Bootstrapping a startup
These days I hear a lot about starting your own company after you graduate. It doesn't use to be same 2-3 yrs back.
I too like the idea of having my own business but I don't believe in approaching VCs for money and giving away share of your company. But I would definitely like to give share for being a Mentor.
Just want to know experience of HN readers who have bootstrapped their company.
Published in 2010, this chronicle by @ashitvora details the mechanics of building a profitable, self-funded business without venture backing.
Core Principles for Independent Builders:
Charging customers from day one acts as the ultimate filter for building software that solves genuine, high-urgency problems.
Keeping fixed overhead low and leveraging lean infrastructure allows founders to stay alive until market tailwinds kick in.
Small, repetitive improvements in customer retention and conversion rates yield massive returns over multi-year horizons.
Community Debate Themes:
The community focused on B2B customer acquisition channels, cold email vs SEO distribution, and balancing full-time employment with side-project development.
CATEGORY Bootstrapping & MRR →
HISTORICAL ERA Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013)
COMMUNITY SCORE 5 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 4 comments
I am just at the beginning of a bootstrapped company, and I just graduated too.
First: Get ready to eat a lot of ramen noodles, unless you have rich parents or something.
Second: Try to start making cash as quickly as possible. You'll need it!
Third: Praying. Lots and lots of praying...
There are a lot of bootstrappers on the Lean Startup Circle discussion group (http://groups.google.com/group/lean-startup-circle/topics ↗).
I have not done so but check out 37signals.com. They are bootstrapped and talk about it in their blog and books. Great work.