Page 8 - The Bootstrapper Bible

ChangeThis discovery of his from the 1960s, an adhesive-removing liquid, and sold the rights to make and market it to a company headed by his son. Heʼs also working on new designs for fishing floats and a home security system. Driven to search for success? Hardly. Foleyʼs just following his bootstrapping nature on a journey thatʼs lasted a lifetime. “I was born with a gift,” he shrugs. “Ideas pop into my head.” WHAT’S A BIG COMPANY GOT THAT YOU HAVEN’T GOT? Most of the companies you deal with every day, read about in the media, or learn about in school are companies with hundreds or thousands of employees. They have an ongoing cash flow and a proven business model. (Iʼll explain what that is in the next chapter.) Because this is the way youʼve always seen business done, itʼs easy to imagine that the only way to run a business is with secretaries and annual reports and lawyers and fancy offices. Of course, this isnʼt true, but itʼs worth taking a look at the important distinctions between what they do and what you do. Just as playing table tennis is very different from playing Wimbledon tennis, bootstrapping your own business is a world apart from running IBM. You need to understand the differ- ences, and you need to understand how you can use your size to your advantage. Traditional companies succeed for a number of reasons, but there are five key leverage points that many of them capitalize on. | iss. 6.01 | i | U | X | + | Be bold. Dream up your own manifesto and SUBMIT your idea here. h 8/103 f