Tom Hunt

Bootstrapping a tech-enabled service to $10m ARR (currently $4.5m).

Biweekly cashflow breakdowns here:

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Chippenham Football Club:

- 5 promotions away from Premier League
- Average attendance: 800
- Approx. £600k revenue
- Will likely trade at 1-2 times revenue

Shall I? 👀

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Running a remote business is challenging, but @raylo offers a reliable way to get team tech and ensure they feel valued from day one.

You keep your capital for growth.

Check out the options for your team here: https://t.co/Sga3AqaLud

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

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We have 77 full-time team members scattered around the globe.

Building a remote team sounds simple, but the biggest headache is the tech gap.

Most founders do not see these real operational challenges coming.

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

We use @raylo to remove this friction.

It takes 60 seconds to set up a subscription, we pay £0 upfront, and tech arrives the next day.

They just launched the new Apple MacBooks for pre-order, shipping from March 10th.

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

He knew he couldn't force a prospect to need market research today.

But he ensured that when that "buying window" finally opened, his brand was the only one they remembered.

Catch the full breakdown here: https://t.co/DY74gcqoAf

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Handwritten notes.

Every two weeks.

To the whole market.

An outrageous outbound strategy, but it worked for @Nick_HagueB2B and B2B International.

They scaled to £20m before exiting to Dentsu.

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Instead of the "hard sell," Nick committed to a "marketing obsession" that relied on physical mail and handwritten notes.

While his competitors were shouting into the digital void, Nick was busy cutting through the noise.

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Note to self - avoid anyone that has “Exited Founder” in their bio.

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Stop buying "stuff" that rots on your balance sheet.

Convert your tech to OpEx and keep your capital for growth.

Check out the options for your team here: https://t.co/7d2HjVuDaE

#Ad

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Buying new laptops upfront felt like the responsible thing to do for new hires.

It turned out to be one of the worst cash decisions I ever made.

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Why every founder should look at @raylo:

• Protect Cash: £0 upfront

• Upgrade Freedom: Free upgrades via monthly rolling option

• Zero Drama: Lifetime Warranty covers technical faults

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

"OK let me get this straight..."

"Because it kind of sounds like you built yourself a job."

It's 11:37pm in 2017 and I'm sat with a good friend enjoying a spicy margharita in a seedy city bar.

He's shouting into my ear because they closed something called a "Series A":

- How their going to change the world
- An upcoming TechCrunch article
- All the people he needs to hire
- Their "enterprise motion"

But something isn't making sense to me:

1. He has to report to the board every month
2. Any cost greater than £25k must have board sign off
3. He can't take cash out whenever he wants
4. Board needs to sign off his salary
4. If he leaves in the next 4 years he only keeps a slice of his own company
5. If they don't sell it for a massive amount he may get nothing
6. To even sell it, they need investor sign off

He replies:

"Yeah I see what you're saying, but the reality is the company is now valued at £20m, my stake is £6m, so I'm basically a multi-millionaire"

😳

As you can imagine, it didn't work out well.

I'm glad I stuck to building cash machines.

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

@mighty_study AMEN

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Startup founder path:

1. Have an idea
2. Create a deck
3. Raise a $1m seed round
4. Start building
5. Get a couple of customers through network
6. Raise a $10m Series A
7. Hire 37 people
8. Build “outbound motion”
9. $500k monthly burn
10. Try to “go enterprise”
11. Run out of money
12. Strategic exit for $10m
13. Become a thought leader

Bootstrapped founder path:

1. Find a problem
2. Start building whilst talking to potential customers
3. Ask those potential customers for money
4. Stay focused on the problem
5. Keep 100% ownership
6. Hire only when you have the cash
7. $1m ARR
8. Slowly build out marketing/sales function
9. $3m ARR
10. Sell for $15m or take home $1m per year

I know which path I prefer.

The path the VC’s look down their nose upon.
The path that isn’t covered by TechCrunch.

Here’s to the bootstrappers 🥂

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

Scaling for 2026? You can check out the tech subscription options for your team here:

👉 https://t.co/QSXww1lxvy

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[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

“Yeah that’s cap-ex, not op-ex.”

I’m sat in a meeting in the corporate world. And guess what?

These people (my colleagues) are talking corporate.

[Tom Hunt @tomhuntio]

- Founder Speed: it takes 60 seconds to order and it arrives the next day.

Productivity isn't about owning more "stuff"; it's about using your capital effectively.