As startup founders, most of us experience a thrill when we begin the journey to secure funding—a thrill that fuels our drive to bring ideas to life. But after facing countless rejections or encountering investors who don’t buy into the vision…that excitement often starts to feel like a burden.

If that sounds familiar, this message is for you.

1. Start Small: Turn Ideas into Tangible Products

Now, an idea only becomes good — meaning, profitable — when it can be implementable. If anything, ideas alone aren’t the actual product or service; they are simply blueprints. This is where terms like Proof of Concept (POC) and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) come into play.

Don’t be discouraged if no one sees value in your idea right away. Instead, focus on developing the concept until it’s “tangible” enough to attract investment. Start small, with whatever resources you have — even if it feels minimal. This approach allows you to prove your concept and build momentum without relying on external funding.

2. The Five-Year Mark: A Golden Rule for Establishing a Company

When I started Alero with a few friends, there was one phrase I often shared with them:

It sounds simple, yet it’s deeply powerful — and here’s why:

One of the key indicators of a startup’s success is surviving past the 5-year mark while bootstrapping. This isn’t to challenge the statistics, but rather to highlight the journey of finding product-market fit, skill specialization, resource management, and refining the product’s value.

The idea is, that within 5 years, a team would have developed trust and synchronized their mindsets. After all, it’s the people who create the products and services that eventually generate revenue — and that can’t be replaced even with money itself.

Let’s consider Apple’s costly mistake in the early years, as an example:

In 1985, Apple’s board fired Steve Jobs due to internal power struggles and disagreements. Initially, it seemed like the right move, but Jobs’s departure left a significant leadership gap, and Apple soon struggled to find its direction. It wasn’t until 1997, when Apple faced financial difficulties and a decline in innovation, that the same board had to bring Jobs back. With his return, Jobs transformed the company by refocusing on innovation, design, and user experience, ultimately leading Apple to become one of the most valuable companies we know today.

With that said, not everyone you started with will still be there. Time has an interesting way of filtering people out, sparing you the emotional strain of making tough calls later on. It’s like pruning a fruit tree — those who are meant to stay will weather the storms with you, while others may fall away. It’s not always easy, but often it’s necessary for personal and professional growth.

Moreover, it’s important to recognize that the key partners who remain are the ones you’ll grow with — not just in skills, but in shared vision and purpose. Together, challenges transform into opportunities…This is often how companies evolve, pivoting from their original focus as they gain deeper insights into their offerings and target market.

3. Focus on Growth to build momentum for Scaling

First, let’s demystify the definitions:

Growth is about increasing production capacity, expanding into new markets, developing new products or services, acquiring other companies, or growing your customer base.

Scaling is about optimizing internal processes to improve efficiency and reach a larger audience more quickly. This can be done through automation or streamlining workflows.

With this in mind, the simplest way to secure the survival of a bootstrapped venture is to grow with a product’s target market. When I say grow, I mean you don’t have to have a specific target market right from the start. As you’re finding your product-market fit, you can grow alongside your target market, learning and adapting together.

If you started your business without a clear understanding of what a target market is — here’s a simple way to grasp it:

Outer Rings — Low-Hanging Fruit

These are easily accessible opportunities — but limited in value and growth. As a startup, they are great starting points to build skills, confidence, or experience. For example, selling to friends or family, “real world” projects, or short-term freelance gigs can fall into this category.

Middle Rings — Growth Opportunities

These opportunities often require more effort and skill, but they tend to come with higher value or reward. For instance, doing projects for an SME, or partnerships that stretch your abilities–but are within reach of your current skills.

Inner Ring — The Bullseye

This is the most valuable and often the hardest to reach. If anything, hitting the bullseye requires timing, precise aim, and preparation. In this case, you could land major opportunities that align with your core goals or discover significant doors that will launch the business.

Ultimately, growing a business is like mastering archery — it takes a blend of skill, timing, and persistence to get closer to the bullseye. With each attempt and every ring you hit, you gain a clearer.

And the center?

That’s your product-market fit.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com, by Stephanie Kirathe