Bootstrappers: Measure In Quarters, Not Months

It’s been fun to track the progress of some bootstrapped solo entrepreneurs in my orbit. Some of my favourites, worth following on Twitter are:

• Daniel Vassallo
• Pat Walls
• Jon Yongfook
• Pieter Levels
• Kenneth Cassel
• Jack Butcher
• Dennis Hegstad

Each of them is building something unique. Or, more appropriately, unique things. Most aren’t building just one product - but many of them.

They’re all incredibly open about sharing progress, milestones, and hurdles. They’re leaving a fantastic trail of incredibly useful insights and education for others to follow.

One thing I’ve noticed, though. Progress - revenue and otherwise - tends to be measured in months. Not quarters or years. I get it, it’s good to keep an eye on the immediate future so you can plan beyond that. But I feel sometimes monthly can cause more worry than it should.

Public companies share revenue updates on a quarterly basis, and share year-over-year growth metrics with their audiences. Solo entrepreneurs should follow the same path, for a few reasons:

1. Revenues are generally on the low-end by design. So, you’ll likely see higher variance monthly vs quarterly.

2. Multiple products, each finding product market fit over different timeframes, can trigger variance of revenue.

3. Good vs bad months are often cyclical. Sometimes people and teams are allocated budget at the start of a quarter, and spend it fast. Less left over in March, June, August, December.

If you’re a solo-founder, give yourself some credit! Compare this year to last, this quarter to the same quarter a year ago. Trajectory matters more than state.