startupi

Part 2 of the article Bootstrap education.

Have you seen what happens in Brazilian cities when a multinational corporation uninstalls itself? It leaves behind thousands of people without jobs and a market unable to absorb the impact.

So, too, with any closed system, be it a paternalistic government or a large company the size of which allows it the autonomy and authority to function like a nuclear power plant: if you shut it down or stop maintaining it, it explodes and takes out everything around it. Recognize the interdependence of all the actors and factors; embrace co-authorship! Read more…

Some people understand bootstrapping as starting a business without money. Others as a concept from Physics that refers to moments or places with a concentration of factors that are happening more powerfully there than elsewhere. From that, reality emerges.

I spent some time thinking about it and decided bootstrap education is a good form for sharing, like what The Hub Winter School is doing. The Hub has a great program in São Paulo and in Amsterdam (where it is the Summer School). For me, these three weeks of dynamic participation generated by users function as a perfect prototype for sustainable business. Read more…

Flávio Pripas and Renato Steinberg were working in IT in financial offices. Their wives liked fashion and asked them to help create a blog to talk about trends. The blog became a social network and the couples quit their jobs.

The network allowed users to create looks by virtually combining different items of clothing. Large fashion and entertainment brands showed up to buy, and they defined a product. It was a perfect case of a lean startup starting by bootstrapping, doing excellent consumer development and launching the ideal product-market fit. But it didn’t stop there. Read more…