VC Money Isn’t the Only Way To Hit it Big!

In April 2025, Pablo Srugo interviewed founder, Adam Robinson on The Product Market Fit Show. Adam told a story about how he was called out for “not being ambitious enough.” Even his friend, who was busy raising $30M in VC money, told him that he was “thinking too small” for wanting to bootstrap.

Well, as it turned out, Adam’s friend’s VC-backed business failed while Adam made $1M in profit the same month his friend closed his doors.

There was a time when Adam seriously considered going for VC money. His startup was doing $3M ARR but was barely growing. He started to think that maybe he was wasting his time.

But he realized he didn't want a $1B outcome—he wanted full control.

So he decided once again to not pursue a VC investment.

Today, his startup, Retention.com, is a 40-person company with $25M ARR and $14M in annual profit. It's fully bootstrapped, so he owns 100%. Better yet, he can't lose—even if his revenue flatlines, he's still making $10M+ in profit.

Here’s Adam’s top 3 lessons for his fellow bootstrappers:

1. The world is really hard on you when you’re small. Stay strong.
2. If you’re small but profitable, you can stay in the game.
3. If you build skills and stay in the game long enough, the odds that you will get lucky and hit it big will skyrocket.

VC money can be tempting, but it’s not the only way to build a successful business.