Alex Ghiculescu: Bootstrapping a SaaS company to 8-figures of revenue

To bootstrap or not to bootstrap – that is the question.

Is it better to build a business from the ground up without any outside funding, or to take the sweet venture capitalist money and run? 

I’m Jason Andrew, and this is Stark Naked Numbers. It’s the podcast that strips down the numbers of business, investing and wealth creation to help you become a better entrepreneur and a better investor, and ultimately build your net worth. 

This episode, I’m joined by Alex Ghiculescu. Alex is one of the co-founders of Tanda, a self-funded SaaS success story that builds best-in-market workforce management and wage compliance software.  

We debate the pros and cons of taking outside money – because just quietly, I think they’re leaving money on the table by not doing it. 

Links: 

Keep up with Alex’s newsletter at ghiculescu.substack.com. 

Subscribe to Stark Naked Numbers on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your pods.  

Want the secrets the other accountants won’t give you? Follow Jason Andrew on LinkedIn.

To learn more about uncovering your financials, unlocking your cash and unleashing your cash, visit starknakednumbers.com.

Show Notes: 

(00:45) Alex and Tanda’s backstory, from a uni pub to a SaaS success story doing eight figures in annual recurring revenue  

(03:48) Why Alex and his co-founders chose to bootstrap from day one 

(13:28) The pros and cons of taking money from outside investors 

(21:21) How Tanda responded when one of their closest competitors raised over $100 million 

(26:42) Why building a profitable business is like building a muscle 

(29:11) How Alex and his co-founders, who are all equal on the cap table, make decisions about money 

(32:55) How Tanda’s founders balanced building a business with survival, and how they decided what to pay themselves 

(38:11) How to incentivise staff when stocks are off the table 

(43:29) How the founders of Tanda got involved in the fruit trade 

(47:57) If Tanda sold tomorrow, what would Alex do instead? 

(54:00) The dirty truth about the AFR Rich List 

(57:27) How Alex rediscovered his spark by working on his newsletter