What It Really Takes to Build an Inc. 5000 Company Without a Dime of VC

Last week, we made the Inc. 5000 list.

Given all the hype and memes around things like Forbes Under 30, I (like most people) tend to glance past things like this. Good for hiring, nice for the ego, but not much else. But of all the badges of recognition you can get from legacy media, the Inc 5000 is actually one of the few that actually measures audited financials to calculate growth over a trailing 3 year period. You can’t fake it.

There are 5000 companies on the list, and we came in at red hot #2332. But when you look at the list, it comes off like a who’s who of TechCrunch’s fundraising section from the past year - companies that have raised tens of millions, put it to great use, and grew like crazy.

How many are bootstrapped?

There have been times when I have wished we’d taken money, and there have been times when I was so glad we didn’t. For better or worse, stacking up against the best of the best with no outside funding is something I’ll wear as a badge of honor. So for any other companies going this route, I wanted to call out a few things we’ve learned about going it alone.

1. Hiring is harder, but that’s a disadvantage you can turn into an advantage.

Hiring while bootstrapped means that you don’t get the halo effect of a big funding round, or the easy recruiting pitch that comes with “we just raised $50M.” For a lot of people, that stamp of approval is what signals safety and growth. When you’re bootstrapped, you’re instantly cut off from that segment of the talent market.

But that limitation is what forces you to find people who actually care about what you’re building, not just people who “really want to work at a startup”. Lean into it, and you will find your diehards. People join Stacker because they’re obsessed with the mission, the product, and the craft. It ends up being not only a better cultural fit, but a competitive advantage. And when you hit a bump in the road – that’s when you see the real difference. Bootstrapping attracts those who want to build for the long haul.

2. Having no board can mean having no advisors - but it doesn’t have to.

Not having a board doesn’t have to mean building in isolation. Without a formal structure, it’s easy to assume you’re missing out on strategic oversight, and the truth is, you probably are. In the early years we made plenty of mistakes because we didn’t have that kind of sounding board. But, it forced us to seek out our own version of it - one built around people who understood our world and the problems we were trying to solve.

Instead of inheriting a group of investor representatives based on who would give us money, we handpicked people who brought real context to the problems we sought to solve. We’ve set aside 2% of the company and actually make small grants to our “advisory board,” a group of folks who now have a vested interest in our success and help us see around corners, while still keeping full control of the company. 

That combination, real advice without strings attached, became one of the most valuable assets we’ve built, and it’s a big reason we were able to land on the list in the first place.

3. Prioritize revenue, then figure out the big idea

If you want to reach profitability, in the short term you will have to prioritize revenue over building your dream product. Plenty of massive businesses have done this - whether they started as agencies then launched (or bought) a software product, or just found a really profitable cashflowing business line, juiced it, then went from there.

At the end of the day, effectively bootstrapping means not just being lean, but getting to revenue, fast. Prioritize ruthlessly.

4. Interns are a secret weapon.

Hiring a team of Interns ended up being one of the best moves we made early on. In our first year, we didn’t have the budget for a bench of senior hires, so we brought in a handful of sharp interns (at one point we had 5 full time college interns and 4 full time employees). On paper, it looked like a compromise, but in reality it gave us momentum we couldn’t have gotten otherwise. With no playbook or layers of hierarchy, they experimented, solved problems, and showed us what really needed to get done.

Those summers helped us figure out three things: which roles were worth betting on, what systems mattered, and what could wait. The interns gave us leverage, speed, and clarity when resources were thin. And that’s the real story behind making the Inc. 5000 list.

Building a great company is about creating a culture where people at every level can take ownership, grow, and trust each other enough to build something bigger than themselves. And that’s what got us on the list for the second time. 

Noah Greenberg is the CEO of Stacker, the first content distribution platform built for earned reach. He’s led the company in redefining how brands and publishers collaborate, with over 4,000 news outlets using Stacker to enhance coverage. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Noah previously helped scale Graphiq, later acquired by Amazon.

Featured Image Credit: Photo Illustration by Stacker // Shutterstock, Canva