Monthly Archives: April 2010

Bootstrapping by freelancing

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Down here, the angel investors and venture capital ecosystems are almost non-existent. We don’t have seed-stage funding ventures –a la YCombinator– either, so our only options for funding  are  funds granted by the government and bootstrapping.

Governments funds are complicated and have political strings attached, so I don’t want that. That leaves me bootstrapping.

For what I’ve read, common options for bootstrapping are credit cards, life-savings and borrowing from friends and family. You guessed it, I don’t have those options either. I’m not pessimistic, but my family doesn’t have any money or savings and my credit card has a USD$1,00o limit. So I need another option, this is what I’ve thought so far:

I’ve been doing freelance web design work for the last four years. I think I’m pretty good but until now I’ve been awfully cheap. Truth is: being a third-world guy living with little responsibility, earning $400 or $500 a month is a small fortune.

Yeah, I was that cheap.

So my plan is this: I’m going to raise my freelance fees, while I keep living on that $400-$500 a month, so I can bootstrap my startup with the rest. Is that a bit insane? Is there a chance that the only reason I’ve been hired in the past is because I’m cheap? I think there’s a chance, but I’m confident that  I’m good at what I do and some people are going to appreciate that.

So, if you or somebody you know needs UI design, CSS/HTML coding, and/or top-notch WordPress  development feel free to contact me. I’m going to be less cheap than before but still very reasonable and startup friendly. Check my portfolio.

What do you think? is bootstrapping by freelancing a good idea?

Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug

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Hey everybody! My name is Armando Sosa and I think that reading some blogs and listening to certain podcasts have driven me insane. So much, that today I’ve decided that I’m going to bootstrap my own startup.

I’ve been born, grew and lived all my life in Mexico. I come from a mid-low class working family with no entrepreneurial background. I will be 30 in august, I’ve never been in the valley and I don’t have a Visa. This is not going to be an easy project, but still I know I can do it.

Or at least I’m gonna try.

Today I have left fifty bucks on my bank account. I will do contract work on the side but my main goal is to bootstrap this business. I’m not going to say what the business is yet, but I will in a later post.

And a final disclaimer:  Sometimes what I say is not going to make any sense at all. Sometimes that’s because English is not my primary language, and what I know comes from reading blogs, hanging out in Hacker News. and watching torrented episodes of Lost. Dude.