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The Quarter

How a Lean Startup Experiment Became Michigan’s Innovation Hub

Published about 2 months ago • 2 min read

How a $5,000 Lean Startup Experiment Became Michigan’s Innovation Hub

Matt Gira

September 16th, 2025

This deep dive is one of the most unique ones I'll ever draft. That's because I'm announcing that I'm joining this business...

But this isn't me stepping back from The Quarter. If anything, it's going to make The Quarter better.

I'll be meeting more founders who've bootstrapped from $0 to $250k in annual revenue, and I think there are going to be great opportunities to do things in real life for The Quarter community.

Only good things ahead. More on that in this deep dive below!

Four friends in Detroit had a problem: they kept working out of coffee shops and their homes, but never had a space to call their own.

So in 2013, they convinced one friend's dad to let them test a co-working concept in his empty downtown building. He even loaned them $5,000 to buy Ikea furniture and paint.

That experiment became Bamboo, now a co-working community across Michigan with over 200,000 square feet of total space managed.

One of those four friends, Amanda Lewan, is now the CEO of Bamboo, and Bamboo has become something that is way more than she ever imagined it might be: an economic development engine for Michigan's startup ecosystem.

In this deep dive, we'll explore how Amanda and the Bamboo applied the lean startup methods to real estate, how they marketed without much of a budget, and why I’ve even decided to join the Bamboo team in their newest location: Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kit

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This email/section contains affiliate links. I earn a commission if you make a purchase at no extra cost.

One of my favorite tools is the email newsletter platform Kit.

Kit isn't just awesome for building an audience or keeping in touch with potential customers. Their team is one of my favorites out there - great mission and fully bootstrapped to over $40 million in annual revenue! Looking to build any kind of email list? You can use Kit for free up to 10,000 subscribers.

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Recommendations

​Simplify Your Business Blueprint​

I'm a big fan of making business simpler. That's a big reason why I do these deep dives.
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Steph Blake put together this great blueprint on how she went from 80+ hour weeks to under 15 while hitting multiple 6-figures. Grab her free Simplify Your Business Blueprint to learn how to streamline, automate and scale your business without burning out.

​Nathan Barry's Recent Q+A Podcast Episode​

Nathan Barry, the founder of Kit, is a big reason why this newsletter even exists. He helped me realize I care deeply about bootstrapped ventures and is also the founder of the newsletter tool I use to send this newsletter.

BUT fun fact, I refuse to do the Kit deep dive until he sits down with me. I already did his eBooks deep dive as my first deep dive. I am not doing the Kit one without his interview even though I definitely could do it without him.

His most recent podcast episode was packed with a lot of great insights. On vibe coding, on how to stay connected to customers, and what they're seeing as the best growth strategies for newsletters.

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Matt Gira

Connect with me on LinkedIn!

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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The Quarter

Matthew Gira

How bootstrapped businsses go from $0 to $250k in annual revenue.

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