John Cook over at TechFlash was nice enough to ask me to do a guest post on bootstrapping. This one is on how much runway you need to get your business over the hump.

“The single biggest enemy of an indeterminate amount of time needed for success is a deadline. And nothing gives you a deadline like taking money from venture capitalists who need a liquidity event within a specific timeframe.”

Not to be outdone, Marcello Calbucci over at Seattle 2.0 was also nice enough to ask me to do a guest post on bootstrapping as part of a series of posts this week. This one is on the specifics of doing consulting as a mechanism for bootstrapping your non-consulting tech startup (like we’re doing).

“…odds are, that the job you do today five days a week can be a consulting gig for some other company (or maybe even the company that currently employs you full time). If you’ve determined that you in fact do have some skills that people will pay you for on a consulting basis, then it’s time to go get those gigs.”

Both John and Marcello are very kind to invite me to blab on their fine websites. But the NWEN folks have one-upped them ;) by having me come in person to their bootstrapping workshop tomorrow to give a talk on lessons learned from the real world. I should have posted about this earlier (apologies NWEN) but it looks like you can still register.

Believe it or not, I try to shy away from giving advice on topics where I don’t feel like I have much to point to that I’ve personally accomplished (my friends may debate this assertion). But I suppose, when it comes to bootstrapping, (at least the part where you are making self-sustaining revenue that lets you try to establish your core business), Jenny, Walter, and I are making it work and have a couple of observations that are worth sharing. I encourage you to check out the posts and workshop listed above.

But if that’s not enough, you should attend our mini-conference next week – Small and Special. It’s a bootstrapper’s dream. First, my speaking will be at a minimum. The main attraction is eight founders of passionate small businesses who have created entities that not only let them do what they love, but also make them a real living. Tickets are limited and we are starting to run out. It’s only $25 for the entire afternoon and that includes a free copy of Small Giants by Bo Burlingham as well as a chance to win an almost $8000 custom animation provided by Lilipip Studios. Buy your tickets now if you want to attend. :)