Practical founders build valuable software companies without big funding

What is Practical Founders?

We are a growing passionate tribe of serious founders building software companies with no outside funding or just a little practical funding. Most software founders can be more successful–winning their very big prize and doing it their way–without big outside funding. 

Practical founders are winning the startup game our way with successful exits of $10M, $20M, $50M, or more when we sell our companies, if we ever choose to sell.

Moonshot VC investing isn’t bad or wrong, it’s just overprescribed by funders and misunderstood by most founders. It’s not the best way for most startup founders to create valuable software companies and maximize their results.

It’s a great time to be a practical founder

In the old days, we raised VC funding to grow startup companies into very big companies. Now, there’s a different way to create success for even more founders.

  1. 50% of software companies on our curated Gregslist.com list of 6000 software companies do not have any outside funding. And 25% of software companies on Gregslist have just a little angel or seed funding. Fewer than 25% of all software companies on Gregslist have any outside funding

  2. Founders are growing companies to $2M, $5M, and $10M annual recurring revenue (ARR) and selling them for 5-10x revenue valuations and more. There are 20-50 times more exits for less than $50 than all the $1B+ unicorn exits and IPOs, but we don’t hear about these incredible founder exits.

  3. The massive “VC-Industrial Complex” drives regional incubators, accelerators, pitch competitions, local service providers, and global tech media to push the idea that “all tech startups should get big funding” even though big VC funding is appropriate for just 10%-20% of all software companies around the world. 

  4. Startups are building high-quality software solutions for under $500K or less investment, then growing these businesses steadily and efficiently. They can grow these to $1M-$5M with savvy customer acquisition and creative frugality.

  5. Savvy and happy founders who want to serve their customers and their employees in amazing ways that financial investors would never support. And create new markets that are “too small” for big venture investors.

  6. Founders of a huge wave of startups outside Silicon Valley in the US, in India, Europe, and Latin America are creating growing global software companies very efficiently too.

Connect and Learn from other Practical Founders

Practical Founders Weekly Email

Every Friday, Greg Head will send a free weekly email with insights and success stories that practical founders need to hear. 

Practical Founders Podcast

Every week, host Greg Head interviews a successful software founder who started, grew, and sold a valuable software company—without big funding.

Follow Greg Head on LinkedIn

Practical Founders leader Greg Head is active with daily posts, conversation, and connection on LinkedIn. Join the discussion.

Practical Founders Peer Groups

Learn more about our paid monthly peer groups to work on your business with trusted peer founders and  1-1 advisory support from Greg Head.

FREE 60-PAGE EBOOK

Win the Startup Game Without VC Funding

Learn how all 75 founders on the Practical Founders Podcast created an average founder equity value of $50 million.