The Suretec Blog

Hi all,

We follow the KashFlow Blog as we use them for our accounts (the only non open source software we use and is based online). Duane, the owner, did an interesting blog post today about External Funding vs Organic Growth.

We're in the Organic/Bootstrapping camp as that's how we've funded our upcoming VoIP service provider called SureVoIP

In the two articles he links to, I liked the TechCrunch one as it lists these 16 things to help raise your profile to help bring in the business to bootstrap:

0. Get on Twitter and Tweet smart things [added Dec 2009]
1. News is a Purple Cow – UK translation: Man Bites Dog
2. Keep in contact – conversations usually beat press releases
3. Negotiate your exclusives
4. Don’t be a leech – Be part of the community
5. Conferences are not news
6. Be a great contact
7. Be a friendly blogger
8. Should you hire a PR firm?
9. Want to join in? Network.
10. Please pitch like a human
11. Understand who you are talking to
12. The media likes CEOs
13. Do you really need to have formal press meetings?
14. One company in a space is not (generally) a story
15. “Yes, but how do I get on TechCrunch.com?”
16. “Strike when the news is hot” added 16 March 2010


In summary Duane closes with something I agree with:

So where does that leave us? I spend a lot of time talking to startups
and there are no hard and fast rules that apply to them all. What I would say is that if there is the opportunity to build a profitable business, while maintaining control and enjoying a reasonable quality of life and all while bootstrapping, then this is the ideal route to take. If there are market forces, competitive issues or limited lifespan pressures that mean that a funding route is the only way to go, then so be it.