Zero to Sold: How to Start, Run, and Sell a Bootstrapped Business
- Downloads：8335
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-11-14 09:53:54
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Arvid Kahl
- ISBN：3982195705
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Zero to Sold is a comprehensive and actionable guide through the four stages of a bootstrapped business: Preparation， Survival， Stability， and Growth。
From your first idea to successfully selling your business for life-changing amounts of money， this book will help you become a world-class entrepreneur。 By focussing on your niche audience， finding their critical problem， and solving it with a product that your customers can't resist to pay for， you will learn how to create a recurring revenue engine that will make you financially independent。
It's easy to build software products。 The hard part is turning them into viable businesses that stand the test of time。 If you want to build a business that survives， you have to know what challenges you will encounter。 Zero to Sold tells the story of a sustainable， bootstrapped software business that grew to thousands of customers before it was acquired。
Arvid Kahl is a software engineer turned entrepreneur who has accomplished just that。 He co-founded and grew an online teacher productivity SaaS business called FeedbackPanda to $55，000 Monthly Recurring Revenue with his partner Danielle Simpson。 They sold the business for a life-changing amount of money in 2019， just two years after founding the business。 Arvid writes on The Bootstrapped Founder blog。
In Zero to Sold， Arvid shares his experiences， learnings， and insights from building a Software-as-a-Service business from start to finish。 He shows what worked and what didn’t work。 If you want to build your own bootstrapped business and stay sane while doing it， Zero to Sold will be your guide。
From your first idea to successfully selling your business for life-changing amounts of money， this book will help you become a world-class entrepreneur。 By focussing on your niche audience， finding their critical problem， and solving it with a product that your customers can't resist to pay for， you will learn how to create a recurring revenue engine that will make you financially independent。
It's easy to build software products。 The hard part is turning them into viable businesses that stand the test of time。 If you want to build a business that survives， you have to know what challenges you will encounter。 Zero to Sold tells the story of a sustainable， bootstrapped software business that grew to thousands of customers before it was acquired。
Arvid Kahl is a software engineer turned entrepreneur who has accomplished just that。 He co-founded and grew an online teacher productivity SaaS business called FeedbackPanda to $55，000 Monthly Recurring Revenue with his partner Danielle Simpson。 They sold the business for a life-changing amount of money in 2019， just two years after founding the business。 Arvid writes on The Bootstrapped Founder blog。
In Zero to Sold， Arvid shares his experiences， learnings， and insights from building a Software-as-a-Service business from start to finish。 He shows what worked and what didn’t work。 If you want to build your own bootstrapped business and stay sane while doing it， Zero to Sold will be your guide。
Reviews
Abhijeet Kumar
，
Zero to Sold is a terrific read， for tech （SaaS-based） startup founders。 For others; not so much。 It has plenty of information， the entire process actually， from setting up a bootstrapped business to selling it。 But half of the book is relevant only to the SaaS startups。The book might also be useful to others who would like to work primarily with startups。 You'll understand how to handle various operations related to a （tech） startup and thus， prove to be an invaluable asset to the startup you'r Zero to Sold is a terrific read， for tech （SaaS-based） startup founders。 For others; not so much。 It has plenty of information， the entire process actually， from setting up a bootstrapped business to selling it。 But half of the book is relevant only to the SaaS startups。The book might also be useful to others who would like to work primarily with startups。 You'll understand how to handle various operations related to a （tech） startup and thus， prove to be an invaluable asset to the startup you're a part of。 。。。more
Mijael Feldman
，
Super basic book about founding a company。 I recommend reading Running Lean or Lean Startup instead of this。 Some topics like how to measure market size are just opinions and no concrete advice。 Maybe i was expecting something else。
Haydn Martin
，
Got about halfway through。Very good in terms of information density for a business book。 Just not all that relevant to me at the moment; I struggled to care about what Kahl was speaking about。One I'll probably pick up again in the future。 Got about halfway through。Very good in terms of information density for a business book。 Just not all that relevant to me at the moment; I struggled to care about what Kahl was speaking about。One I'll probably pick up again in the future。 。。。more
Arnim
，
Top Buch für angehende Bootstrapper mit vielen hilfreichen Tipps。 Inspiration findet sich in jedem Kapitel。 Selbst spätere Kapitel bieten hilfreiche Tipps für Bootstrapper in einem späteren Stadium ihres Businesses。Das Buch ist eine absolute Empfehlung！
Francisco
，
The perfect book for who are thinking in start a business。
Carl Lens
，
This is a pretty complete guide in all the topics you come across when starting， running and selling a company。 I would say it is more an overview of lean startup ideas rather than aVisionary book。 I will probably scroll through it again。
McCullough
，
I rated it 3 stars because it was extremely dull and gave details for every little step along the way。 I’m not sure if providing such an in-depth book is useful for most people thinking of starting a company。 It is better to inspire them and give general guidelines rather than bore them with all these mundane details。
Aibol Kussain
，
I really liked the book for a really good perspective of the author（Arvid） on building and managing SaaS business in a bootstrapped， indie way。 There are actually tone of resources about some topics covered， and when I was reading， I felt like I kinda new some stuff。 But seeing it through the lenses of a small successful bootstrapper gave some more information and proved those techniques are fully applicable on a small scale too（relatively）。 In some places， I saw author going into too much detai I really liked the book for a really good perspective of the author（Arvid） on building and managing SaaS business in a bootstrapped， indie way。 There are actually tone of resources about some topics covered， and when I was reading， I felt like I kinda new some stuff。 But seeing it through the lenses of a small successful bootstrapper gave some more information and proved those techniques are fully applicable on a small scale too（relatively）。 In some places， I saw author going into too much details， but probably because the book was made for people like him（as he also wrote - 5 year-ago me） - small bootstrappers and engineers， trying to run their projects as effectively as possible。 。。。more
Vlad Calin
，
A truly wonderful book that cuts right to the chase， crosses the t's and dots the i's。 Very actionable and straight to the point advice that is evergreen and doesn't rely on specific tools （like other business related books）。If you are a person with a technical background and an entrepreneurial spirit （either already started a business or dreams to do it）， I consider this book to be a "must read" one， because it speaks our language （in contrast to usual business books that speak in a general voi A truly wonderful book that cuts right to the chase， crosses the t's and dots the i's。 Very actionable and straight to the point advice that is evergreen and doesn't rely on specific tools （like other business related books）。If you are a person with a technical background and an entrepreneurial spirit （either already started a business or dreams to do it）， I consider this book to be a "must read" one， because it speaks our language （in contrast to usual business books that speak in a general voice to appeal to a wider audience）。 。。。more
Steve Lamar
，
I loved this book。 Arvid goes through every stage of the bootstrapped founder， with the backdrop of having built a successful bootstrapped SaaS with his girlfriend Danielle。 It is a great reference for anyone thinking about starting a SaaS or actively navigating their way through growing a bootstrapped SaaS。 The way he breaks the startup into different phases of growth （preparation， survival， stability and growth） is 🔥。 It allows you to focus on any phase you are currently in but also explore th I loved this book。 Arvid goes through every stage of the bootstrapped founder， with the backdrop of having built a successful bootstrapped SaaS with his girlfriend Danielle。 It is a great reference for anyone thinking about starting a SaaS or actively navigating their way through growing a bootstrapped SaaS。 The way he breaks the startup into different phases of growth （preparation， survival， stability and growth） is 🔥。 It allows you to focus on any phase you are currently in but also explore the phases you are heading toward。I have read many books on SaaS and this the top of my list for must reads。 。。。more
Ashe Magalhaes
，
Enjoyed it but dry at parts Enjoyed the book， with the direct and practical language， but found it dry at parts。 I think it could’ve benefited from more of a narrative around FeedbackPanda （more fleshed out stories related to learnings in book）。
Kalyan
，
Must read for entrepreneursWhether you are looking to start to build something or already have， this book is a must read。 I would go on to suggest that people should start with this book。
Nicolas Tourne
，
A must read book if you’re interested in bootstrapping SaaS products。Arvid explain really well all different phases your business can go through （based on his own experience）。
Adam Ingles
，
Great book for anybody after a blueprint for starting their own startup in 2020。
Nat Miletic
，
Excellent book for anyone running or thinking about starting a tech business。 You would benefit from knowledge in this book even if you are not in the SaaS business。 I have gained many valuable lessons that I can apply to my tech services （cliowebsites。com） venture。 Highly recommended！
Ajay Kumar
，
It's a decent book if you are a complete newbie to building companies。 Ideal for people still in their job， and contemplating starting a new company。Some sections are insightful （especially those around identifying a niche and building product for early audiences）。 It's a decent book if you are a complete newbie to building companies。 Ideal for people still in their job， and contemplating starting a new company。Some sections are insightful （especially those around identifying a niche and building product for early audiences）。 。。。more
Paras Dahal
，
Absolutely recommend。
Ben Ford
，
Absolutely required reading for anyone building a tech companyThis is the best， most comprehensive， overview of building a tech company in 2020 and beyond。 It covers absolutely everything you could wish to know in an engaging and thorough way。 Must read！
Kevin Dieu
，
I began reading this when the author was working on it publicly over Twitter。 He wrote a series of blogs that eventually became this book！ There’s so many good nuggets in here and I recommend it for any SAAS founder， product managers， bootstrappers， aspiring founders， etc。 Main nugget for me was his tips on how to structure customer calls - where they are now， where do they want to be， what’s stopping them from getting there？
Hamid
，