About Our Founder

BootstrappingStories.com was founded by Dr. Robert J. Lahm, Jr. After completing only a few college courses, he packed his meager belongings and left his childhood home in the Southeastern U.S. to attend a film school in Half Moon Bay, California.  He was compelled to do so by a lifelong interest in art and photography.  Afterwards, he began his professional career by working for a computer industry startup in Los Angeles, California. 

He moved several more times, held additional sales and marketing positions, and applied his creative talents to start a fledgling commercial photography business in New Jersey.  He eventually completed his undergraduate degree in Management Science (which he earned after several years, often struggling to find the time, money, or cooperation of employers to return to college as an adult learner). Upon graduating, he was employed by a high technology advertising agency, and from there, accepted a position as the market research director with a major daily newspaper.  His collective experiences enabled him to gain a broad perspective about customers and service, markets, rapid change, tenacity, leadership, personal courage, and risk.

He then founded and operated his own marketing communications firm. The firm itself, like every business he has started, was founded in the tradition of bootstrapping, which certainly influenced him in the creation of this site. In the beginning, he had no capital, no creative portfolio, and no clients; he did have a business card, a second bedroom in an apartment, a new bride (to whom he is still married), skeptical prospects, and a typewriter.  Fortunately, early Macintosh computers were revolutionizing graphic production processes, and he quickly became proficient in executing projects, once he acquired his first machine and desktop publishing software.

After four years, he had proven that he could "do," as his business grew to successfully service clients including banks, universities, retailers, a magazine publisher, professional firms, high technology companies, and others.  In the meantime, he had enjoyed sharing as an occasional guest speaker in college classes.  He decided to complement his practical experience by pursuing a graduate education at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.  The decision to attend graduate school consumed much of his life during the 1990’s, and resulted in an earned doctorate with a 4.0 GPA in 1999.  Dr. Lahm’s work was honored when he received the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, 2000 Award for Distinguished Contribution to Research, for his doctoral dissertation on the role of interpersonal “chemistry” in hiring. 

However, academic life has been a mixed blessing.  Cheating students, some tyrannical administrators, siloed disciplines, lip-service to persons with practical experience (in contrast to the exaltation of those who offer a string of journal publications accumulated in lifelong academic careers), and political gamesmanship over such low stakes have been gigantic disappointments; the occasional glimmer in a student's eye is extraordinary and delightful.  The overall experience has been bittersweet. 

There was and still remains the burden of a significant financial sacrifice in the form of student loans and additional consumer obligations.  His two children, both born prematurely, arrived tenuously in this world while he was a graduate student (the first while he was writing his thesis, and the second while he was writing his dissertation).  His student loan is approximately the same size as his base salary from teaching.  Therefore, he remains entrepreneurial as a matter of necessity, and he is able to relate to others who make hard choices as they seek a better life for themselves as well as others whom they may serve.  He has never failed to meet an obligation of any kind to a creditor, whether it has been commercial or consumer related (although he believes credit card companies are engaging in a form of "legalized loan sharking" because they unduly influence government officials, and the media, with their enormous advertising budgets--beware bootstrappers!).

Yes, this site itself is bootstrapped.     

Dr. Lahm is a consummate bootstrapper, and the founder of additional businesses beyond those outlined here, as well as other Web sites.  He is also an entrepreneurship educator, a public speaker, and a writer. His typical topics include creativity and innovation, careers, startups, and small business marketing.

He believes that all of the years through which he has managed change in his own life have a reason. The purpose of his life’s work is now clear, as he is emerging to become an entrepreneurial thought leader who is helping others learn to achieve their own dreams and full potential. His high-energy style is infectious, and his success oriented messages are reaching more and more students as well as the audiences he has otherwise addressed through his writings, speaking engagements, and Web content.  "Try a new definition of success," he says. "Play a clean game, help others, create value, persist against all odds, and your turn will come.  Success is waking up with an idea to make the world or someone's life better, and fighting hard to make it a reality.  Money comes and goes, but it never gives someone class or honor." 

Dr. Lahm has taught at both the MBA and undergraduate levels, addressing subjects such as organizational change, innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship.

Among other sources, he has been previously recognized in several Who’s Who publications, including Who’s Who in Advertising, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Who’s Who Among Young American Professionals, Who’s Who Worldwide, and most recently, Who’s Who in Business Education.

At home, he is an avid chef, and he enjoys painting and studio photography.

If you are a member of the media and wish to speak with Dr. Lahm directly, he would be happy to assist you. Click here to visit a Media Overview page, or go directly to our Contact Form (select Media/Press Relations as the Inquiry Type).