

The Personal Side of a Bootstrapped Startup - arcware
http://arcware.net/the-personal-side-of-a-bootstrapped-startup/

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sgoraya
Having bootstrapped my own business, my biggest issues were dealing with
stress and 'the unknown'. I was unmarried at the time so I could handle the
pay decrease and living without niceties.

Cash flow was always on my mind - if a client postponed payment, or flat out
refused to pay for whatever reason (happened to me a few times, even from
'established' clients) I would be mentally overloaded trying to figure out how
to get by for the month.

You go through such a roller coaster ride of emotion - There is no better
feeling of joy and accomplishment than having a client sign a contract and pay
with a nice check; there is no worse feeling than sitting at your desk,
staring at the wall trying to figure out how you'll pay the bills for the
month...

Anyhow, I would never trade the experience for anything, though I'm not sure
if I could have handled it if I were married at the time; I would echo Dave's
sentiment that bootstrapping is hard but also extremely rewarding. You'll come
out a tougher SOB for it, thats for sure! ;)

~~~
arcware
I agree that the experience is worth it. I'm currently in it with a wife and 3
kids, and I wouldn't trade it for anything right now.

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kleinsch
Good job pointing out the effect on your family. Bootstrapping is more than
just a pay cut when your spouse and/or children will be affected as well.
Discussing the potential risks with them is 100% necessary before taking a
major leap.

~~~
kirinkalia
So how many bootstrappers have spouses and families? Seems to me like the kind
of risk that's easier to take for those who are younger and/or have fewer
responsibilities.

Also, how many boostrappers make lifestyle changes months before they leave
their day job for the uncertainty of boostrapping? I would imagine you'd want
to have enough saved for 6 months of expenses (the general rule of thumb for
anyone actually) and an idea of what your new life is really going to be like.

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kleinsch
I'm not married yet, but live with my girlfriend, so it's a similar situation.
She's OK with my trying to bootstrap it and also offered to help me with my
share of the rent, if necessary, for a month or two. She doesn't make enough
to support the two of us indefinitely, but it's helpful to have somebody else
with more stable income. The other nice thing about having a spouse (that I
can't cash in on yet since we're not married) is that you can use their health
benefits, which will get you better coverage and save you money.

Having kids changes the equation altogether. If I had kids, there's no way I'd
try what I'm doing now with as little safety net.

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d2viant
I'm not sure I understand the pay cut part. Why not start it up on the side
and keep your regular job until it grows big enough to replace your existing
salary? If it fails then you can just keep doing what you were doing before.
Seems less risky and stressful than going all in on something you're unsure
about.

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arcware
Trying to get your startup going on the side while maintaining your current
job is certainly an attractive option for many people. But the risk with that
approach is that the startup never gets launched and off the ground. They tend
to stall and stall and stall, all because they have that big safety net of
their current job and salary. It can work, but not always.

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do
I would also add: how well do you handle rejection and failure?

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arcware
Good call. If you're not used to failing, and failing often, then this isn't
for you.

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wan23
Though on the other hand, how else do you learn?

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arcware
Fair enough, but you can fail in something other than a bootstrapped startup
and learn from it, all without risking your own personal stress, finances,
etc.

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idlewords
If you're in a position to try starting your own company, you're already in a
position of great privilege. Either do it, or don't do it, but don't complain.

~~~
arcware
Not sure if this was meant for me or not, but I hope I didn't come off as
complaining in that post. I just wanted to make sure people thought about the
personal side of things before diving into it. People tend to overlook the
spouse's point of view, and I wanted to make sure I pointed that out.

~~~
nhangen
I don't think it came off like that at all. I think you sounded realistic and
pragmatic.

My spouse does add extra pressure, though not on purpose...it's just there.
However, I'm permanently unemployable, so what else can I do? :)

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Swizec
As far as bootstrapped startups go I can say one thing -> they suck.

When you're in that spot where you don't really know which bill to pay this
month and which can probably wait a little while longer, all the while you're
asking the bank to extend the limit on your bank account and trying to look
all "Yeah hey, I sure as fuck am making enough money to pay for this! Yeah!"
...

... it's not a fun place to be.

But on the other hand, it's a whole lot more fun than when I had a somewhat
cushy job as a webdev doing repetitive mindnumbingly horrible things for an
advertising agency.

~~~
felixge
I think there is another way to look at it -> Bootstrapping allows you to stay
in control.

You get to decide how many financial sacrifices you take for your business. We
do 3 days of contracting and spend another 3 days working on our product. Yes,
this even includes one "free" day on a regular basis.

I don't even think it hurts our progress that much. Personally I couldn't
focus on a business while not being able to pay my bills.

Being limited on time, but having a little extra cash has been a very good
combination for us so far. We spend our time efficiently, and we can sometimes
hire people to help us with stuff we're not good at.

Note: I live in a nice big place in Berlin paying most expenses for myself and
my girlfriend (she is studying). Not fancy, but certainly not sacrificing
anything either. (YMMV, especially in a more expensive city or with kids)

