'Bootstrap' business offers lessons

Sometimes, the best way to grow a research-based business isn't by securing venture capital or crafting a sound exit strategy or spending loads of money on high-end software.

Carson, who got his start in e-commerce as a developer for the early companies now known as Hayneedle, shared his message Wednesday about "bootstrapping" and running a lean business while a keynote speech at Infotec, an information innovation conference organized by the AIM Institute and held at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.

The nearest Toys R Us or an area big box retailer

So instead of heading to the nearest Toys R Us or an area big box retailer, Carson challenged his son to find a supplier. When the youngster came back with a name, address and phone number for a supplier of the sought-afterwards toy, Carson knew what was then.

Infotec, which started in 1976, drew 1,050 attendees over two days of keynote speakers and breakout sessions that spanned various innovation issues, including mobile devices, cloud computing, small business, project management and research in IT.

Nowadays, Carson said, it's normal for successful innovation startups and small businesses to receive outside funding. Not Fat Brain Toys, which has 45 full-time employees and as many as 250 around the holiday season. In response to a question from the audience, Carson said that even if his company was offered an outside investment, he would turn it down.