What initially drove me to the startup community was the plethora of stories just waiting to be told. The great ideas flow, the passion is immense and the characters are endless. But through all the networking parties and coffees with young CEOs, there was still one question that I couldn’t get out of my head – where do these people get their money? I don’t mean their funding, but the actual cash to pay their bills, buy their groceries and pick up those bar tabs for shots. It’s actually been bothering me. I myself hustle for contracts, but these guys seem to sit all day on their computers at Starbucks and they still drive better cars than me (not that I’m complaining about my free-and-clear Dodge Neon, thankyouverymuch).
Through talking with those in the start-up world, I think I figured out how they are doing it. Read on – I know you’ve been wondering, too.
They take seriously high paying jobs for a year and save it all.
Harvard, Bentley, Babson – this city is full of business “potential.” Top performing recent grads can take those killer transcripts to the bank and start working for Bain and LEK. After a year of living in a Brighton apartment with 5 other people and just putting all that money away, they have enough to quit and then start their own company before raising a round of capital a year later.
Parents
The simplest answer – parents. Parents think any kid who sets up their Facebook page is brilliant and must have the next big idea and are ready to bankroll their suburban kid’s dreams. “Oh honey, I’m not sure what an iPhone app is, but it sounds just divine! Change the billing address on your credit card to the house.”
Fast cash business
It might not be their best idea, but the really smart ones have figured out a quick and simple business idea they can run on the fly, but make some fast cash. We heard of a couple of guys making comedic cereal boxes and selling them at the Democratic National Convention.
Bartending
An easy, part-time and fun job to help generate an income, but not cramp your start-up style too badly. Crush computers all day, head to the bar at night. Bonus: you can buy your friend (and maybe future investors) shots.
Freelance “Social Media Consultants”
Do you know how to use Twitter and Facebook? Of course you do. Did you know you too could bill yourself as a social media consultant with these simple skills? A bunch of people in the start-up community seem to take contracts as social media consultants and it doesn’t take too much time out of their day - update a business’s status on facebook, send out some Tweets, maybe even write a blog post in 15 minutes and they’ve billed a whole day.
Are you a bootstrapped startup employee? How are you paying your bills?
