Comments on: The Bootstrapped, Scalable Start-up: Charlie vs. Ted (Part II)

By: Matt Ackerson

Matt Ackerson — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:39:31 +0000

Ok…

By: Michael Miller

Michael Miller — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:31:08 +0000

sometimes Sales Management takes a lot of effort and skill.-*;

By: Matt A.*

Matt A.* — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:12:11 +0000

Hey John. A sales major would be a very useful major I think, wish they had that when I was an undergrad. I think academia looks down on “practicum” like that though, at least it some schools. I’m glad to hear that Universities like Clarkson have an entrepreneurship major.

I think if one were to craft a sales major it would certainly have to include the study of scalability (e.g. how do you scale a sales operation to produce repeatable results)

By: John Exley

John Exley — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:29:19 +0000

This story reminds me of Mike Michalowicz’s “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” philosophy…how entrepreneurs are more creative and resourceful with the less outside funding they have.

Very interesting read. A good endorsement for starting small and and not trying to “fake it to make it” by leasing the big office and raising VC money with no products sold.

We have an entrepreneurship major here at Clarkson University, and I know several friends around the country who are entrepreneurship majors (Bryant University, Wichita State, etc.) and they love their program.

Your article makes me think more of the potential impact a “Sales” major might have. I think a sales degree might be better suited for the aspiring entrepreneur, and more applicable for someone who is passionate about business but not certain she/he wants to pursue starting her/his own company.

By: Matt A.*

Matt A.* — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:36:04 +0000

Thank’s for the comment Ahmad, I’m really glad you enjoyed it. I think you’re definitely right with respect to not getting ahead of oneself in doing a start-up. Ted knew that he could produce the Digi-Widgets on a small scale at first without drawing on outside funding, but Charlie thought he needed it to grow a bigger team, which turned out to be more expensive and complex than he had anticipated. A lack of funding required Ted and his partners to work a bit harder for a while, but for Charlie, the irony is that it really became burden in some ways.

By: Ahmad

Ahmad — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:20:06 +0000

This was a really good write up and a really good read!! For a newbie into the business and entrepreneurial world, to see a role play story of organic company growth is really eye opening.

I think Ted’s success in growing his business was from experience. Ted, unlike charlie, was not concerned with going big from the start. Ted worked his way up step by step continuously building on a solid foundation.

Charlie saw the potential his company had and wanted to just scale it up – he went to investors, got more money, hired more workers and hustled in the same manner he started in.

Ted networked to improve his brand name and bring in new customers, he employed workers under a cost effective system and slowly built them up. Ted’s business was progressing slowly but surely.

Mistakes to avoid – don’t get ahead of yourself even if you have a terrific idea!!