> It's at this stage where the stress is greatest. You feel like you are ineffective, you start to doubt yourself, doubt your vision, you look at your competitors and feel less confident. How did you manage this?

On the stress side, the way I manage is that I see bootstrapping v/s raising funding as a tradeoff between slow growth, higher chance of controlling your destiny v/s fast growth, higher chance of fizzling and higher chance of giving up control. Since it's chances and not certainties, what might seem successful competitors today might just be a matter of time. And what might seem struggle today could be totally worthwhile tomorrow. Since there are a number of variables that influence startup success, I think being clear of why you are bootstrapping v/s raising funds relives of a good amount of anxiety.

Anxiety is at peak if you want to raise funds but can't, and hence are forced into bootstrapping.

>what worked well when it came to marketing as a bootstrap company?

I wish there was a simple answer. Content worked well for me in 2010. But I hear that it no longer works.