{"id":8490,"date":"2025-05-06T11:50:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T09:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/2025\/05\/06\/from-self-funded-to-millions-what-we-learned-at-bcapital-day-april-2025%f0%9f%9a%80\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T12:44:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T10:44:42","slug":"from-self-funded-to-millions-what-we-learned-at-bcapital-day-april-2025%f0%9f%9a%80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/2025\/05\/06\/from-self-funded-to-millions-what-we-learned-at-bcapital-day-april-2025%f0%9f%9a%80\/","title":{"rendered":"FROM SELF-FINANCING TO MILLIONS | BCAPITAL DAY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the latest edition of Bcapital Day, <\/strong>hosted by Bcombinator, two ecommerce pioneers took the stage to share how they built international businesses\u2014without raising venture capital for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n\n

No pitch decks. No growth hacks. Just real talk about mistakes, milestones, and the mindset required to build something that lasts. <\/p>\n\n

Our speakers:– Stephanie Marco<\/strong>, Founder & CEO of Stikets<\/a> – Alon Chamay<\/strong>, Founder & CEO of FloraQueen<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Together, they represent over \u20ac30 million in annual revenue<\/strong>, operations in 70+ countries, and one clear message: you don\u2019t need outside funding to build something impactful<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

\ud83d\ude80Solving problems, not chasing startups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Stephanie didn\u2019t set out to be a founder. She was a mother trying to solve a simple problem: her kid kept losing shoes. That led to a custom name sticker. That sticker became a product line. And that product line became Stikets<\/strong>, now a beloved brand among families worldwide. <\/p>\n\n

Alon\u2019s journey started with a market insight: the European flower delivery industry was highly fragmented. Inspired by the success of 1-800-Flowers in the U.S., he launched FloraQueen<\/strong>, combining global reach with local fulfillment\u2014and a mission to make people smile. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

\ud83d\udcca\u00bfTheir Growth Strategy? Retention Over Everything <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The founders were very clear: Customer retention is the most sustainable competitive advantage for any business<\/strong>. Customer retention is the most sustainable competitive advantage for any business<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\u201cEvery returning customer is a magnet,\u201d said Alon.\u201cIn our case, if moms love the product, they tell hundreds of others,\u201d added Stephanie.<\/p>\n\n

While performance marketing played a role early on, both emphasized that long-term growth comes from loyalty, not likes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

\ud83d\udca1Self-funded\u2014and proud of It<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Both companies were built with personal savings and revenue reinvestment.<\/p>\n\n

Stephanie funded Stikets with child subsidies and a second mortgage before taking her first investor nine years in<\/strong>. Alon bootstrapped FloraQueen from day one, warning: <\/p>\n\n

\u201cToo much money too soon can lead to disaster. If you\u2019re not willing to risk your own money, why should anyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

\u231b\u00bfWhat about AI and COVID?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Yes, they\u2019re using AI\u2014but in meaningful ways. FloraQueen automates 70% of its customer service with AI. Stikets is investing in internal AI tools to optimize team operations, not just impress visitors. <\/p>\n\n

And on the pandemic? Both founders saw COVID as a temporary spike<\/strong>, not a sign of new normality. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe took 2020 out of our KPIs,\u201d said Stephanie. \u201cThat was a blip, not a benchmark.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

\ud83d\ude80Three Takeaways Every Founder Should Know<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n

\u2705 Think big from day one.<\/strong><\/strong> Stephanie was inspired by a speaker who once said: \u201cLife\u2019s too short to think small.\u201d It stuck. <\/p>\n\n

\u2705 Retention is your best defense.<\/strong><\/strong> Not patents. Not Facebook ads. Just loyal, happy customers. <\/p>\n\n

\u2705 Brand matters\u2014invest in it early.<\/strong><\/strong> Both admitted they underinvested in brand at first. Now they\u2019re correcting course. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Bcapital Day April 2025 reminded us that real entrepreneurship isn\u2019t about viral growth or unicorn status. It\u2019s about solving problems, building value, and doing it sustainably. <\/p>\n\n

\ud83d\ude80 Want to join the next Bcapital Day?<\/strong>https:\/\/mk.bcombinator.com\/ff641996c6768fb\/bcapital-mayo<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the latest edition of Bcapital Day, hosted by Bcombinator, two ecommerce pioneers took the stage to share how they built international businesses\u2014without raising venture capital for nearly a decade. No pitch decks. No growth hacks. Just real talk about mistakes, milestones, and the mindset required to build something that lasts. Our speakers:– Stephanie Marco, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":8963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[81,96,79,95],"class_list":["post-8490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entrepreneurship-and-startup","tag-entrepreneur","tag-mentoring-en","tag-noticias-sobre-startups","tag-startups-en"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AUTOFINANCIACION_A_MILLONES.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8490"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9023,"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions\/9023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcombinator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}