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0 pointsthreeseed4y ago0 comments

> 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.

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TinySeed calls itself "The First Accelerator Designed for SaaS Bootstrappers", so perhaps there is a schism in the definition.

cj4y ago

My definition of bootstrapping has more to do with the mindset you have while running the company, rather than whether the company actually has investors.

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.

threeseedOP4y ago

You really don't understand bootstrapping do you.

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).

cj4y ago

If tomorrow you decided to go and raise $100k from an angel (or if you received a $100k small business grant) to pay off your credit card debt and replenish some of your savings, I wouldn't immediately kick you out of the "bootstrapped founder" community.

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.

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mathgladiator4y ago

TinySeed calls itself "The First Accelerator Designed for SaaS Bootstrappers", so perhaps there is a schism in the definition.

cj4y ago

My definition of bootstrapping has more to do with the mindset you have while running the company, rather than whether the company actually has investors.

Bootstrapping is an operational mentality IMO.

threeseedOP4y ago

You really don't understand bootstrapping do you.

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).

cj4y ago

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.

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