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Podcast: The SaaS Podcast - AI, Growth & Product-Market Fit for SaaS Founders
Episode: Startup Funding: Bootstrapped 7 Years Then Raised $20M
Description: Two university students with a machine learning thesis, no coding skills, and no money wanted to build a SaaS company. Seven years later, their patience with startup funding paid off - they raised $20M in a single round, skipping VC funding entirely. Pini Yakuel turned down $1.5 million in SaaS fundraising in 2012 and kept bootstrapping.
Optimove's startup funding strategy was unconventional. Pini used consulting revenue to self-fund the business, grew 100% year over year, and waited until the company had real traction before raising a seed round from a growth fund instead of a traditional VC. That delayed approach...