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Alternatives to Unicorn Chasing VCs with Sramana Mitra
Rating: 4.4 out of 5(26 ratings)
85 students

Alternatives to Unicorn Chasing VCs with Sramana Mitra

Case Studies of Investors (Venture Capitalists, Angels) NOT Primarily Interested in Unicorns on Venture Capital Funding
Created bySramana Mitra
Last updated 2/2025
English

What you'll learn

  • Through in-depth interviews and case studies, gain insights on the alternatives to traditional Unicron-chasing VCs.
  • Why 99% of entrepreneurs who are seeking funding get rejected by VCs.
  • Why traditional VCs only invest in hyper-growth startups with billion-dollar TAMs.
  • What non-Unicorn startups are and how investors think about them.
  • What some of the key considerations for investors are when they evaluate startups.
  • What bootstrapping to exit is and why it is important.
  • How entrepreneurs can best position themselves for success when they are building non-Unicorn startups.
  • What some of the common mistakes are that entrepreneurs make when pitching their startups to VCs.
  • What is the fastest way to find relevant sources of funding when building non-Unicorn startups.

Course content

2 sections • 18 lectures • 4h 32m total length

  • Introduction1:26
  • Entrepreneur - Investor Fit8:57
  • Why is Bootstrapping to Exit Important?5:58

    Over the last decade and more, I’ve had the privilege of working with a large number of bootstrapped entrepreneurs. These include self-financed companies and also modestly capitalized startups that operate in a capital-efficient manner applying the principles of bootstrapping. I’ve also interviewed hundreds of investors, especially micro-VCs and angels who are playing and important role in the early stage game. In working through the current landscape of our industry, a few trends become evident. In this lecture, I highlight the importance of facilitating capital-efficient startups and smaller exits, including with small chunks of investment.

  • The Buy Side of Bootstrapping to Exit9:06

    Here I double-click down on the buy-side psychology of the B2E phenomenon.

  • Thought Leader in FinTech: Grain Co-founder and COO Carl Memnon40:48

    Grain Co-founder and COO Carl Memnon discusses Grain’s FinTech innovation, and also some of the unique ways in which his company has been financed. Excellent conversation.

  • Alternatives to Traditional Venture Capital with Bryce Roberts, Indie.vc25:52

    Bryce Roberts is Managing Director, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV), and Founder, Indie.vc. We cover the issues with the venture capital financing model, and explore alternatives.

  • Non-Unicorn Chasing Investment Philosophy: Christopher Mirabile, Launchpad25:35

    Christopher Mirabile is Senior Managing Director at Launchpad Venture Group. We have an awesome conversation about a non-Unicorn chasing investment philosophy.

  • Naganand Doraswamy of Ideaspring Capital: Non-Unicorn Chasing Philosophy25:35

    Naganand Doraswamy, Managing Partner and Founder at Ideaspring Capital, adds to our thesis on great investment opportunities within the sub $100 million exit space.

  • Debt Financing Options for Bootstrapped Startups with Joe Silver, Lighter Capita16:53

    Joe Silver, CFO at Lighter Capital, discusses his firm’s debt-financing model for startups.

  • Non-Unicorn Investment Thesis with Kyle Asman, Backswing Ventures21:39

    Kyle Asman is Managing Director at Backswing Ventures, a firm that has a non-Unicorn investment thesis.

  • Niche is Beautiful Says Veteran Seed Investor Nitin Rai, Elevate Capital27:37

    Nitin Rai, Managing Director at Elevate Capital, makes a compelling case for investing in niche businesses with the upfront goal of scoring early exits. Excellent discussion!

  • Not All Micro-VCs Are Chasing Unicorns With Steve Beck, Serra Ventures27:09

    Steve Beck, Managing Partner at Serra Ventures, discusses his firm’s non-Unicorn investment thesis. Refreshing to hear.

  • Midwestern Deals and Early Exits with Mark Hasebroock, Dundee Venture Capital22:38

    Mark Hasebroock is Founder at Dundee Venture Capital, based in Omaha, Nebraska. During this podcast interview, Mark discusses investing in the US Midwest. His firm likes small, capital-efficient deals and they are open to early exits

  • Bootstrapping to Exit Case Studies3:24

    Shared as an external resource is the article about Freshworks that I discuss in this lecture as well as the following Bootstrapping to Exit case studies for you to learn from:

    - Freshworks Has Acquired Nine Capital Efficient Startups

    - Bootstrapping to Exit: TimeSlips CEO Mitch Russo

    - Bootstrapping to Exit: Imagine Easy Solutions CEO Neal Taparia

    - Bootstrapping, Fund Raising and Exit: Mads Jensen’s Journey with Sefaira

    - Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Business to Exit: Dara Greaney, CEO of BuyAutoParts.com

    - Creative Bootstrapping To A 350 Million Dollar Exit: Nimsoft CEO Gary Read

    - Scaling to a $700M Exit: Zain Jaffer, CEO of Vungle

    - Long Journey to a $435M Exit: Bytemobile Cofounders Chris Koopmans and Nicholas Stavrakos

    - From Friends and Family Funding to $30 Million Exit: Vertical Response Founder Janine Popick

  • Why Do Large Companies Like to Buy Bootstrapped Startups?5:13
  • Can You Build a Unicorn from Australia, outside Silicon Valley?0:54

Requirements

  • The only requirement for this course is an open mind and a willingness to learn.

Description

The 1Mby1M Methodology is based on case studies. In this course, Sramana Mitra shares the tribal knowledge of tech entrepreneurs by giving students the rare seat at the table with the entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders who provide the most instructive perspectives on how to build a thriving business. Through these conversations, students gain access to case studies exploring the alleys of entrepreneurship. Sramana’s synthesis of key learnings and incisive analysis add great depth to each discussion.

Raising money is a low probability game. You need to understand how investors think to be able to raise money successfully for your startup.

During this course, I will be teaching how investors who are not chasing Unicorns think about and analyze startups. We will have in-depth conversations around startups with several real world investors.

Designed for tech entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who may not be building a startup with Unicorn potential, this course provides insights into the minds of several investors operating in this space for many years in their own words.

Over the last decade and more, I’ve had the privilege of working with a large number of bootstrapped entrepreneurs. These include self-financed companies and also modestly capitalized startups that operate in a capital-efficient manner applying the principles of bootstrapping. I’ve also interviewed hundreds of investors, especially micro-VCs and angels who are playing in the early stage game.

As I expected, a large number of investors are still chasing Unicorns. However, I am pleased to report that I have spoken with a number of investors who recognize the niche opportunities and answer yes to my questions above. Yes, they are interested in investing small amounts and harvesting through smaller exits.

Join us to learn more.

The 1Mby1M courses are all heavily based on interview-based case studies on Innovation, Business Models, Go To Market Strategies, Validation Principles, and various other nuances of an entrepreneur's journey. We offer extensive opportunities for entrepreneurs to learn the lessons from the trenches from successful entrepreneurs who have done it before and Investors who support their ambition.

Who this course is for:

  • Ambitious entrepreneurs who want to pursue ideas for which they have both passion and expertise.
  • Engineers who want to turn their tech knowledge into multi-million dollar revenue businesses by becoming startup founders rather than remain employees.
  • Aspiring founders who want to increase their chances of being accepted into top startup accelerators such as Y Combinator, Techstars, and 500 Startups.
  • Any entrepreneur who wants to learn from successful entrepreneurs who have done it before and from investors who have supported them.
  • Professors teaching technology entrepreneurship courses anywhere in the world.

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