Bootstrapping
- Posted on: August 23, 2007
- Those Who Had Their Say: 23
I figured you all might want to see what our bootstrapped business is looking like right now. ^_^ If you walked into the room, you would see this on your left:
We are truly bootstrapping this business as of right now. When you are in this situation, cramming yourself into a room with a bunch of equipment is the best option… at least if you want the best possible margins. Pain before pleasure can sum up the idea behind this setup. Right across the room, you can see a familiar character…
We have four computers in the room, three of which (the macbook pros and macbook) run constantly. The only time I turn on my windows xp machine is when we are testing code in internet explorer… which is no fun.
Although offices aren’t too expensive around here, we see no need to add such a cost.
Aside from showing you our bootstrapped apartment office, there isn’t much to say. How does your office look? Are you in a startup that runs on a tight budget?
Josh Mullineaux
Nate Whitehill
Hey, Matt! Your home/apartment office looks really clean. Is it always like that or did you do some “make up” before taking the pics?
Just kidding…
I think it’s great that many young entrepreneurs are not renting office space. We all (or most of us) already have some place where we’re staying and it makes perfect sense to use that place for work as well.
When not at my day job (which I do at a “real” office) I work at my kitchen table using a laptop. Not the best working environment, but I get stuff done there too so it’s OK.
Good luck bootstrapping your company! I see that you’ve already had some successes, which is great!
Tyler Cruz did a review of Deskshot.com, you might want to upload those pics for some more linkbacks and publicity.
I too use the spare room in my apt. It is just me so I a lot of space to lay out ideas and relax. My desk faces the window my back to the door. My cat is my assistant. I claim that portion of my apt rent on my business taxes as well.
Nice working area. Very tidy.
Although whats up with the glasses? Do you guys all wear the same style of glasses or something? ^_^
That’s a pretty class setup.
(And the monitors are incredible. 
)
Thanks, Jarkko!
This is how it looks most of the time. There is a constant clean-up effort, most of which is a result of Nate’s cats running around like crazy beasts. You can see Nienkaylo (black tabby) sitting on my macbook pro if you look right to the left of Josh’s screen.
That’s a cool site I’ve never seen it. I will upload our shots for sure. ^_^
Thanks Daniel
Haha, we just decided to wear glasses for fun. I think it adds to the coolness factor of the shots… jk. ^_^
You do have a nice little room for your business! Neat and tidy!
Mine is at the bedroom, a little messy with notes on the table…
haha I know where your comin from man, ive been crammed in a smaller room with 4 guys and 4 computers for a year straight. it was pretty cramped but it was worth it for the money lol.
Out of curiosity, what kind of monitors do you guys use? I know Nate has the 30″ Apple Cinema display, but what are the other two? Would you recommend them?
They look nice, and I would expect they were cheaper. I am looking for a large monitor, but I know the apple displays are a bit much for me at the moment.
Both Josh and I are using 28″ Hanns-G LCD monitors. They are awesome, and cheap. Only $649 new with warranty. They have 1920×1200 resolution and are brighter than the apple display. I would definitely recommend it if you are looking to get a 24″ monitor because the 28″ is pretty much the same price. If you need more resolution I would go with the dell 30 inch before the mac.
Yup, that’s about how my office looks, too. Given that most of my work is on the computer, I only need that much space.
OMG those monitors are sexy!
Wow I like the L-shaped desk layout. That’s a nice use of that L to create 2 work areas. Clever.
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