Thank you HN: 3 years of bootstrapping

I wanted to share an achievement and thanks to this community. Our startup, 2600hz, has hit 3 years of life without venture funding. This, frankly, wasn't by choice, and we'd have loved to have VC money early on, but it changed the way we had to operate in a few ways I want to share.

* Our focus became revenue and only revenue

* We hired based on need not dreams

* We were exceptionally frugal on marketing efforts

Because of these three axioms, which were not part of the business plan originally, the last 3 years have been painful, but the pain has been its own reward. This community, with its brutal honesty and exceptional advice, has been one that I'm proud to be a member of since joining a few years ago. I like this community and I thank you for allowing me to be a part of it.

This post isn't about 2600hz, but about the dreams of entrepreneurship and of suffering the indignities of reality to achieve something greater.

You can bootstrap a startup from 0 to 30 employees in 3 years. You can bootstrap a startup to X,000,000 in revenue. You can do it, and if my experience is any indication, HN is here to help.

My advice is to dream big, and if you've got an itch you just have to scratch even when everyone tells you it's impossible, well then you just might be an entrepreneur ;).

Thanks.