Tag Archives: Bootstrap

Congratulations to the Bootstrappers!

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Castlewave

Congratulations to my friends Rich Christiansen and Ron Porter, who have sold their SEO firm, Castlewave and will now proceed to take life easy until the next business-building bug starts to itch.

You may remember me writing about their book and their courses. They started Castlewave as a living case study for their book. Here's an excerpt from their blog:

As all of you know, this business was created with $5,000 to prove the principles in the book. CastleWave indeed was profitable from day one, generated over $1MM the first year at 50% margin and this past year did apx $1.4 MM. We have offices in both NYC and Utah and presently have 23 employees and apx 30 active clients ranging from smaller companies like Bank On Youself to large customers such as OpenTable and IMax.

It's been a lot of fun and quite educational enjoying their friendship and working with a few mutual clients. I can't wait to see the next chapter in their lives unfold!

Create a Company Culture…Start Now!

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I'm not big on year-end resolutions, big plans and the like. But, I have to share a post from my friend Rich Christiansen.

I've written about Rich before. He wrote "Bootstrap Business" and is an SEO and Adwords expert.

In his latest post on the Bootstrap blog, Rich talks about his relationship with Ray Noorda, founder of Novell. It's a cool story about how one man formed a strong company culture by his own leadership through story, connection and love.

This is a list of qualities that Rich took away from Noorda's funeral…

  • Believe and trust in people.
  • We all have a responsibility in life. Be faithful to it.
  • Customers first, employees second, shareholders third.
  • Be unassuming.
  • Listen, especially with your heart.
  • Practice integrity.
  • Be loyal.
  • Be true to your own core beliefs, but recognize the need to compromise within parameters that don’t violate those beliefs.
  • Respect the individual, not the title.
  • Marriage is ordained of God, and is your first priority in life.
  • Practice fiscal responsibility.
  • Take care of your health.
  • Willingly forgive others’ mistakes and shortcomings.
  • Retain your dignity, no matter the circumstances.
  • Give something back.

Be sure to go read the entire story on the Bootstrap Business Blog.

Have a Happy New Year!