Founders With $500 or Less………..I can’t stop thinking about these 7 founders who launched with $500 or less. Like… $500. That’s two impulsive Target runs and a dinner where you say “yes” to guac. And somehow these people built actual companies with it.
Meanwhile, I once spent $487 trying to “invest in myself” via a productivity course I forgot the password to.
So yeah. This one hit me in the ego a little.
If you’ve ever googled “how to start a business with no money” at 1:12 a.m. while eating cereal out of the box—this is for you. Pull up a chair.
1. The Guy Who Sold Shoes Out of His Apartment (And Prayed)
You’ve probably heard of Nick Swinmurn, but I didn’t realize how scrappy the beginning of Zappos actually was.
He didn’t have warehouses full of sneakers. No giant inventory. No angel investors lining up with shiny checks.
He took photos of shoes at local stores.
Posted them online.
And when someone ordered a pair? He’d go back to the store, buy them at full price, and ship them out himself.
Tell me that’s not chaotic energy.
That’s not a “perfect business plan.” That’s a “well, let’s see if this works” plan. Which, honestly, is how most great things start. My friend once started a candle business because she spilled wax and said, “Wait… this smells kinda amazing.” Boom. Etsy shop.
Back to Nick. He didn’t need millions to test the idea. He needed guts. And like, probably strong coffee.
2. The Beard Oil That Started in a Kitchen
Okay, this one cracked me up.
Eric Bandholz started Beardbrand with about $30 and a blog.
Thirty.
I’ve spent more than that on a late-night DoorDash order I regretted immediately.
He wasn’t manufacturing giant batches. He was building community. Blogging. Posting YouTube videos. Talking to bearded humans like they were part of some underground beard society.
And it worked.
Because people don’t just buy products—they buy belonging. They buy identity. They buy “this feels like me.”
It’s kinda wild when you realize that bootstrap startups sometimes win because they don’t have money. They have to be interesting.
3. The College Kid Who Started With a Simple Email List
I love this one because it feels doable.
Austin Rief co-founded Morning Brew while still in college. It wasn’t some shiny VC-backed thing at first. It was an email newsletter.
That’s it.
He focused on writing business news in a voice that didn’t make you feel like you were being scolded by a finance professor. (No offense to finance professors. You’re great. Just intense.)
They grew by talking to students directly. Referral programs. Word of mouth.
No crazy tech stack.
Just clarity and consistency.
I once tried to start a newsletter. It lasted three weeks. My mom was the most consistent reader. Love you, Mom.
4. The Spanx Story That Still Feels Unreal
Okay, this one gives me chills every time.
Sara Blakely started Spanx with $5,000. I know that’s technically more than $500, but compared to most fashion brands? It’s pocket change.
She cut the feet off her pantyhose because she wanted smoother lines under white pants.
White pants. That’s how this started.
She wrote her own patent. Called manufacturers herself. Got rejected. A lot.
You ever get rejected so much you start narrating your own failure like it’s a dramatic movie trailer?
“From the creators of Mild Embarrassment…”
And yet she kept going.
Sometimes when I’m procrastinating, I think about her calling factories and being told no—and then I look at my inbox and feel slightly ashamed.
Slightly.
5. The Cleaning Company That Was Basically a Craigslist Experiment
There’s this founder story I heard about a guy who launched a home cleaning service by posting on Craigslist with $200 in basic supplies.
No office.
No branding agency.
Just:
“Hey, we’ll clean your place.”
He reinvested profits. Built a small team. Focused on reliability, which, let’s be honest, is rarer than it should be.
Low budget business ideas like that feel almost too simple. Which makes people dismiss them.
But simple doesn’t mean easy.
It means you can start.
(There’s a great piece on scrappy entrepreneurship over at Paul Graham’s blog—paulgraham.com. I’ve gone down that rabbit hole more than once.)
6. The App Built on Pure Frustration
You know how sometimes an idea comes from annoyance?
Like, pure “WHY DOES THIS WORK LIKE THIS?” energy?
That’s basically how Ben Silbermann approached Pinterest in its early days. Now, yes, Pinterest had funding later—but in the very beginning? It was scrappy. Small team. Obsessive community building.
He personally emailed early users.
Personally.
Can you imagine the founder of a major platform DMing you like, “Hey, what do you think?”
That level of care? It matters.
Also, side note: Pinterest has single-handedly convinced me I can remodel my entire kitchen with $87 and optimism.
7. The 14-Year-Old Who Sold Pixel Art
This one’s my favorite because it feels like a fever dream.
A teenager started selling custom pixel art online with basically nothing but time and internet access. Charged small fees. Built a following. Eventually expanded into design services.
No office. No dramatic music swelling in the background.
Just consistency.
It reminds me of when I tried to sell custom MySpace layouts back in the day. (Yes, I’m that old. Don’t laugh.) I made $40 and thought I was a mogul.
So What Actually Happened to Them?
Some scaled to millions.
Some built sustainable six-figure businesses and called it a win.
And that’s the part we don’t talk about enough.
Not every startup needs to become Facebook (now Meta) to matter.
Sometimes success looks like:
- Paying your rent from something you built
- Hiring your first employee
- Not dreading Mondays
Which, honestly, sounds incredible.
The Thing Nobody Likes to Admit About Bootstrap Startups
They’re uncomfortable.
They’re duct-tape solutions and late nights and refreshing your Stripe dashboard like it owes you money.
When you launch with $500 or less, you don’t have the luxury of fancy branding or paid ads.
You have:
- Hustle
- Awkward outreach messages
- Probably a logo you made on Canva at 2 a.m.
And yet… that scrappiness forces clarity.
You can’t hide behind fluff. You have to actually solve a problem.
I once tried to start a dropshipping store. I lasted exactly nine days. Day ten I was googling “how to get refunds from Shopify apps.” Growth.
Why This Kind of Story Both Inspires and Annoys Me
I’m inspired because it proves you can start a business with no money.
I’m annoyed because it means my excuses are weaker than I thought.
“I don’t have funding.”
Okay, but these founders who launched with $500 or less didn’t either.
“I need the perfect website.”
Do you though? Or do you need version one?
There’s this weird comfort in over-preparing. Researching forever. Watching YouTube tutorials like it’s a competitive sport.
Action is scarier.
If I Had $500 Right Now… about Founders With $500 or Less
Here’s what I’d probably do:
- Spend $50 on a domain and basic hosting
- $100 on simple tools
- $100 testing ads (painful but necessary)
- $250 kept aside so I don’t panic
And then I’d just… start.
Badly, probably.
Messily.
But forward.
The Quiet Pattern I Noticed
Every one of these lean startup stories had a few things in common:
- They tested before scaling
- They talked to real customers early
- They weren’t trying to look impressive
That last one hits.
We’re obsessed with looking legit. Fancy logos. Pitch decks. Big announcements.
But some of the strongest businesses start quietly.
Like a side hustle nobody takes seriously.
Until they do.
A Quick Reality Check (Because I Care About You)
Launching with $500 or less isn’t magic.
Some ideas flop.
Some months are ramen-level tight.
But the barrier to entry? Lower than ever.
You don’t need permission.
You need momentum.
And maybe slightly delusional optimism. The good kind.
If You’re Sitting on an Idea…about Founders With $500 or Less
This is your nudge.
Not in a motivational-speaker way. I don’t own a headset mic.
But in a “hey, I’ve been there too” way.
I’ve procrastinated.
Overthought.
Talked myself out of things that probably could’ve worked.
Reading about founders who launched with $500 or less doesn’t magically fix that.
But it does poke at something.
A little voice that says, “What if?”
And sometimes that’s enough.
One Last Thought (Not a Conclusion, Just a Thought)
Back in 8th grade, I wore two different shoes to school. Not on purpose. It was a Monday.
I was mortified.
But by lunch? Nobody cared.
Half the things we’re afraid to start are like that.
We think the spotlight’s on us.
Most people are too busy worrying about their own mismatched shoes.
So yeah.
Maybe $500 is enough.
Maybe starting small is actually the flex.
And if you do launch something scrappy and weird and beautiful?
Tell me.
I’ll be the first subscriber.
