Ep18: From Failures to $10 Million Revenue: How Lloyed Lobo Started Boast.ai From Bootstrapping, Raised $123 in Equity And Debt

In this episode of Fundraising Demystified, Lloyed Lobo, co-founder of Boast AI, talks about how they achieved success by automating processes to maintain control and minimize dilution. He shares their journey, including two previous failures, and how they automated the government incentive application process, leading to $10 million in revenue and a thriving community of tech CEOs. He also discusses growth equity, the risks of relying solely on VC funding, generative AI, clickbait, micro-influencers, and the benefits of bootstrapping. He emphasizes the importance of building a community around your audience and defining personal success as an entrepreneur. Tune in for valuable insights on fundraising and growth strategies. Here are some keypoints in this episode: 03:35 The importance of sales in Lloyed's journey. 06:20 Started their business through bootstrapping as a services company. 09:39 Shifting outreach strategies. 15:05 Growth equity in investing. 19:43 Focusing on building a great business. 25:22 Evaporating Fortune 500 companies. 25:20 Government cashback for R&D. 28:40 Community-led growth. 33:50 Personal definition of success. About Lloyed Lobo Lloyed Lobo is the co-founder of Boast.ai. He has a background in engineering and has worked at various startups throughout his career. He is also involved in building communities and has a strong belief in the power of community-led growth. Lloyd is currently working on a book about community-led growth and is actively engaged in the Traction community. Links Mentioned:  You can reach Lloyed Lobo on his LinkedIn account here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo/ To know more about his book,check this out: https://www.lloyedlobo.com/ To join his community: https://www.tractionconf.io/ To learn more about Boast.ai go to: https://boast.ai/ Check out Lloyed’s  podcast here https://www.youtube.com/@StartupTraction Hosted by Jason Kirby - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonrkirby/  Thunder website - https://web.thunder.vc