keep paying it forward! :-)"
Thank you for reading!
Melissa ✌️
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The only way this grows is by word of mouth, so I’d really appreciate all the help you’re willing to give.
Hi Melissa, I have been following your journey for last two years as I am entering in space of bootstrap entrepreneur . Can you share some resources like book , course etc which has helped you to become a good writer?