TMBA 480: Thoughts on Funding Options for Bootstrappers with Rob Walling

The Ciutadella Park in Barcelona and golden horses at top

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A few weeks ago, Dan and Ian had a conversation on this podcast where they shared some of their feelings about venture capital.

This is an important topic to a lot of entrepreneurs, and it's one that we plan to cover a lot more throughout 2019.

Some of the opinions we shared in that episode were rather controversial. Several of our listeners actually called us out on being a little bit vague about our thoughts, and we thought it was a good chance to revisit the topic.

One of the people that reached out to us about that episode was Rob Walling.

Rob is someone who should be very familiar to the listeners of this show.

He hosts one of our favorite podcasts, Startups for the Rest of Us, organizes his own annual conference called MicroConf, and has previously owned and sold several startups, including a Software-as-a-Service company called Drip.

Rob has also recently started his own startup accelerator fund called TinySeed, which is specifically designed to help bootstrappers grow their businesses.

On today's show, Rob has joined us to share his thoughts about venture capital, bootstrapping, and what he hopes to accomplish with TinySeed.

Listen to this week's show and learn:

  • Rob's 9-year journey to financial independence. (3:12)

  • What TinySeed is and why Rob decided to start his own accelerator. (12:10)

  • The true value of mentorship. (31:47)

  • Specific scenarios where a bootstrapper might want to seek funding. (37:20)

  • Why Rob believes in investing rather than buying businesses outright. (49:28)

Mentioned in the episode:

Before the Exit - Our New Book
TMBA Masterminds
Sponsor the TMBA Podcast
The Dynamite Circle
The DC Podcast
Help Us Choose a New Name for the TropicalMBA Podcast
DC BKK
Dynamite Jobs
Rob Walling
Startups For the Rest of Us
MicroConf
Drip
TinySeed
LeadPages
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Mike Taber
FounderCafe
Y Combinator
Paul Graham
Einar Vollset
Sherry Walling
Travis Kalanick
AppSumo
Joanna Wiebe
Leanna Patch
Rand Fishkin
Dharmesh Shah
HubSpot
Moz
SparkToro
Pat Flynn

This week's sponsor:

This week's episode is brought to you by Dynamite Jobs

Dynamite Jobs is a service that helps entrepreneurs and listeners of this show find top, experienced talent to join their teams.  These types of remote positions can be especially challenging to hire for, and we specialize in making that process easy.  For those of you who are on the hunt for a new opportunity, we know how frustrating it can be to find good remote jobs, so we only work with established, reputable companies offering great remote opportunities.

If you're looking for a new job in the new year, check out DynamiteJobs.co.

Enjoyed this podcast? Check out these:

TMBA 326: To VC or Not to VC, That is the Question
TMBA 436: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together
TMBA 475: The Messy Marketplace

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HAVE COMMENTS ABOUT THE SHOW?

Do you have ideas for things you'd like Dan and Ian to discuss on future episodes?

Our producer Jane would love to hear from you at jane@tropicalmba.com or leave us a voice message using the record button below.

Thanks for listening to our show! We'll be back next Thursday morning 8AM EST.

Cheers,

Dan & Ian

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TMBA 481: Our Favorite Books of the Past 12 Months

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TMBA 479: Quitting Social Media - “The ‘Walled Garden’ Experiment Is a Big Failure”