
The Bootstrapper Mindset to Not Try to Conquer the World - shgnio
http://shoganai.io/software/2015/09/18/The-Bootstrapper-Mindset-To-Not-Try-To-Conquer-The-World.html
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mindcrime
_As for the low budget bootstrappers that try to come up with products to make
them just enough profit to quit their day job with the minimum amount of time
spent, there are some guidelines that can increase the chances of making just
enough profit._

I think there is a mistaken understanding of "bootstrapping" here, and one
that you see all too often for some reason. "Bootstrapping" is a _process_ ,
not a goal, or an outcome. You can bootstrap and wind up with a small /
"lifestyle" business, OR a huge multinational corporation. Likewise, you can
go the VC route and wind up with a multinational corporation, or an
insignificant company that gets acquired for peanuts.

Whether or not you bootstrap is completely orthogonal to what your desired
outcome is. A "bootstrapped" company not defined as a company that "makes just
enough profit for you to quit your day job."

And on the same note, bootstrapping and taking VC money aren't mutually
exclusive over time. You can bootstrap for a long time, _then_ take outside
money. IOW, you're "bootstrapped" until you aren't.

FWIW, we're taking the bootstrapped approach but we still plan to conquer the
world.

~~~
shgnio
Yeah you're right, I should have clarified better what I mean.

My point was that as a bootstrapper it's important to generate revenue as soon
as possible, doesn't matter if you build a small business to support yourself
or a plan to grow into a huge company. You don't have the luxury of taking
your time and planning to come up with a monetization strategy in the future.
Therefore you need to do what works and iterate quickly.

~~~
mindcrime
Yeah, totally. The only thing I'd add to that, is that in the scenario where
you continue to work a day job while you work on the bootstrapped company as a
"side project", you can buy yourself a pretty long runway. Of course, that's
at the expense of moving more slowly in general. So there's always a balance
to be struck.

