How to (Accidentally) Build a Unicorn

GoBolt's Founder Built a Unicorn by Serving Today's Customers

A unicorn can start as an unglamorous services business built on a personal problem. GoBolt grew from storing student furniture because Mark picked a narrow niche, stayed in daily contact with customers and solved the problem in front of him. Srugo argues that delivering value today, rather than planning a grand vision, is what unlocks each later stage.

Takeaways

• Services businesses suit first-time founders. A services company carries little demand risk because demand already exists. The founder only has to beat competitors on service, marketing or product, and learns how to sell, win and keep customers, and market. Srugo's own tutoring business paid the bills.
• Scratch your own itch produced GoBolt. Mark stored his own furniture over summers, saw other students share the problem and found no good existing solution. Srugo calls this the most popular framework among young first-time founders, and says founders without an idea should look at their local market.
• A narrow niche makes early marketing work. Mark targeted only university students in specific postal codes, so they saw GoBolt's ads constantly. A few hundred dollars of marketing produced $20,000 in revenue within weeks. Starting broad to get bigger leaves bootstrapped startups more likely to go nowhere.
• Founders must stay close to the customer. Mark and his co-founder drove deliveries from 11:30 AM to 4:00 AM when trucks ran out. Mark answers the 1-800 line at any hour and still drives trucks. Srugo says a tight feedback loop matters more than getting more done.
• Small data matters alongside big data. Direct contact with customers, colleagues and employees shows what dashboards miss. Srugo notes Uber's CEO Dara still drives occasionally. Small companies react faster because feedback loops lengthen as people are added.
• Deliver value today instead of grand visions. Mark insisted GoBolt's path was unplanned and that the team made the best decision in each moment. Srugo warns high IQ founders build narratives and believe them most. Each next step unlocks only once the current one is solved.
• GoBolt scaled from services into larger markets. GoBolt began as a services company and grew sequentially and organically. It now has over a thousand employees, over $100m in revenue and over $150m raised. Srugo says consistent, quality service drove its brand.