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☆ Fast Food Forever: How McHaters Lost the Culture War
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Brian Gallagher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The camera zooms in on a large woman, sitting on a cooler at the beach. It cuts to a shirtless man, also quite large, his face blurred out. The next shot shows another overweight man, sitting on a beach towel with plastic grocery bags arrayed in front of him. Directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, the bootstrapped, lo-fi documentary was a smash hit, grossing more than $22 million on a $65,000 budget. McDonald’s, specifically, became a symbol for the glossy hegemony of American capitalism both at home and abroad.

Persons: ”, “, Queen’s, Morgan Spurlock, Spurlock Locations: America

☆ I left my VP role at 25 to build a startup. Leaving security and a steady paycheck behind was hard, but I have no regrets.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Perri Ormont Blumberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Timothy Gamble left his VP role at Walker & Dunlop to cofound HelloData.ai in 2022. I gathered and normalized real-estate data, but my role quickly expanded, and I was soon in charge of the data infrastructure that processed billions of real-estate data points daily. Related storiesNico left W&D one year before me, but we kept in touch. When I left W&D, we decided it made sense to start a real-estate AI company since we both had an entrepreneurial spirit, strong engineering backgrounds, and real-estate domain expertise. Deciding to leave my VP role was scary but the fear of complacency and the prospect of looking back with regret for not pursuing my passions were far greater motivators.

Persons: Timothy Gamble, Dunlop, cofound, Gamble, —, It's, Enodo, might've, Nico Lassaux, Marc Rutzen, Nico, Marc, cofounding, you'll, we're, I've Organizations: Walker, Service Locations: Washington ,, HelloData.ai, Enodo

☆ This defense-tech startup bootstrapped its way to nearly $30 million in revenue. Now, it has another $35 million from Sapphire Ventures.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Now, Defense Unicorns, a startup that creates open-source software for national security systems, has announced it raised $35 million in a round of funding led by Sapphire Ventures and Ansa Capital. The world of open-source software for the military is small, making the opportunity much greater. TestifySec, a tiny startup building open-source software for the Department of Homeland Security, raised a $6 million seed round last fall. This year, Defense Unicorns says it will use the initial round of funding to go on a hiring spree. Defense Unicorns will compete for talent in artificial intelligence with tons of other startups.

Persons: —, Jai Das, Rob Slaughter, Das, siphoning, Slaughter, it's, Lockheed Martin Organizations: Service, Sapphire Ventures, Unicorns, Business, Defense Unicorns, Ansa, Department of Defense, Air Force, Lockheed, Department of Homeland Security Locations: Chicago

☆ A 34-year-old salon owner moved to NYC as a teen to cut hair. She explains how she bootstrapped a one-chair salon out of a basement before expanding to 2 bustling Williamsburg locations.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

At 21, she bootstrapped Headchop, which started as a one-chair basement salon in Williamsburg. To step into Headchop Hair Studio is to step back in time. The humble basement salon, sandwiched between residential buildings on Berry Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is easy to miss. Mabry, pictured styling hair at Headchop, says that her "fascination" with hair began in middle school. Mabry's original location, Headchop, is by appointment only.

Persons: Martha Ellen Mabry, bootstrapped, —, Alisha Wetherill, Mabry, Headchop, Samuel Robert Bullen Mabry's, messaged, she'd, It'll, Michelle Iorio, Iorio, Clinton Van Gemert, I'm, Hayley Carloni, I'd, chemo —, Lil, She'd, I've Organizations: Service, New, New Yorker, Business, South Carolina, Craigslist Locations: Williamsburg, Berry, Williamsburg , Brooklyn, New York City, New, South Carolina, New York, Brooklyn, South, DevaChan

☆ 40-year-old who retired early as a millionaire: It was 'boring' and I only lasted 5 months—here's why
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Allison Esposito Medina | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

I worked at Foursquare and Google, and in 2014, I started my business, Tech Ladies. I was proud of the mission, but I never exercised or took a vacation, and I rarely saw friends. From retired to unretiredWhen I retired, we moved from New York City to New Jersey for my husband's job. I started weightlifting and took long walks with new friends. The truth is, I never had balance in my worklife before, but I owed it to myself now to try.

Persons: Addie, couldn't, Gen Z, I'd Organizations: Google, Tech Locations: York's, New York City, New Jersey

☆ I quit my $400,000 Morgan Stanley job to become a startup founder. Loneliness was the biggest challenge, but I don't regret it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I decided to leave investment banking because I'd lost the meaning and purpose of my work, and I wanted to find it. Becoming a managing director wasn't a specific goal when I started in investment banking. I realized money is just part of the puzzle. The biggest expense isn't the business investment but the opportunity cost and covering my living expenses while extending my financial runway. I don’t have fixed commitments, like a mortgage or children, which gave me the flexibility to leave my banking career.

Persons: —, Valeri Gervaziev, Morgan Stanley, I'd, wasn't, could’ve, HENRY, I’ve, I've, Lauryn Haas Organizations: Service, Barclays, Business, lhaas@businessinsider.com Locations: London, Bulgaria

☆ Y Combinator-backed trading app Pluto Markets just raised $2.6 million with this 14-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Pluto Markets, a trading app backed by famed accelerator Y Combinator, has raised $2.6 million in fresh funds. The Danish fintech startup, founded in 2021, wants to upend the market for retail trading offerings in Europe. "Companies raised a lot of money to blitz scale across the EU but have now focused on their core markets. Unlike most fintech brokerages, Pluto secured an EU-wide investment license before it had raised $1 million in funding, having bootstrapped and stayed lean. You can check out Pluto Market's 14-slide pitch deck below:

Persons: Joakim Bruchman, Goldman Sachs, We've, Bruchmann, Pluto, Oscar Vingtoft Organizations: Business, Companies, Trade Republic, Saxo Bank, EU Locations: Danish, Europe, Denmark, France, Germany, Berlin

☆ Mark Zuckerberg is serving peak Relatable Zuck with his laptop perched on a stack of books
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meet Relatable Zuck, who wants you to know that he, too, uses a book stack for a laptop stand. The Meta CEO has gone from a hoodie-wearing tech wunderkind to a shredded martial arts practitioner. Mark Zuckerberg in the early days of Facebook's founding (left) and Mark Zuckerberg today (right). While most were battling cabin fever or binge-watching Netflix during the COVID-19 pandemic, Zuckerberg said he'd picked up mixed martial arts instead. AdvertisementIn fact, martial arts has become such a big part of Zuckerberg's life, that it even warranted a mention in Meta's latest annual report.

Persons: Relatable Zuck, Mark Zuckerberg, —, Taylor Swift, Zuckerberg, Zuck, Today's Zuckerberg, Stanley, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein —, he'd Organizations: Service, Facebook, Netflix Locations: arm's, California, Meta's

☆ One Click LCA makes construction more sustainable. It just raised $43.8 million with this 15-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Finnish software company One Click LCA, which aims to make construction more sustainable, has raised 40 million euros, $43 million, in its first external funding round after it was bootstrapped for the past 22 years. One Click LCA helps them measure, report, and reduce emissions of their products and projects. It embeds emissions data into every decision, suggests changes to reduce environmental impact and improve circularity, and allows users to model changes. One Click LCA puts this number at 57% based on its aggregation of existing data and its own calculations. "That's not possible to do after you have commissioned the design," Pasanen said.

Persons: Panu Pasanen, Pasanen Organizations: Business, US, Leadership, Energy, Environmental, PSG Equity, InfraVia Capital Partners, Sustainability Locations: Helsinki

☆ Confessions of a startup founder's wife
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

I wished I had told Kyle that I would understand if he wanted to quit. That's as apt a description of Kyle's startup as it is of our relationship. I'm not sure Kyle has found as many perks to being a startup founder married to a startup reporter. Now Kyle's startup has pivoted a third time. The truth is, I don't know if Kyle's startup will make it.

Persons: Kyle, Kyle shrugged, pang, I'd, hadn't, Scott Belsky, It's, messier, I've, he'd, Jillian, Chris Dixon, Andreessen Horowitz, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, Schulze, TikTok, Josh Cochran, Marc Andreessen, I'm, He'd, Eric Paley, Steve Jobs, —, Playbyte, he's, Rohan Seth, Paul Davison, Steve Huffman, hasn't, Instagram, it's, Zelda, That's, cradling, Melia Russell Organizations: Apple Watch, Steam, Francisco's Mission, University of California, TechCrunch, White House, YouTube, Labor Locations: Champagne, Francisco's, Berkeley, San Francisco, New York, America, Playbyte, Kyle, Boston, Bay, sobs

☆ A sneakerhead built a YouTube empire with 1.1 million subscribers. Here's how much he makes a year from ads and sponsorships.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Margaret Fleming | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers. Fowler had around 150,000 YouTube subscribers at that point. The YouTube channel, now with 1.1 million subscribers, brought in about $485,000 in gross revenue from advertising and sponsorship deals last year. But Fowler doesn't just stick to YouTube — his budding business empire also includes sales on the live-shopping platform Whatnot and his own apparel company. The larger portion of Fowler's YouTube revenue comes from ads, which brought in an estimated $292,500 in 2022, Insider verified with documentation of the earnings.

Persons: Seth Fowler, Fowler, Apthcry, he's, YouTubers, it's, time's, I've, Christmastime, sneaker giveaways, Apple, He's, Ye, influencers, Qias Omar, Amber Vittoria Organizations: YouTube, NY, Adidas, Facebook

☆ The CEO of $800 million startup SuperOrdinary explains why he's betting on live shopping and creators as it raises new funding to expand
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

SuperOrdinary wants to be the next unicorn out of the creator economy — and it's betting on live shopping and influencers to get there. Why SuperOrdinary is bullish on live shoppingWhile live shopping has had a lukewarm appeal in the US, SuperOrdinary sees itself as a potential breakthrough. "SuperOrdinary has been live shopping or livestreaming since the beginning of the company," Reis said. The key to cracking live shopping isn't just discounts, Reis added, but fine-tuning the experience for the American consumer. "We really think that the consumer here is slowly moving across to more entertainment-style shopping," Reis said.

Persons: SuperOrdinary, Julian Reis, Reis, Fanfix, " Reis, We've, TikTok, Addison, Sephora, MrBeast, Jen Atkin's, David Yi's skincare Organizations: Intelligence, Bizrate, Brands Locations: Shanghai, Los Angeles, Indonesia

☆ How a sneakerhead built a YouTube empire with over a million subscribers and $485,000 in annual revenue from ads and sponsorships
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Margaret Fleming | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

☆ My life as a startup founder is way better because I didn't take VC money. Here are 8 upsides.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Melissa Kwan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Here are 8 unconventional ways I get to live my life because I didn't take VC money:AdvertisementAdvertisement1. I'm able to make my own scheduleI start my day at noon, go out for dinner, and work until midnight. I'm able to grow slowly – the way that I want to growIt took us 36 months to hit $1 million annual recurring revenue. I can raise capital on my own termsA common misconception with bootstrapped companies is that they raise zero capital. That kind of sacrifice is not for everyone, and sometimes I do wonder whether it'd just be easier to raise capital.

Persons: Melissa Kwan, bootstrapped, Kwan, —, we're Organizations: Service Locations: –, New York

☆ 3 small-business owners share the unconventional ways they funded their companies, from credit cards to tax credits
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Lily Katzman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

One founder told Insider she used credit cards to support her business growth. This article is part of "Starting Up Your Small Business," a series exploring steps small-business owners can take when starting out, transitioning, or scaling up. She also looked for cards that offered benefits that could support her business growth. "If I had stayed where I was and we bootstrapped, I would have had to take on a lot more and wouldn't have the time to invest in building Fresh Starts," Dreizen Howell said. Though there is no one-size-fits-all way to fund a company, Dreizen Howell advises founders to think big about the possibilities.

Persons: —, Elizabeth Gore, Cash, David Manshoory, Chloe Homan, didn't, that's, Homan, You've, she's, Alleyoop, Manshoory, Olivia Dreizen Howell, Dreizen Howell Organizations: Service, Curlfriend, Delta, Alleyoop, Registry Locations: Belize

☆ How fashion influencer Tezza turned photo filters into an app with $32 million in projected yearly revenue and a newly launched print magazine
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

With an Instagram audience of 1.2 million followers, a popular photo-editing app, and now a magazine, Tessa Barton — better known by her moniker Tezza — is building a media empire. The Tezza app, similar to photo-editing tools like Adobe's Lightroom or VSCO, announced this week that it had surpassed 20 million downloads and has about 2.5 million monthly active users. Turning social media followers into app usersGrowing an audience on social media helped the two cofounders build and grow the app. Barton's latest world-building play took place during New York Fashion Week in September, where the influencer launched a new magazine: Tezza Magazine. Its content pulls from brands Barton has collaborated with or admires, as well as art created by Tezza app users.

Persons: Tessa Barton —, Barton, Cole Herrmann, Tezza, Puss Puss, Sydney Bradley Organizations: New York, Tezza, V Magazine Locations: New York, New

☆ 'Be a disciplined company.' How Klaviyo broke the IPO dry spell, according to its CEO.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

CEO Andrew Bialecki told Insider that being a "disciplined company" was key to its success. Jeff Bussgang, a general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston, told The Boston Globe in an interview, "I'm seeing green shoots — it's definitely back on the agenda for boards." KlaviyoBialecki told Insider he tried to run a "disciplined company," one of two ingredients to its success. "There's a false choice here between being high growth and doing things efficiently," Bialecki told Insider. Are you a Klaviyo insider with insight to share?

Persons: Klaviyo, Andrew Bialecki, Bialecki, Tomasz Tunguz, Jason Lemkin, Jeff Bussgang, — it's, Ed Hallen, it's, Hallen, Klaviyo Bialecki, That's, Klaviyo Bootstrapping, Jon Karlen, Karlen, Melia Russell Organizations: Service, Klaviyo, New York Stock Exchange, Flybridge Capital Partners, Boston Globe, Securities and Exchange Commission, Boston Locations: Wall, Silicon, Instacart, Boston, BostInno, Massachusetts, mrussell@insider.com

☆ Some startup founders say VC influence is 'debilitating.' Here's why they are turning down outside funding and bootstrapping instead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But when it comes to his current startup, an AI platform for businesses called Iterate, Nordmark is staunchly against relying on outside funding. Nordmark is part of a growing league of founders who are opting for bootstrapping, which means growing startups without relying on outside funding from investors. Six startup founders interviewed by Insider also say that in some cases, they're actively turning down opportunities for funding to keep maximum control of their business plans. Founders who have eschewed VC funding say that bootstrapping allows them to go — and grow — at their own pace. To be sure, some startup founders are still taking big checks from VCs when the timing is right.

Persons: Jon Nordmark, Samsonite, Nordmark, they're, it's, MailChimp, Brooke LeBlanc, VCs, Dr, Bobbi Wegner, SVB, Evan Jager, we're, Dori Yona, Jason Burke, – Burke Organizations: Insider, VCs, Apple, Oracle, Intuit, Founders Locations: VCs, Boston

☆ Fishing startups are making the industry more sustainable by repelling bycatch, recycling nets, and tackling dredging — but they need more cash to stay afloat
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But overfishing has left some fish stocks depleted, while destructive fishing practices like dredging have harmed ecosystems . Ocean tech has the additional challenge of "dealing with this chemically rich liquid that basically eats everything that goes into it," Watson said of the ocean. Blue Ocean Gear's data-collecting buoy. Blue Ocean GearFishing for fundingBut Falconer is competing with buzzy tech sectors in the pursuit of venture capital. Without cash flowing in, fishing tech could face a brain drain.

Persons: Daniel Watson's, SafetyNet, Daniel Watson Dan, Eric Li, James Dyson, Enki, Watson, Ed Phillips, Phillips, Dado Ruvic, Kortney Opshaug, Opshaug, it's, Ava Ocean, Maren Hjorth Bauer, Ava Ocean's, Hjorth Bauer, Ian Falconer, I'm, Falconer, haven't Organizations: Venture, Service, SafetyNet Technologies, European Union, Future Planet Capital, Aquaculture, REUTERS, NASA, Ocean, Investors, multibillion, Strategic Locations: London, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Bering, Cornwall

☆ ComBio wants industrial players to use sustainable biomass instead of fossil fuels for heat generation. Check out the 9-slide pitch deck it used to raise $90 million in growth capital.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brazilian company ComBio wants industrial players to swap out fossil fuel boilers for biomass. Founded in 2008, ComBio has developed biomass-based systems to remove the need to use oil and gas when generating heat. The company sources biomass from agricultural and forestry waste, which it said is sustainable and would typically have no other use. "If you look at the energy transition on heat, on thermal, you have quite limited options and by far the best one is biomass," Filho said. Check out the 9-slide pitch deck the company used to raise the funds below.

Persons: Lightrock, ComBio, Paulo Skaf Filho, Filho Organizations: Capital, Renewables, US International Trade Administration Locations: London, Brazil, Europe

☆ Andrew Bialecki built Klaviyo into an email titan by breaking all the norms. Now he's taking it public as its largest shareholder.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Andrew Bialecki is preparing to take Boston startup Klaviyo public eleven years after founding it. Bialecki, who cofounded the marketing tech company in 2012, owns more than a third of Klaviyo, according to the company's recent S-1 filing. In the last eleven years, the 37-year-old has quietly built the hottest Boston startup you've never heard of. For comparison, HubSpot's Brian Halligan and Toast's Chris Comparato reported salaries of roughly $240,000 before taking their Boston startups public. Bialecki has also sold few shares of Klaviyo in inside rounds, according to two people familiar with the company's financials.

Persons: Andrew Bialecki, Jason Lemkin, Peter Walker, Klaviyo, Yankee frugality, Barry Chin, Ed Hallen, Hallen, Bialecki, Alexa von, TJ Mahony, he's, Elias Torres, Bootstrapping, Jon Karlen, Karlen, Mahony, Alex Clayton, frugality, HubSpot's Brian Halligan, Toast's Chris Comparato Organizations: Boston Globe, Getty, MIT's Sloan School of Management, Capital, Harvard University, Predictive Technologies, Fortune, Red Sox, Meritech Capital, Boston, Black, Patriots Locations: Boston, Coast, Bialecki, Washington, DC, Klaviyo, Braze, Miami

☆ How Preply became one of the largest online language learning startups in the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He started to see the potential for online language tutoring as a viable business model, since online lessons were cheaper than in-person lessons and class schedules were more flexible. In the summer of 2012, Bigai, Voloshyn and Lukyanov founded the online language learning startup Preply. Last month, Preply raised a $70 million Series C extension round with a combination of debt and equity led by Horizon Capital. Reach Capital, Hoxton Ventures and Owl Ventures, which led its previous $50 million Series C in 2022, also participated. The company's successful fundraising comes after a difficult year personally for the Preply team.

Persons: Preply, Kirill Bigai, Dmytro Voloshyn, Sergey Lukyanov, Bigai, Lukyanov, James Kim Organizations: Preply, Horizon Capital, Morning, Skype, Horizon, Reach, Hoxton Ventures, Owl Ventures, Datadog, Bain, Reach Capital Locations: Ukraine, Boston, Texas, Barcelona, Kyiv, Berlin, Czech, Russia

☆ My company lost $450K because we didn't fire 5 wrong hires quickly enough. It's important to 'fire fast' — even though it's difficult.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Melissa Kwan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

After spending too much time and money because I'd rather avoid tough conversations, I finally learned the importance of "firing fast." The concept of "hire slow, fire fast" has been popularized by startup culture, referring to the agility required to grow a company in a competitive environment. In our first two years, we made five wrong hires that ended up costing $450K because we didn't "fire fast." The most expensive thing about wrong hires is not money — it's time (and sadly sometimes friendships, as mentioned above). While not all costs can be avoided — because you don't know what you don't know — they can be mitigated by "firing fast."

Persons: Melissa Kwan, Kwan, It's, it's, I've, Dev, we'd, —, We've Organizations: Morning

☆ Mark Cuban nearly went broke at age 27—and became a millionaire 5 years later
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Cuban vividly remembers the moment he realized he was nearly broke. The secretary took about $82,000, effectively wiping out MicroSolutions' account balance, Cuban confirmed to CNBC Make It. Cuban then helped co-found AudioNet, which became Broadcast.com and was acquired by Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999, making Cuban a billionaire at age 40. "Once you learn how to sell, you can always start a business, [because] you're an entrepreneur at heart," Cuban told The School of Hard Knocks last year. Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank," which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.

Persons: Mark Cuban, TikToker Bobbi Althoff's, Cuban, Barstool, wasn't, Forbes, multimillionaire, NPR's, Rainer Zitelmann, Warren Buffett Organizations: CNBC, New York Times, Cisco, CompuServe, Yahoo, Cuban, Fortune, Hard Locations: Cuban

☆ Mushrooms are flourishing in the Abu Dhabi desert
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Sarah Lazarus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Now, a startup in Abu Dhabi has found a way to grow them in the middle of the desert. Below Farm is producing “specialty mushrooms” such as oyster, king oyster, shiitake and lion’s mane. Managing director Bronte Weir says the indoor farm, about 45 minutes’ drive from downtown Abu Dhabi, is the first in the region to grow and sell high-end mushrooms. He now orders 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of oyster mushrooms a week from the company. Neighborhood pizzeria Marmellata uses Below Farm's produce on one of its most popular dishes: the kale and mushroom pizza.

Persons: Bronte Weir, ” Weir, Liliana Slowinska, Wojciech Slowinski, Weir, isn’t, Abu, we’ve, ”, “, we’re, Dagstani Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN Business, Business Research Company Locations: Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Europe, United States, UAE

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