Eric Rafat - Community Builder, Startup Founder, and SEO consultant

Founder Blog

Founder Blog is a dedicated space to share my notes while building, growing, and scaling up startups. No sugar coat. Real insights and tips. Check out the latest posts…

Bootstrapping a Startup in Canada: The Reality No One Talks About

My recent post on LinkedIn about bootstrapping a startup in Canada went viral — and for good reason. Because here’s the truth: bootstrapping and scaling a startup in Canada is absolute hell. Here’s what most founders deal with: Zero Press Coverage No one’s telling the stories of early-stage builders. That’s exactly what we’re changing with The FoundersPress. We added an editorial column to specifically to cover these stories. Zero Speaking Opportunities Many of these events and conferences have turned into photo ops and political theatre. Big crowds, but very little actual value for local founders to scale. Zero Banking Support Self-employed? Good luck. We desperately need better banking services for Canadian entrepreneurs. Zero Engagement Where is the engagement in the community for founders in Canada? We have seen zero. Zero Support This is exactly why we’ll keep fighting to change...

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Startup Stories

Bye Bye Lean Startup: The Modern Way to Build a Startup

The Modern Way to Build a Startup

Times on the internet have changed. Getting a website up and running in the 1990s used to cost thousands of dollars, and you needed a large team to make anything functional. Fast forward to today—with the advancement of CMS and popular platforms like WordPress—getting a website up has become incredibly cheap. There are also no-code platforms that are extremely useful...

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Top 13 Ways to Fix the Canadian Startup Ecosystem

Canada Startup Ecosystem

With so much potential in Canada to build the next big thing, the country is falling short as talent and founders are leaving. Innovation is declining, and the economy is in free fall. Over the past decade, public sector jobs have skyrocketed, while private sector jobs have decreased. We need an ecosystem that fosters early-stage startups into scale-ups and global...

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Top 8 Startup Memes to Crank Up the Laughter

Startup Memes Paying Customers

I always find that startup memes are a good reminder to discover the lighter side of entrepreneurship. These memes are the best way to help you get through your week. As a founder, whether you're putting out fires, onboarding a new client, or tackling unexpected challenges, a little humor can go a long way. The startup journey is often filled...

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Founders Press: Media Platform for Founders

FoundersPress startup news

Founders Press is a media platform that spun out of the FoundersBeta community. Let’s face it, current press coverage for early-stage startups is far from ideal. It's 99.9% focused on startup fundraising or layoffs! Any innovative startup doesn’t get covered unless they’ve raised funds. The headlines and content are all about fundraising! Most of these stories get brushed aside as...

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List of Bootstrapping Companies Scaling

Top Bootstrapping-Companies List

"The best form of capital for startups will always be paying customers.” Startup media is 99.9% on startup fundraising, layoffs, or random policy. Bootstrapping startups or indie makers hardly get any recognition out there. They are severely underrepresented. Have you seen any content coverage in this area? Zero. Nada. This is why startup media landscape needs to be changed as...

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