Bootstrapped : The Lighter Side - The Podcast For B2B SaaS Founders

This week on Bootstrapped: The Lighter Side, we sit down with Scott Sehon, founder of Mod4 Finance—an outsourced accounting and CFO consultancy for B2B tech companies. With over 20 years of experience, Scott offers valuable insights on the role of a CFO in a startup, when founders should consider bringing one on board, and why many opt for a fractional CFO instead of a full-time hire.

In this part one of a two part series of Bootstrapped: The Lighter Side, Patrick Philley, Lighter Capital’s Head of Underwriting, and Tanner Kovacevich, Lighter’s VP of Sales, discuss the hidden costs and hidden risks they frequently see founders miss when taking on debt. Learn how to navigate the intricacies and potential pitfalls of funding a startup with debt from two seasoned experts who have been helping entrepreneurs grow on their terms for nearly a decade.

Ken Wilcox, who spent 20 years at Silicon Valley Bank, shares his strategies for making good decisions, hiring, and keeping everyone in the loop. He also discusses highlights from his book, "Leading Through Culture," and why culture trumps strategy. This episode is a Masterclass on leading people and culture, complete with practical advice for first-time CEOs and founders.

Dave Hersh mostly bootstrapped a small open-source communications project into an IPO-ready SaaS business that you might have heard of called Jive Software. More than a decade later, he's using his expertise to help turn struggling startups around. Dave shares his wisdom that's captured in his new book, "Reignitition: Transforming Stuck Startups into Breakout Winners," a playbook for the growing startups in the middle that don't want to blindly follow VC money. Dave offers tough but effective advice for getting a startup unstuck, including managing layoffs, confronting past decisions, and more.

Tracy Davis and Melissa have an engaging conversation on why solving a business problem is crucial for a startup's success. Tracy shares how she uncovered the business problem for Trax Analytics and why their solution is so important for clients. She delves into the importance of asking prospective clients a simple question - “What’s the cost of not doing something?” and how this one question provides a springboard for a sales proposition and solution. She also talks about funding, why she decided venture capital wasn’t suitable for her company, and the importance of being a true leader.

Melissa and Dan Gallancy, CEO/Co-founder of Atakama, have an in-depth conversation on what it takes to start a company. His journey started in finance, exposing him to how others finance and create businesses. He then jumped into Bitcoin in the early days, which turned to filling the need for a multifactor encryption platform. He details how they financed the company, including personal capital, funding from venture capital, equity crowdfunding, and non-dilutive funding from Lighter Capital.

We are fortunate to call ⁠Marc Verissimo⁠ our Chairman. With over 40 years of banking and finance experience, including serving as Silicon Valley Bank’s Chief Risk Officer, Marc has a unique view of what’s happening in finance and banking. When we last spoke with Marc, he shared insights on the contributing factors to SVB's downfall. Today he reveals what the continued changes in banking will mean to venture capital, venture debt, and the overall impact it may have on startups.

Melissa engages with the founders of Ticket Socket, Mark Miller and Kai Blache, to discuss their journey of founding and managing a white-label event ticketing and registration startup. Mark and Kai share why they started TicketSocket, how they built a company culture that creates happy and dedicated employees, the advantages of tribal thinking and decision-making, and why non-dilutive funding was the right fit for their company, including how revenue-based financing provided the flexibility they needed during the pandemic.