To be clear: staying in business is the universal success metric I mentioned and cited earlier (not funding or exit). Here’s another source citing the same 9/10 failure (10% success) rate for all startups in the U.S.

> Many small businesses start up every month but the failure rate is high. As of 2019, startup failure rates are around 90%. 21.5% of startups fail in the first year, 30% in the second year, 50% in the fifth year, and 70% in their 10th year. [0]

Small bootstrapped companies can still exist and succeed against these odds (several are cited in the article), but to make the claim that these odds don’t apply to bootstrapped startups is foolish wishful thinking.

[0] https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/04091...