• Confluence.VC Weekly
  • Posts
  • šŸ“¶ Bryce Roberts (Founder @ INDIE) on efficiency, the pursuit of revenue-per-employee, and escaping the venture rat race

šŸ“¶ Bryce Roberts (Founder @ INDIE) on efficiency, the pursuit of revenue-per-employee, and escaping the venture rat race

Efficiency and growing revenue-per-employee, automating the back office vs. front office, why creators are bad at pursuing the right ways to monetize their audience, and how seedstrapping changes venture math

Say ā€œheyā€ šŸ‘‹ | Apply šŸ‘„ | Upgrade šŸ“¶ | Sponsor šŸ“£

Good morning šŸ‘‹

Today we’re breaking down a conversation with Bryce Roberts (Founder @ INDIE).

Bryce is one of the first people I started following ~seven years ago when I was getting started in venture, and he has one of the sharpest minds of any investor I’ve spoken with.

His approach to venture is different than most, and he was early to this idea that there is a different approach to venture rather than chasing growth-at-all-costs and staying on the fundraising treadmill forever.

We unpack some of those thoughts and more in this talk.

Let’s get into it.

P.S. We’re sharing our investment memo for Outtake to paying subscribers this Sunday.

If you want to see it + unlock everything else we’ve built for paying subs, you can upgrade here.

Bryce Roberts
Founder @ INDIE

  1. On the $100M revenue with sub-10 employees idea

ā€œ$100M in revenue with under 10 employees is the modern generation of founders’ 4-minute mile.ā€

ā€œFounders want to build with people they trust—not hire for pedigree or narrative. They’ve lived the growth-at-all-costs model and know what it costs.ā€

ā€œWe’re seeing a massive wave of second and third-time founders who now know what it’s like to lose control or be misled by investors. They want different.ā€

  1. Condensing org departments and automating back-office functions

ā€œMidjourney blew my mind. $100M+ revenue with ~20 employees. That kind of compression is now real.ā€

ā€œTime to revenue is shortening. Feedback from paid users is more valuable than most founders realize.ā€

ā€œThere’s a 10–20% gap where humanity still matters. That’s where the value is going to be created.ā€

  1. AI and the shift in team composition

ā€œYou can take on five jobs at once with these tools now. Coders don’t want to manage junior devs—they want leverage.ā€

ā€œMuch of what used to be specialized work is now table stakes. That elevates the importance of taste and perspective.ā€

  1. Converting attention into equity through creators

ā€œToo many creators just burn brand equity on low-upside stuff. Everyone’s got a tequila brand. The real challenge is leveraging attention in high-value ways.ā€

ā€œMark Sisson from Primal Kitchen is the best example. 20 years of trust-building through niche content turned into a billion-dollar exit.ā€

  1. Seedstrapping and the one-and-done concept

ā€œWe called it ā€˜one and done’—raise early to de-risk, open doors, pay yourself, and then just build.ā€

ā€œThe world used to be binary: bootstrap or raise and blitzscale. We wanted to offer the third path.ā€

ā€œIf founders don’t know that’s possible, they default into the game-within-a-game of venture.ā€

  1. Liquidity, secondaries, and evolving fund models

ā€œSecondaries are going to be a bigger part of GP liquidity. We already have Indie portfolio companies doing $100M+ ARR with no additional rounds.ā€

ā€œWe’ve held equity without dilution for 7–8 years in some cases—and the value just compounds.ā€

  1. Cultural shifts and founder mindset

ā€œFounders are realizing raising a massive round may actually increase their risk of failure—not reduce it.ā€

ā€œYou’re told to follow a set playbook, say the right things, do it the right way—and end up giving up yourself in the process. Founder mode is about taking that back.ā€

ā€œThere’s a unique opportunity to build durable, profitable, trustworthy businesses—and that’s now a strategic advantage.ā€

More: indie.vc

TWEET

Thanks for reading this far and giving us a little bit of your attention this week.

Feel free to unsubscribe whenever this stops becoming valuable to you.

- Clay
(Founder @ Confluence.VC | GP @ Outlaw)

"This has had a 100x ROI."

See why some readers are bumping up their reading experience ....

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.

See which plan is right for you:

  • • Insider-only posts
  • • Operator-level access to give you an edge
  • • Boardroom-level support from our team (whenever you need it)

Reply

or to participate.