So, once the money was in the bank, they weren't about to splurge.“I didn't have a fully-formed plan or anything, but I did say, 'Look, we're not going to go on a hiring spree just because we can,” says Roumeliotis.“For two years, I said no to adding new positions. When they finally closed their first round of $9.8M (out of an eventual $25.8 million),they heard from several investors that their commitment to slow burn was what sealed the deal. Location Labs ended up building its first website for $1,500 and shopped the second-hand markets for furniture. Know Your Essentials, Say 'No' to Everything ElseĮven before Roumeliotis hit the fundraising trail, he knew that he was working in a tough environment and that frugality would be valued more than ever. For the many startups trying to do the same thing today, he provides a template for the low-burn strategy that not only yielded a huge return, but made the company stronger in the process. With his very tight-knit early team, Roumeliotis turned his conservative, cost-conscious approach to spending into a hallmark of Location Labs' culture. That was our mindset from very early on.” “We viewed every dollar as something sacred. “It was so dire, it took us so long, and the terms were so onerous, I didn’t want to raise money ever again,” he says. In fact, his first go at fundraising was so difficult that Roumeliotis made a vow that he wouldn't make the rounds again unless he absolutely had to - and that meant curbing burn rate. The founder, whose mobile security app business was acquired this past September for an estimated $220 million, remembers the carnage well.
When Tasso Roumeliotis started Location Labs in 2001, the dot-com collapse had left a smoking, desolate venture capital landscape in its wake.
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