Editor's Note: Earlier this week, Rhode Island Inno debuted the first entry in its "Bootstrapping in Rhode Island" series, where we heard from media and publishing entrepreneur Anne Holland on what it's like to raise one's own funds (without venture capital) in the Ocean State. Today, we're highlighting the perspective of another Rhode Island boostrapper, Yuri Tomikawa of Zencare.
"Bootstrapping a startup means starting lean and without the help of outside capital," a Forbes article on the concept states. "It means continuing to fuel growth internally from cash flow produced by the business."
For Tomikawa, it made the most sense as she built her four-year-old company, a free website for users to find quality therapists.
"Therapy seekers can filter by insurance, neighborhood and availability, watch a therapist introductory video, and book a free initial call to find a great fit," she explained. "We serve any individual seeking mental health care, with a particular focus on women in their 20s and 30s."
"What you need at the beginning is a minimum viable product and you'd be surprised how low cost testing for that can be."
For Tomikawa, the choice to boostrap her concept — born out of Tomikawa's difficulty finding a quality therapist in her own time of need — happened organically.
"I wanted to test the idea and wanted to focus my energy at the beginning on learning about the market and building our product, more than fundraising," she said.
It was a choice she made on her own after carefully weighing her options.
"I didn't consult many others," Tomikawa continued. "I had seen so many awesome mental health startups shut down after raising a lot of money, and I didn't want to be at the whim of investors while I was still figuring out the business."
VC Investment, she argued, is something is great for scaling, once a startup team has a lock on product-market fit.
"I think investment is a great way to turbo charge growth once you know X —how much you need — to get Y result," Tomikawa said.
She argued that there's a misconception about how much startups think they need as they get started with their product, or that their offerings have to be perfect at first blush.
"What you need at the beginning is a minimum viable product and you'd be surprised how low cost testing for that can be," she said.
Considering the Rhode Island bootstrap landscape, Tomikawa said she felt it varied from industry to industry and each startup's perspective and goals.
"Every startup situation is unique," she explained. "Figure out A. What your company needs of you (e.g. if you're in consumer packaged goods/require manufacturing, chances are you're going to need funding), and B. What's most important to you (e.g. fast testing and growth, control of the company etc).
