Bootstrapped Questions

So I have a site that will accept subscriptions the first quarter of 2011. I have been developing this product over the past year and it is almost complete. I would like to use the VC money to help...

Bootstrapped Funding Venture Capital

asked Jan 4 '11 at 13:31

John
161 points

A friend of mine recommended 3 years worth of savings in order to start bootstrapping for my self-funded startup. Does this seem reasonable? I had previously been working towards a goal of 1 year's...

Bootstrapped Funding

asked Dec 15 '10 at 13:50

David In Dakota
153 points

So I have a bootstraped startup that's starting to get some traction. A little background: we make a classroom recording appliance that works with fixed positioned cameras in classrooms to record...

Sales Bootstrapped Strategy

asked Nov 12 '10 at 03:32

Jon
138 points

We recently launched our word of mouth advertising startup, www.boostria.com. We want to rapidly grow our user base to mature our system. But it takes lots of time/effort to sign new users. So, my...

Bootstrapped Advertising Bloggers Blogging

asked Nov 13 '10 at 06:55

James Chen
19 points

I've repeatedly heard the advice (from successful business owners) to not give up direct control over the company finances. It seems that enough founders out there have been burned by seemingly...

Bootstrapped Management Finance Planning

asked Oct 24 '10 at 08:19

Chris Hagner
881 points

Looking at the web environment, it is quite good for a bootstrapped startup. Reasons are: Low barrier to entry Low startup / teardown costs Can start or be built with a single person Highly...

Bootstrapped Market Opportunity

asked Oct 27 '10 at 08:33

Xiaohouzi79
1,257 points

Question's focus is: free + resource = value So, far there have been a lot of answers related to software, have any other suggestions? Examples: Books, Trial Services, etc.

Bootstrapped Resources Books Free

asked Oct 16 '10 at 23:21

Blunders .
899 points

Hey guys, it's me again. As was to be expected, I've run into funding problems with Idea School. The quality teachers I'm looking for are worth about $50-60K per year. Now, of course, they...

Bootstrapped Funding Products Seed Funding

asked Aug 23 '10 at 04:26

Ryan Chatterton
921 points

I love the idea of bootstrapping, but when I hear the bootstrapping evangelists talk about what it takes, they basically portray a lifestyle that only makes sense for a single person in their early...

Bootstrapped Seed Funding

asked Sep 11 '10 at 16:23

Javid Jamae
347 points

I'm working on a product that is set to launch in a few months and need to hire a web designer for our site. I've never done this before so I need help. The details for whats needed on the site are...

Bootstrapped Website

asked Jul 29 '10 at 22:29

Tanvir Chowdhury
165 points

I have several ideas that I label "infrastructure ideas" (both physical and virtual). This means that the ideas will create completely new infrastructure (I use a very broad definition of the term)...

Bootstrapped Ideas Infrastructure Chicken And Egg

asked Jun 14 '10 at 05:41

David
1,567 points

So bootstrapping is a minimalist approach to financing a business and requires a larger amount of sweat equity compared to the money put in. So when do you find that the sweat part has gone too far...

Bootstrapped Planning Budget

asked Jun 17 '10 at 00:54

John Bogrand
2,210 points

I've been through some pretty brutal experiences recently with venture capitalists and I'm looking into ways I can start a company without VC money. Has anyone out there used consulting to...

Bootstrapped Funding Consulting

asked Jun 24 '10 at 11:33

Craig Daniel
223 points

I am looking for examples of ideas, historical or current, where the output of a production process is also used as the input. An example could be something like this: Magnifying glass is used to...

Bootstrapped Ideas Chicken And Egg Innovation

asked Jul 9 '10 at 06:16

David
1,567 points

Say I do not have enough money and need to get a part of my product done, is it possible to give a small part of the company, say between 3 and 5%, as a method of payment?

Bootstrapped Payments

asked May 20 '10 at 10:36

Vnchopra
418 points

Is there any good reason to incorporate while you are still in development or bootstrapping phase? Or should you wait until the product is ready or when there are customers? Thank you for sharing...

Bootstrapped Incorporation

asked May 20 '10 at 12:05

Jpartogi
1,342 points

For a company that has just started, when should we show prices to customer? Right when the application is live on day one or when the application is stable enough to be used by real customer?...

Pricing Bootstrapped

asked May 25 '10 at 19:37

Jpartogi
1,342 points

Is it just me or is there such a "diagnoses" as "feature fatigue"? On more than one occasions I noticed that when I am about 75% though new feature development I am starting to stall and my...

Bootstrapped Software Project Planning

asked May 7 '10 at 03:44

Usabilitest
1,698 points

Some customers are more confident buying your product if you are a corporation, but on the other hand while you are bootstrapping you still need some cash coming in, and one way to do this is to...

Bootstrapped Incorporation

asked Apr 7 '10 at 10:02

Jpartogi
1,342 points

This question is heavily influenced with my experience of an offline entrepreneur. While hearing voices for teaming with tech-savvy cofounders to create a prototype or working technology I can't...

Bootstrapped

asked Feb 12 '10 at 05:27

Kirill Blazhko
393 points