In today’s tech world (and I suspect non-tech as well) there are two basic funding models for companies; bootstrap and VC. I’m bootstrapped since I opened shop with only about 40 hours notice.

I enjoy being my own boss, but as people I know de-independent themselves or I see their company gets acquired I think about ‘what if?’ situations.

What If … ‘I sold the company’

I sometimes think about what sort of company I would ‘sell’ my company to. I suppose for enough cash I would sell to almost anyone but what sort of company would be the right ‘fit’?

The obvious one might be Sauce Labs since they are Selenium in the cloud, but they don’t have a Consulting / Professional Services wing. Now, acquiring me could become one, but I don’t think that is their strategy especially with the launch of their Ambassador (Partner) program. I am a Partner btw, so contact me if you are looking at them as I have a magic partner code. And while I think their OnDemand product is outstanding I like being able to recommend different solutions when the situation warrants. I’d likely also have to stop writing BrowserMob scripts as well which would be factored into any sale price, but is something to keep in mind when selling out to a Service company.

Selling to Neustar (which bought BrowserMob last year) has all the same problems, only flipped around.

So what about a pure Consulting company? Thoughtworks is where Selenium was created and does make sense to some degree, but from all accounts, you are on the road as a Thoughtworker way too much. I also think I know more ex-Thoughtworkers than I do current ones. Leandog would be a much better fit and I have done work for them in the past. (Last I looked I was even listed on their website.) I’d be a bit scared of the travel with them too though, and I’m not sure how much of their customer base is Python or PHP which are my best languages (though I am not unfamiliar with Ruby as well).

In either acquisition scenario there would have to be a line item to get me proper work clearance for the US (which is a pain).

What If … ‘I got an investor’

I think bootstrapped companies tend to stick closer to their original entrepreneurial goals, but of course they [often] suffer from lack of capital to really expand and start to scale. Which is where I am now. I’m trying to build out a couple products and do consulting at the same times. Sometimes the two line up, sometimes they don’t.

So were I to take investment from a VC (or Angel) what would I do? In a word, hire! But in a very targeted manner. I think for the model that I have going, what I need to be successful are testers who know how to program. The distinction between developers-who-test and testers-who-develop is oft argued but I think its important. Automation experience certainly helps, but this is along the lines of ‘hire for character; you can teach skills’. I can teach them the automation how-to but you can’t teach the natural ‘think like a tester’ that is essential in awesome automation. Oh, and of course they need experience in teaching. There is a big gap between being able to do something and communicate how to someone who is still running headlong into a learning curve.

For revenue purposes, I would need a Java programmer first. As much as I dislike the language, it is used a lot and I end up turning away work at least once a week for it. The next two are interchangeable in hiring order; a Python person and a PHP one. They would be working, when not on client stuff, on Py.Saunter or SaunterPHP.

That puts the company at four people with others brought in as necessary (on contract initially), and I’m fine with remote work so likely wouldn’t need a ‘proper’ office and could continue to sublet where I am. With runway for a year I’m thinking the investment would have to be somewhere around $450 000. Which is not a small amount (at least to me) but I’m pretty sure that with a bit of a marketing push that support contracts for Saunter could become a decent revenue source. Not to mention more and more companies are looking for Selenium help as they realize that even though the software cost is zero, the cost of not doing things ‘right’ is a lot more.

So anyways. That’s what’s being going around my head the last couple days as a result of some press releases, etc. that I stumbled across. By no means am I putting out a ‘for sale’ sign, but these sorts of situations are ones that business owners need to think through. I just happen to do a lot of that thinking out loud and in public.

(Oh, and for the non-Canadians, Robert Borden, the 8th Prime Minster of Canada is on our 100 dollar bills)