From Bootstrapped to a VC-Funded Company

Onur Geneş is the founder of Nureply which is an AI-powered outbound automation tool that helps you to create your personalized sequences with one click.

He started his journey by bootstrapping and VCs started to reach out to him because of the sustainable growth.

In this interview, he shared stories of his bootstrapping and VC-funded parts.

You can find the sneak peek of the interview on this post as it's too long to share. For more details, check this link.

Question: Can you give us some details about your background and your bootstrapping journey?

Epistio is the name of the agency I launched 4 years ago and it is more complex than a simple software service agency. It involved bootstrapping several products on my own, complemented by running an agency to maintain financial stability. Initially, my career was centered around iOS and mobile development.

This journey involved many experiments with apps. While some achieved success, most did not, a common narrative in this field. Eventually, I shifted focus to web apps, recognizing the limitations of putting all efforts into a single app. I began offering services to larger companies, including major Swiss banks and top companies in Turkey specializing in Learning Management Systems.

For example, we helped a Swiss bank reduce their support workload by creating a custom website builder. For an LMS company, we maintained their Android and iOS apps, ensuring stability for about 18 months until they transitioned to a different platform.

One of my initial ventures was ThreadMaker. It was designed to break down long texts or blog posts into tweet-friendly segments. It gained traction with various users, including entities from the UK government. Despite modest profits, an attractive acquisition offer came in at 150 times its earnings.

Question: Before focusing on VC funding, tell us about your experience as a solopreneur.

My role in development was just one face of my responsibilities. Being a multidisciplinary individual, especially when running an agency, requires a wide range of skills. It's not just about creating software; it's about ensuring the quality of the work, understanding the market, and effectively communicating with clients. This diverse experience was invaluable.

When you're selling a service, the most crucial element is the trust between you and the client. If they trust you, they're more likely to assign you projects. You either manage them successfully or learn from failures, which is an inevitable part of the process.

However, selling a product is a different ball game. It's challenging to retain customers and ensure continuous engagement with the product. My typical day wasn't structured around a strict to-do list or calendar. I prefer a more fluid approach, focusing on what needs to be done at any given moment. This flexibility allows me to shift my focus based on immediate requirements, whether it's development, marketing, or customer engagement.

For instance, I might plan to engage with communities on Reddit, providing help and promoting my product. However, if I find that dedicating time to development would be more beneficial at that moment, I switch my focus. It's all about adapting to the needs of the day.

Customer service is another critical aspect.

At Nureply, we maintain a policy of responding to customer inquiries within an hour.

This quick response time is vital for customer satisfaction, but it's challenging as a solo entrepreneur, especially when dealing with clients across different time zones. But I've found that if you build a product that's intuitive and requires less support, it significantly reduces the strain on customer service, making the solo journey more manageable.

Question: After VC funding, what changes did you implement?

So it's a complicated thing to manage that kind of a money coming in at once.

Because when you're bootstrapping money, it's easy. You know, it's just like, you know what you're doing and you know, the bottlenecks of the business and you're just like trying to automate it. If it doesn't work, you're just like putting a person on top. Just do this part, take this part from me, but we see funding as soon as it lands.

You need a huge team because you are looking for scaling. You are not looking for automating stuff anymore. So for scaling, you need a lot of people. And the first thing I did was, everything I automated, but I know it wasn't working like exactly as I wanted. I just found a person who can. Automate this part better than me and keep an eye out and eventually this is the thing that you should do.

Because this is what I believe, this is the approach we have taken with the funding. The next step is different from the typical bootstrap marketing strategy, where founders often try various tactics, seeing what resonates. This method can be effective up to a certain point, but it's important to eventually concentrate on one or two channels that are consistently bringing in customers. Focusing and even doubling down on these channels is crucial. However, with VC funding, we have the luxury of not just relying on these proven channels. While they continue to attract customers who love our product, we also have the opportunity to explore new areas, like different niches, groups, or individuals who might be interested. This allows us to test and expand into new markets.

So this gives you that flexibility. Actually, it helps you to save time a bit and try many things compared to bootstrapping. Like you're buying time with VC money instead of just putting the effort by yourself. You're having a team that everybody works for the same thing from a different angle.