The "Light Travel" methodology is based on the understanding that until the business operationalization phase, the startup and its entrepreneurs, which can be people or companies, must carry the smallest load possible. But what are these loads?

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These are the liabilities accumulated during the project development phase, including expenses with designers, consultants, testing, prototyping, worked hours, legal fees, domains, tickets, traveling, etc. All these expenses, in most projects in the initial stages, are paid by the entrepreneur. 

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When the entrepreneur is unable or chooses not to bear all the costs, he looks for partners who, in exchange for services or capital, receive a percentage of participation in the project. Another possibility is for the entrepreneur to take these resources as loans, in this case instead of partners he will have creditors, but the effect is the same.

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This strategy often dilutes or considerably burdens the entrepreneur's participation, often to the point where he loses the incentive to continue working on the project. If you do not lose the incentive, in order to be remunerated for all those costs and risks assumed, you overestimate the the business valuation and alienate investors, who also feel afraid when having to discuss equity participation with several small partners who have made collaborations of questionable relevance throughout the process and that will add no value to the business future.

 

So how to avoid this load? 

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The concept of Bootstrapping comes from the idea that entrepreneurs should rely on themselves to overcome the stages of development. Put on your boots and walk on your own two feet. By working on self-education, they reduce costs, concentrate participation and acquire important knowledge and skills throughout the process. Getting involved in each stage will make the entrepreneur more self-sufficient, more prepared and more attractive to investors. Remember that the investor will not only be a partner in the business, but also a partner of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneur may have a lot of knowledge about the past and present of the project, but if they don't have skills that add value to the future of the business, it will not make sense for the investor to keep them as partners or with any relevant participation. 

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The problem is that acquiring this knowledge and skills requires time, a resource that is even scarcer than capital itself, especially when it comes to startups and innovative solutions.

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Another common problem is that innovative solutions are not always better than existing solutions. Other times, this improvement even exists, but its value is not perceived by the user or consumer. Lots of time and money can be spent developing or adapting a bad new solution, which is why maximizing success possibilities and value perception are so important.

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When we apply the concept of ongoing Design Thinking, we start to constantly review our solutions, keeping the focus on the client-problem relationship, enhancing the chances of impacting them positively and having their value recognized. This is a very widespread methodology, composed of cycles of divergence and convergence that drives the product or service development until reaching a solution with the perceived and desired value by the user, in principle, the famous MVP, or the Minimum Viable Product. Even after reaching the first MVPs, they are subjected to new cycles for continuous improvement of the product and the customer-problem relationship. The chaining of these cycles quickly and cheaply helps to identify value opportunities to the customer is the basis of Lean Startup and Light Travel methodologies.

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The contribution of professionals from various specialties guiding your project in a collaborative and connected network, concentrated under the same participation or fee,  It can greatly accelerate your learning curve, optimize expenses and, finally, avoid corporate dilution.