> bootstrapping VS "VC road" is much more nuanced
Sure. But don't try and redefine what bootstrap means.
It means building your company without requiring any professional investors and without modifying your cap table.
You've done neither.
Sure. But don't try and redefine what bootstrap means.
It means building your company without requiring any professional investors and without modifying your cap table.
You've done neither.
There’s always someone putting money into getting a new business up and running (bootstrapping is not free). Whether that small amount of money comes from the founder’s pocket, family/friends, or an angel investor - the money to pay your AWS bill and other basic services has to come from somewhere.
Bootstrapping is an operational mentality IMO.
So my partner started a business during COVID. We don't have rich family/friends or know any angel investors and so we paid for costs by selling things, using savings and maxing out credit cards.
No outside money. No modification to a cap table (not that it exists).
I see your point though. There is "pure 100% bootstrapped" and "mostly bootstrapped, but not completely". IMO it's a spectrum. Just like the term "startup" - it's a spectrum, no binary definition.
No spectrum. No complications. No twisting of words. Very simple.
If we are taking things to the extreme, I could argue that Visa/Mastercard is your investor considering you maxed out your credit cards, you’re spending someone else’s money by doing that. And just like convertible notes or debt financing, you’ll have to pay it back. Convertible notes typically provide the option for the investor to demand cash repayment after a certain amount of time has elapsed, same as your credit card company.
These silly semantics are why I think it’s more practical to define bootstrapping as an operational philosophy/mindset rather than a strict binary financial definition.
Maybe look at it in a different situation. Imagine someone punched you in the face and when you confront them about it they saying that you're holding to silly semantics about what it means or does not mean to get punched in the face.