This is not a new story. At least, not the first part of it.
About two months ago, the company I had founded, Synup had grown 4000% in a year but, we were still burning money like crazy.
It was really bugging me that we were growing so fast, adding so much more revenue, but still had to depend on external sources for growth capital. This is not how truly strong businesses are built, at least not in B2B SaaS.
We had two options — give up on trying to get profitable and raise more money. Or, do the logical thing, get cash-flow positive.
I needed to break the news
On a Friday, I brought the entire team in for a meeting and told them what had to be told. We were not going to be raising money any time soon, not because we couldn’t, because it wasn’t the right thing to do.
We needed to be cash-flow positive, otherwise, we’re yet another struggling startup dependent on handouts for survival.
I needed to take responsibility
Being unprofitable is really a founder responsibility. More so, the CEO’s responsibility. I have the title; now, I needed to play the part.
I told my team that I wouldn’t take a salary, even though I had practically zero savings and would tough it out until we got to a point where the company could afford to pay me.
Call this a moral high, taking responsibility or cliched, but this needed to be done.
There needed to be a physical reminder
It wasn’t enough to just make an announcement. There needed to be a physical reminder that drove the point into everyone’s head that we were still not where we needed to be. It had to be something that people couldn’t miss.
So, I offered not to shave. At least until we reached the point of breakeven.
It was so friggin hard
Everyone had to make sacrifices, work 2x harder and we had to cut costs. But, we did it.
We could no longer afford “breathing room”; we had to be shipping, selling and busting balls everyday. This wasn’t the kiddie pool anymore, it was the real deal. I’m sure everyone who worked with me had to push themselves to the limit, but they still did, because they believed in what we’re doing and for that I will be forever indebted.
On a personal front, I realized that I couldn’t grow much of a beard and had to bum food off my employees. Nothing, I repeat, nothing can be as bad as not shaving when you obviously can’t grow a proper beard.
There were times when I just wanted to give up and take the money
There were still people willing to give us money, not a lot, but enough to make the pain stop. The entire startup ecosystem in our country, unfortunately, encourages you to take as much money as frequently as possible. It’s almost like we’ve become a society that actually celebrates raising more venture capital.
But, I resisted. I knew in my heart that taking more money when were so close to getting there wasn’t the right thing to do. Nothing can really be accomplished in life without a little pain.
We became cash-flow positive this month and doubled revenue
It was the greatest feeling in the world. To have a goal, something that drove everyone in the organization, something that seemed impossible; and, actually make it happen. We had actually grown 100% in two months to make this happen.
We are now in control of our own destiny, in a small way. We don’t need external capital to pay the bills. Any capital we take will be from the right people and for the right reasons.
My advise to fellow entrepreneurs
Try getting profitable. Even if you don’t have to or need to, just try doing it once. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. Do it as an exercise in restrain and a test of your grit.
You will realize that nothing brings your team together as much as this will. I never thought we could do this as quickly as we did, but I underestimated how much more motivated everyone gets when there’s a common cause.
Guest Post by Ashwin Ramesh, A (s)crappy entrepreneur who runs http://synup.com and tweets @ashwin_ramesh