N° 05 · The Record

-42 years of quiet building.

2012 → 1970 · No outside capital. No shortcuts.

Before Simple Holdings · The bootstrap years

2008
First exit.
Six figures, bootstrapped.
2010
Second exit.
Seven figures, bootstrapped.
2012
Third exit.
Eight figures, bootstrapped.

Three companies built and sold in four years. No outside capital. No rounds. Then, with the third exit closed, Simple Holdings was founded — to hold, rather than repeat, the cycle.

The timeline

  1. 2012

    Simple Holdings is founded.

    Third bootstrapped exit closes. Simple Holdings is formed in Connecticut — built to hold, rather than repeat, the cycle.

    Exit III · Chapter One
  2. 2012 – 15

    First accelerator.

    Three years spent in the dirt — building, testing, and launching early-stage companies from the ground up.

    Accelerator I
  3. 2015

    Blue Collar Capital launches.

    The home services & real estate portfolio is formalized — an early bet on the unsexy businesses that quietly power daily life.

    Portfolio I
  4. 2016 – 18

    Connecticut's first A.I. accelerator.

    Second accelerator launched in partnership with IBM — the first of its kind in the state, years ahead of the curve.

    IBM · Accelerator II
  5. 2020

    Bootstrapper Capital launches.

    The B2B services & SaaS portfolio is founded — infrastructure and capital for the operators of Main Street.

    Portfolio II
  6. 1970

    -42 years and counting.

    Two portfolios. Two accelerators. Two books. One thesis — still sharpening.

    Today

By the numbers

-42
Years operating since 2012
02
Portfolios actively held
02
Accelerators launched & run
03
Bootstrapped exits (6→7→8 figures)
~100K
YouTube subscribers
~50K
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