For our founders, it was a conscious decision to run qohubs as a bootstrapped start-up.
But what is bootstrapping, what does working in a bootstrapped start-up mean for our board members, and what are the benefits and obstacles of bootstrapping qohubs?
”Bootstrapping a company is starting and growing a business with very limited resources, relying on personal finances or the operating revenues of the new company, instead of seeking external funding from investors or lenders” Source Investopedia.
As announced, we share with you the perspectives of our management team on why qohubs is a bootstrapped company and what does working in a bootstrapped start-up mean for them?
Stephanie Borgert, Chief Solutions Officer: "First of all, there is a focus on being operative and on cash. We spend our money, so we can’t ‘play around.’ So we have to be serious about getting real projects and earning money. When it comes to the solutions we provide to our customers, they must be valuable and problemsolving immediately. There is no time to sit in the office and dream about high-level-sophisticated solutions that we love but nobody needs. This is a point that we, as a team, have to address from time to time to stay focused."
Vladimir Koren, Chief Technology Officer: "Personally, it is the way I like to work because I can achieve my goals with minimal friction in the decision-making process (from a technical point of view). As a CTO, I have no upper management levels dictating the direction of a product without fully understanding the product itself or the technical complexity of a system. Also, as a bootstrapped startup, there are no investors who probably do not care about the direction in which the product evolves, only about the profits the product generates. This could ruin development because the focus is on solutions that make quick money instead of building long-lasting products. Of course, this autonomy in decision-making can also be a double-edged sword because my decisions can also have a negative impact on the product, and I will be held accountable, especially with no investor funds to get us out of that mess. Still, the possibility of failure gives me extra motivation to create something good."
Dijana Vetturelli, Chief Executive Officer: "Based on my observations of organizational realities in funded start-ups and companies, internal bureaucracy often makes them sluggish and inward-looking and keeps the C-level far from the market. Therefore, I believe a bootstrapped start-up has a radical market orientation from each team member. This means the CEO is involved in daily business and business development like any other team member. There is no time to waste on unnecessary reporting, internal compliance, or any paper pushing. While it can be challenging, it is also rewarding because the team atmosphere is built on daily work challenges, responses from the market, and teamwork focused on thinking, reflecting, and finding new solutions."
Goran Antonović, Chief Information Officer: "Bootstrapped start-ups operate with limited resources, and the biggest challenge is to find a cost-effective and scalable solution for both customer's and our team's requirements. From my perspective, the most valuable resource to consider is time. We must carefully analyze our options and decide which technological advancements to undertake and when to execute them. As a team, we often identify the most impactful step forward that we can take to improve the quality of our product. As qohubs grows, scalability becomes a critical factor. The technology we implement should be scalable to accommodate the company's growth without requiring a complete overhaul in the later stages of development. It's a dynamic and challenging role that can be highly rewarding as the start-up grows and succeeds."
Viktor Vetturelli, Chief Operating Officer: "As my colleagues have already emphasized, freedom is an important aspect, and for me, freedom at work is the most important motive. But that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want; it means having a choice and being able to make conscious decisions. This possibility of freedom then creates accountability. From my observation, investors also come up with their rules, which would restrict the people's freedom at qohubs and the accountability that comes with it. Our task is to define principles as the foundation of our collaboration and constantly question whether or not they contribute to value creation for us and our clients."
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