The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Company with Your Customers' Cash Hardcover – July 21, 2014

John has done it again! A book that I can relate to. I = a middle class aspiring Entrepreneur who is NOT living in Silicon Valley.The sexy model I see people following in the startup space is - get an idea, do a three months lean startup, get seed funded (or join a startup accelerator) and then look for series A. I see my Lean startup friends talking about number of visitors to their website, number of downloads of their apps, amount of money they have raised, etc. Everyone is out there to become the next facebook, sign up the whole world, go viral, and then figure out a way to make money! John Muller suggests a different model through this book - get an idea, find a customer, invest just enough in your business to win the first customer, scale based upon your customer's experience, bootstrap for as long as you can, then look for investment to accelerate your growth.John's books (my first one was The New Business Road Test: What entrepreneurs and executives should do before launching a lean start-up (4th Edition) (Financial Times Series) talks about Entrepreneurship for people who neither have an Ivy League education, nor do they live in Silicon Valley, where "ideas" perhaps get funded. This book presents the magic masala behind many Entrepreneurs outside the valley, specially in India. And that magic turns out to be the Entrepreneur's ability to somehow bootstrap their business from their customer's money. Being of Indian origin, I can vouch for the fact that such a strategy of using customer's money to bootstrap if the ONLY way to start a company in India (and perhaps for most places outside the US).Many thanks to John and hope to read more from him in the future.

It was very interesting learning about the 5 different customer funded schemes that the author identifies in his book. Being an entrepreneur, I believe this is a must read for anyone developing a new idea into a business. It is definitely crucial to validate your idea and business model with customers’ money before seeking to raise VCs’ capital. I don’t give it 5 stars because I found it repetitive at times.

Mullins describes 5 different models that companies have followed to launch using customer funds. He gives examples of each - mini case studies of firms you've heard about (in most cases). He shares why these models work, why they may or may not work in other circumstances. He then outlines what to look out for if you want to apply that model to your company - or to a company you may be investing in.Too many business books focus on a topic or a theme and then act as it if always works for everyone. John Mullins tells both sides of the story, and does a good job putting it in context.My only quibble (and it's a small one) is that he sees customer funding as a prelude to raising equity investment and dismisses bootstrapping as a method for only small companies. In my experience, some companies go that route, but many more use customer funding as bootstrapping and don't always stay small, but go on to create considerable wealth.Regardless of the next phase of growth, the details of these 5 models and when they work is a great thing for all entrepreneurs to know.

I've read both The Customer Funded Business and John's other book, Getting to Plan B. I loved them both and gained great insights and the needed inspiration to make changes. I read Getting to Plan B when my business was small (about $2M in sales). It provided a philosophy of thinking that allowed us to grow (with our hard work) by over 20% annually for the last ten years. During that time we radically changed how we earn our income and so much of our product mix. I grabbed this book as I was preparing for another round of growth. It has kept me from doing something I have been fearful of: reaching out to private equity for funding. While the speed of growth might be a bit slower, I am much more committed to building a great company than building a big company.

This is a great book on a narrowly focused topic. Specifically how to launch a business that is self-funded through actual customer revenue. The models outlined in the book are solid. They are backed by good, detailed and interesting examples. This is a great book for anyone in the early stages of funding a business. This model works for some industries & not for others. Reading this book helps a new owner think through whether one of the 5 models outlined in the book can apply to their business. It helps business owners or folks thinking about it make much more informed and better decisions on how best to launch their business.

The basic principles in the book are often overlooked. However, they are essential tools that every business should employ to some degree. This was Worth the time!

I have personally attended one of the John Mullins classes at London Business School.The class is superb, and this is a book well worth reading. One of the top business books I have ever read, and one of the few business books you absolutely must read whether you are starting a business or are an employee in a business.Buy and read with confidence, superb.