β Glossary
Bootstrapping
Building and growing a business using only personal savings and revenue, without external investors.
Bootstrapping means you own 100% of your company and answer to no one but your customers. Famous bootstrapped companies include Basecamp (37signals), Mailchimp (before its $12B acquisition), and Zoho. Advantages: full control, no dilution, forced profitability discipline. Disadvantages: slower growth, personal financial risk, limited ability to hire. The indie hacker movement of 2020-2026 has proven that bootstrapping works across many categories previously thought to require VC funding.