Sometimes ideas are just so good they get replicated in
spite of themselves. The Bootstrap Network is just one such
group. They have absolutely refined the art of bootstrapping.
At its most basic, the Bootstrap Group is a super support
group. "Super" as in above and beyond all reason.
But it is truly much more than that.
In an age of information overload, a new style of
networking is getting entrepreneurs' attention. Unlike most business
groups, the Bootstrap Network emerged organically, starting with a few
friends of an entrepreneur named Bijoy Goswami. Each of these
entrepreneurs was running business on his own dime, bootstrapping it -- a
tactic far more common that most of us admit. In under three years
the Bootstrap Network grew to more than 500 members in Austin, Texas, and
inspired similar bootstrapping networks in ten other cities, and even some
in other countries.
Why such rapid growth? Well, for one things, there's
mercifully little bureaucracy or politics to slow it down. Nor were
members engaged in small talk or chit chat at monthly meetings.
No, these members are serious. They are connected
via a Yahoo! e-mail group. Most leave the thread open on their
monitors all day. Any time anyone needs anything, dozens of eyes see
the question immediately. Do you know a good furniture store?
Done. Have you used a good head hunter? Got one. How
about an accountant who knows electrical engineering companies?
Here's one.
For those entrepreneurs who typically find themselves on a
desert island when major decisions need to be made, the Bootstrap Group is
an absolute blessing.
This is no chat room. Discussions are limited to
advice, ideas and encouragement amongst the bootstrapping members.
Sometimes, midst the glamour of venture capital and angel
investors, we forget that well over 90% of the new businesses got their
start by bootstrapping. And it is organizations like the Bootstrap
Group that make it possible for many of them to become truly successful.
You may peek in on the
Bootstrap Group Blog.
If there isn't a bootstrapping group in your area, perhaps
it is time to start one. The payback is phenomenal!
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