Bootstrapping is not an easy path to building a business. But it also can be extremely gratifying, and the best way for a big payoff down the road.
The Pacific Northwest is full of hard-core bootstrappers, those folks who are using their own resources to get their startup ideas off the ground. Today’s category — Bootstrapper of the Year — recognizes those achievements (and the long hours that many of the entrepreneurs put in).
Thanks to category sponsor HasOffers, which won this award last year.
We kicked off voting for the GeekWire Awards last week (see previous categories here) and we’ll continue tabulating the votes in the 14 categories as we announce new finalists every day. The winners will be revealed at the big GeekWire Awards bash on May 9 in Seattle.
Here are the five finalists for Bootstrapper of the Year:
Adam Doppelt, Brenda Spoonemore, Dwellable: The makers of the popular online vacation rental application have injected a bootstrapping culture from the very beginning. But they aren’t playing “small ball,” taking on the likes of HomeAway and others. Doppelt has done it before too, bootstrapping Urbanspoon to a nice success. Can the Dwellable crew strike again?
Steve Murch, BigOven: For the longest time, Steve Murch was building BigOven on his own, joking that it was just him and his dog (Then, his dog died). But Murch, who previously sold VacationSpot.com to Expedia, is very much keeping the flame alive at BigOven. The company announced in February that it had topped more than eight million downloads for the mobile recipe apps, competing against much larger brands such as AllRecipes.com.
Matthew Matsudaira, Adorii: The developer of the daily deal site for weddings isn’t married to the idea of bootstrapping long-term, but CEO Matthew Matsudaira said it did help the startup get off the ground. “It allowed us to be agile and move quickly to deliver an (minimum viable product) to the marketplace,” he says. Adorii is trying to make weddings more affordable, offering discounts of as much as 80 percent on selected goods and services.
David Niu, TinyHR: Seattle entrepreneur David Niu returned from what he dubbed his 15-country “careercation” with a goal of changing the way companies interact with employees. TinyHR’s TinyPulse product is the result, an easy-to-use online tool that gives leaders of companies a “pulse” on how happy, burnt out and frustrated their employees are. The entrepreneur, who previously co-founded BuddyTV and NetConversions, is bootstrapping TinyHR.
Sunny Singh, Edifecs: The healthcare IT company has built a powerful business over the past 17 years, and now boasts more than 400 employees and over 500 customers. Profitable and debt free, it is routinely ranked as one of Inc. magazine’s fastest-growing public companies. Prior to founding Edifecs, Singh worked at Microsoft and Expeditors International. But he’s bootstrapped Edifecs all of the way.
The GeekWire Awards — originally started by Seattle entrepreneur Marcelo Calbucci — are in their 5th year now. Past winners have included Tableau Software, PopCap Games, angel investor Andy Sack, Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh, Zillow Chairman Rich Barton and many others.
Thanks again to our “Bootstrapper of the Year” category sponsor: HasOffers. Make sure to get your tickets today for this one-of-a-kind event today.
Previous categories: GeekWire Awards: Vote for Young Entrepreneur of the Year … Vote for Next Tech Titan… Vote for App of the Year… Vote for Perk of the Year… Vote for Do-Gooder of the Year… Vote for Startup CEO of the Year… Vote for Game of the Year…
