From Cancer Diagnosis to $8B Empire

In partnership with

Advertise | Home | More Stories 

Start learning AI in 2025

Everyone talks about AI, but no one has the time to learn it. So, we found the easiest way to learn AI in as little time as possible: The Rundown AI.

It's a free AI newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest AI news, and teaches you how to apply it in just 5 minutes a day.

Plus, complete the quiz after signing up and they’ll recommend the best AI tools, guides, and courses – tailored to your needs.

Sign up to start learning.

Advertise | Home | More Stories 

📍 Provo, Utah

In the summer of 2001, Ryan Smith was living his best life as a BYU business student with a prestigious HP internship in Los Angeles.

Then came the phone call that changed everything: his father Scott Smith had stage III throat cancer and just weeks to live.

Ryan immediately quit his internship and rushed home to Utah, expecting to spend his dad's final months together.

Instead, they built the foundation for what would become an $8 billion software empire—all from their family basement while Scott underwent chemotherapy.

The Play: Turning Crisis Into Opportunity Through Pure Hustle

While most college kids would panic about missing school, Ryan saw an opportunity to spend quality time with his dad.

Scott Smith, a BYU marketing professor and "super early adopter," had been tinkering with survey technology in his basement.

Rather than rebuild a car together, father and son decided to perfect Scott's research software during his recovery.

Key Moves:

• Crisis-Driven Focus: Scott's cancer diagnosis forced them to work with urgency—every day mattered, so they couldn't waste time on features that didn't work.

• Academic Beachhead Strategy: They targeted universities first, leveraging Scott's professorial network and Ryan's ability to find decision-makers online.

• Bootstrap-or-Die Mentality: With medical bills piling up and no external funding, every customer had to pay immediately—forcing radical customer financed growth focus.

The Results:

• 🚀 20 customers signed by the time Scott completed chemo treatments

• 🚀 $1.3M in revenue by 2006 with just 15 employees

• 🚀 $8B SAP acquisition in 2018 after 16 years of hard earned growth

Why This Worked: Necessity is the Mover of Invention

1. Medical Bills Created Customer Obsession

With mounting healthcare costs, Ryan couldn't afford to lose a single customer. He personally responded to every support ticket and constantly improved the product based on user feedback. This obsession with customer success became Qualtrics' DNA.

2. Academic Word-of-Mouth Engine

Starting with the Kellogg School of Management as their first customer, Qualtrics spread through academia like wildfire. Business school students learned the platform and brought it to their corporate jobs after graduation—creating a viral adoption loop.

3. Geographic Advantage

Being in Provo, Utah meant zero competition for talent and dramatically lower costs. While Silicon Valley startups burned through millions, Qualtrics hired top BYU graduates for $2,000/month base salary plus unlimited commission.

💡 How to Steal Qualtrics' "Crisis Bootstrapping" Playbook

1. Find Your Constraint Advantage

• Qualtrics' financial limitations forced creative solutions. Their first trade show booth was bartered in exchange for software licenses.

• Embrace constraints—they force you to focus on what actually matters.

2. Target Your Network First

• Scott's academic connections opened doors that cold outreach never could.

• Leverage existing relationships before hiring expensive sales teams.

3. Hire for Hunger, Not Pedigree

• Many early employees were BYU graduates with Mormon missionary experience—natural salespeople used to rejection and long-term persistence.

• Prioritize work ethic over fancy resumes [this is a HUGE one for us in our firm].

4. Make Every Employee Self-Funding

• Ryan's rule: "Every employee had to pay for themselves." Variable compensation meant top performers earned more than competitors while underperformers naturally left.

Startups Currently Raising from Around the World

Are you ready to be featured on this list?

👉 Submit Your Pitch

Telescope (Norway): Climate risk analytics platform for real estate, turning ESG compliance into strategic asset optimization using AI to monitor flooding, wildfires, and biodiversity risks.
🔗 telescopedata.com
📄 Funding Announcement
💰 Raising: €3.7M (Seed) | Committed: Fully raised (March 2025; backed by Alliance Venture and Skyfall Ventures)

Valla (UK): Data-driven legal tools offering automated solutions for employment law, tenancy disputes, and small claims using AI to democratize legal access.
🔗 valla.co.uk
📄 Funding Announcement
💰 Raising: £2.3M (Seed) | Committed: Fully raised (June 2025; led by Techstart Ventures and Resolution Foundation)

Kiin Bio (UK): Biotechnology startup developing virtual scientists to accelerate drug discovery using AI-powered automation for pharmaceutical research.
🔗 kiinbio.com
📄 Funding Announcement
💰 Raising: €1.8M (Pre-Seed) | Committed: Fully raised (December 2024; led by b2venture, HEARTFELT, and rule30)

Takeaway:
Ryan Smith didn't set out to bootstrap for a decade—Scott's cancer forced their hand.

But that constraint became their competitive advantage, creating a culture of scrappiness and customer obsession that no venture-funded competitor could match.

By 2012, when they finally raised $70M from Sequoia and Accel, they had $50M in revenue and 3,800 customers—proving that sometimes the best business plan is simply refusing to quit.

For founders, the lesson is clear: Your biggest constraint might become your biggest advantage.

Start Building.

— MVP Templates | Forbes 30 under 30

📩 PS: Was this helpful? Hit reply to let us know & share your startup story—we’d love to hear it!

📩 PSS: Do you want guaranteed investor meetings? Click here set up a meeting!

Advertise | Home | More Stories