There is a lot more startup innovation funded by existing businesses than anyone sees.

It just doesn’t make the headlines that big funding does.

Most of the founders I work with are managing their products and services as a portfolio. It’s a major reason they are succeeding.

Their existing businesses drive revenue and create cash to invest in new products that will grow their business or create their next new biz.

Like these:

• Tech services companies that generate cash to build a new SaaS product for their customers. A common bootstrapping approach.
• SaaS companies that upsell and cross-sell other services, data, or third-party products in their lineup.
• Scrappy founders who are getting software built and getting to SaaS revenue before they quit their day jobs.
• Early-stage SaaS startups that are experimenting with multiple products at once to see which one takes off the fastest.

The most successful business owners I know are managing a portfolio of up-and-running cash cow services, startup software product experiments, and product or service cross-sells.

Portfolio management isn’t just for big companies.