---
title: "Pat Walls from Starter Story: Interviewing Over 500 Businesses While Bootstrapping His Own | Trends by The Hustle"
description: An interview with Pat Walls from Starter Story, about entrepreneurship, scaling up operations, and sharing metrics in the open.
image: https://www.nlopchantamang.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/lrg-Pat2_20191008091517-4.png
---

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# Pat Walls from Starter Story: Interviewing Over 500 Businesses While Bootstrapping His Own

[ by Aja Frost @ajavuu ](https://www.nlopchantamang.com/trends/author/aja-frost-ajavuu)

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After a failed Y Combinator application in 2017, Pat Walls decided to bootstrap his next business. Hustling around his full-time job as a software developer, he built up [Starter Story](https://starterstory.com/) as a “solopreneur.”

Since inception in November 2017, [Starter Story](https://starterstory.com/) has interviewed over 500 businesses and is now averaging multiple interviews per day. He’s built out new features of the platform, including search functionality, [suggested tools](https://www.starterstory.com/tools), [founder-recommended books](https://www.starterstory.com/books), and social engagement features. He’s even released an [ebook](https://www.starterstory.com/book) showcasing the 24 most inspiring interviews. 

The site mostly features e-commerce hits, although Pat has plans to expand past that. Products range from [swim trunks made of trash](https://www.starterstory.com/recycled-swimwear) to [non-fiction book clubs](https://www.starterstory.com/stories/how-two-friends-started-a-13k-month-online-book-club-from-bali) to [portable treehouses](https://www.starterstory.com/stories/how-i-m-fulfilling-my-childhood-dreams-with-a-portable-treehouse-business) to [miniature construction supplies](https://www.starterstory.com/mini-materials) to [carbon fiber instruments](https://www.starterstory.com/stories/how-we-invented-a-carbon-fiber-guitar-and-grew-to-1m-year), and these businesses do anywhere from a [few thousand per month](https://www.starterstory.com/explore/small-brands) to up to [millions per year](https://www.starterstory.com/explore/large-brands).

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