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One bootstrapped business is solving the nursing crisis

Published 4 months ago • 2 min read

One bootstrapped business is solving the nursing crisis

Matt Gira

September 30th, 2025

I want to get a better sense of where you are in your journey. Where are you right now in building your business?

Here's a lie that won't die: bootstrapping means staying small and you can't build anything meaningful without investors.

​NurseHub, an online community to help nursing students pass their nursing exams, is a perfect example of why that's wrong.

For Alex Hollis, the founder of NurseHub, this isn't just test prep. NurseHub exists "to end America's nursing shortage, one future nurse at a time."

And they're making real progress on that mission. Today, NurseHub has helped over 50,000 students pass their nursing exams and they're on track to make over $4 million in annual revenue this year.

In this deep dive, I'll go over how Alex got into this space without being a nurse, why he chose to build "slowly and sustainably" (even while racking up $40,000 in credit card debt), and one of the more interesting community growth strategies I've seen.

Descript

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I've been using this tool since the early days, and it keeps getting better. Here's why I love it:

  • Edit videos by editing text (game-changer for non-video editors like me)
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If you're someone who just needs basic editing or doesn't consider yourself a video editor, give Descript a try.

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Recommendations

​How to do market sizing​

Basia posted this great way of thinking through how to size a market. This isn't as crucial for bootstrapped businesses, but still important to understand how your business could grow.

​Matthew McConaughey's winning Best Actor​

I've had a lot of conversations this past week with founders I've been working with for years. One common thought was popping up: "Everyone else is just doing so much better than me".

If you're thinking that thought, check out Matthew McConaughey's speech from when he won Best Actor. It was a good reminder for me this week!

​

Matt Gira

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2 Fulton St W, Grand Rapids, MI 49418
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The Quarter

Matthew Gira

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