This article was written by JP Werlin, EO Seattle member and CEO and Co-Founder of PipelineDeals

“Value.” Any business needs to constantly create it; the question becomes for whom and how. I sought to create value for my customers and employees first, before catering to shareholders and investors. My company, PipelineDeals, bootstrapped its first nine years before seeking outside investment. Why? We didn’t want to be dependent on external funding. Our goal was to use external funding strategically by better positioning our company once we’d already set a solid foundation.