Bootstrapper's hall of fame: Bootstrapping in Eastern Europe

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Profile on August 27, 2008

His name is Cristian Dorobantescue, and though he may think of himself as just an ordinary entrepreneur, his efforts to build and sustain not one but two businesses in the former Eastern Block make him a pioneer.

Today he is still re-organizing, still seeking new opportunities in classic bootstrap fashion.

Here is a look back at my interview with Cristian in 2006 and the story of the launch of his first business, Energybyte:
• The new land of opportunity. After the fall of communism, Romania, like other countries in Eastern Europe, became fertile ground for entrepreneurship.
• A low budget startup. In this environment, despite limitations not found in the west, Dorobantescue insists the equivalent of $300 is still enough to launch a software company today.
• Follow the money. In his own ventures, Dorobantescue has followed a very simple strategy common to many bootstrappers attending to cash flow first and foremost and keeping overhead low.
• The entrepreneurial urge. Still, despite his focus on the monetary side, he says more than simply money has motivated him to maintain his company even in the face of challenges.
• Changing approaches. Despite an offer from a former employer and the recruitment of his partners in an earlier software design venture, Dorobantescue switched his company to a web design firm and kept his entrepreneurial dreams alive.
• Point of departure. Though he had created a business plan near the beginning of his original venture, Dorobantescue has determined such plans often function only as the starting point to a business that must grow and evolve over time.
• The bootstrapping lifestyle. In the end, the bootstrapping life is a hard one, Dorobantescue says, but worth the challenge to those with the desire to pursue it.

Editor's Note:You can read Cristian Dorobantescue's further thoughts on entrepreneurship at his website, the Small Business Entrepreneur Blog.