Deep Dive
What I learned from 56 $250k+ businesses
Some of the key takeaways from the 2025 Bootstrapped Report
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She ditched her elite networks to build a $250k biz
Why the local business community mattered more than her corporate rolodex
One bootstrapped biz is solving the nursing crisis
From $40K credit card debt to $4M annual revenue: How one teacher built a bootstrapped business that's solving America's nursing crisis one student at a time.
How a $5,000 Lean Startup Experiment Became Michigan’s Innovation Hub
Launched above a Detroit bail bonds office with borrowed money and Ikea furniture, Bamboo has grown into a community that’s reshaping Michigan’s startup ecosystem.
From Classroom to $25M Software Agency
What happens when a professor trades lesson plans for business plans?
A Baby's Sleep Problem Led to a $3.5M Business
Liz Hilton couldn't sell her baby sleep product through retail or Amazon - until one TikTok video changed everything.
Why This Founder Said NO to Easy VC Money
When everyone was raising "free money" during the 2020 COVID boom, this founder did the opposite
She Got Paid for Her MBA Instead
Instead of paying for an MBA, Layla Pomper treated her business as her education and got paid $250,000 to learn while building ProcessDriven from an overqualified virtual assistant into a YouTube-powered operations consulting company.
Sleeping in Boats Led to This $300k Studio
How Kylen Blom turned a college pitch competition into sleeping in boats around the Great Lakes and eventually building a $300k creative studio in Holland, MI.
NASA Writer to $1M Founder
From NASA writer to $1M web agency founder through mindset shifts and putting service before sales.
They Made $1 Million+ Going Against Google
Two bootstrapped founders proved that sometimes the best way to compete with a tech giant is to be everything they're not - simple, privacy-focused, and not free.
The Email Strategy Behind Her Template Business
Sam Vander Wielen turned a surprising conference moment into an $8M legal template business when entrepreneurs sought her legal advice instead of her health coaching.
Data built a $250k Ice Cream Shop
How a data scientist built a $250k ice cream shop before serving a single scoop.
The metrics of a successful online community
If you’re building your own online community, it’s really tricky to figure out what metrics to use for success. Thankfully, Circle provides some answers with their 2024 Community Benchmark Report
Save thousands on software tools with Secret
Save thousands of dollars on software you're already using.
My favorite online community platform
Community businesses are becoming a hot trend. Here is Matt's favorite online community platform.