Most first-time entrepreneurs aren’t prepared for the realities of the administrative work involved in running a business. Work scope agreements are informal and buried deep in old email threads. Invoices are improvised in spreadsheets. And when something goes wrong—like a late payment or a client dispute—there’s often no formal system in place to protect the business owner.
That’s the problem brothers Colin and Brendan Normile set out to solve when they launched BIND, a platform designed to help freelancers, side hustlers, and small businesses manage contracts, invoicing, and payments in one place.
The idea came from their own experiences and struggles as serial entrepreneurs. Colin and Brendan have started and run several businesses together since they were teens, including landscaping, snow removal, and a real estate media company. Each one hit the same wall, they said: “We could deliver the service, but the operations always got in the way.”
From awkward payment conversations to missing contracts, they realized that many early-stage entrepreneurs were dealing with the same problems—and the existing tools to solve them felt either too expensive or too complicated for someone just getting started.
“We kept seeing … smart, motivated people with real skills who … were running everything through Venmo and their Notes app and wondering why nobody took them seriously,” Colin and Brendan told CO—. “Nobody had built the entrepreneurial toolkit. So we did.”
Turning side hustles into real businesses
BIND’s core mission is simple: help small operators look and operate like legitimate businesses from day one.
The platform allows users to create legally structured contracts, generate professional invoices, and collect payments directly through a single interface, at no upfront cost. For freelancers and gig workers, that level of professionalism can make the difference between a business that grows and one that stalls.
“Professionalism is survival,” Colin said. “One unpaid job [or] one client who walks away because there was nothing in writing can end a young business before it ever gets going.”
Beyond minimizing these risks, BIND can also impact how entrepreneurs see and present themselves in the marketplace.
“When you operate like a real business from day one, you start to believe you are one,” Colin said. “And so do your clients.”
[Read more: How to Turn a Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Business]
BIND is where the deals are done, where the contracts get signed, and the payments get sent. [It’s] not just a toolkit you use occasionally, but the infrastructure an entire generation of entrepreneurs builds on from day one.Colin Normile, Co-founder of BIND
Building a company around a transformation
Colin spent nearly two years developing the idea behind BIND, learning the technical side of building a software company and speaking with potential users along the way. Through this process, one thing stayed constant: the founders’ belief in the problem they were solving.
Many existing tools were built decades ago and were designed for larger companies with accountants and legal teams already in place. BIND, on the other hand, is intentionally designed for entrepreneurs in their earliest stages—people launching a side hustle, freelancing after hours, or experimenting with a first small venture. The platform offers a free starting point for these users, with expanded paid features available as businesses grow.
Brendan Normile, who focuses on BIND’s branding and go-to-market strategy, added that the company’s growth depended less on product features and more on telling a story that resonated with aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Nobody buys a product; they buy a transformation,” Brendan said. “What moved people [to explore BIND] was … the idea that you could stop looking like a side hustle and start looking like a real business. That's the transformation BIND delivers.”
This positioning helped the company build early momentum through organic content and founder-led storytelling, attracting millions of views across social media and introducing the platform to a growing audience of young entrepreneurs.
“The moment our content started leading with that [messaging] instead of features, with real founders telling a real story, everything changed,” said Brendan.
[Read more: Crafting Connection: How to Tell Your Small Business Story]
Shaping the future of entrepreneurial tech infrastructure
Although BIND only launched publicly in April 2025, the company is already shaping the platform based on feedback from its earliest users.
One example came from an interior designer who asked the team to add percentage markup functionality to invoices so she could calculate project margins more easily. Instead of treating the request as a niche feature, the founders built it and rolled it out across the platform.
“That’s how we operate,” Colin explained. “When a real user has a real problem, we solve it and make sure everyone benefits.”
Looking ahead, the founders envision BIND becoming a foundational platform for new entrepreneurs, just like LinkedIn is for new professionals looking to build their network.
“The way I see it, BIND becomes the default for anyone starting a business,” said Colin. “BIND is where the deals are done, where the contracts get signed, and the payments get sent. [It’s] not just a toolkit you use occasionally, but the infrastructure an entire generation of entrepreneurs builds on from day one.”
For the founders, the mission ultimately goes beyond building software. It’s about giving small business owners the tools—and the confidence—they need to take themselves seriously.
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