[foxylad]

Don't worry, you're doing the right thing. Bootstrapping is a 100% thing: you take 100% of the risk; you get 100% of the rewards; and most importantly you can focus 100% of your energy on the product. That focus feeds back nicely into lower risk and higher reward.

Finding capital will divert a lot of your energy into non-productive directions, and probably they are directions that you are not hugely efficient in. And if the time comes that you do need capital, you will get it on much better terms because you have a more mature product.

We bootstrapped, and for a couple of years I had the same uncomfortable feeling as you - all my peers seemed to be focused on raising capital. But now we earn far more than we can spend (we're not profligate people, but we're more than comfortable), and one of the most satisfying things is we can continue to operate on our own values. We don't feel we have to jack up rates or reduce support to improve returns for investors, for instance, which makes our customers love us, which makes it a joy to come in to work, which makes our customers love us even more... life's good, and you really can't ask for more than that.

Finally, you used the magic word "sustainable". You get this in a way that most in our industry don't, so just smile at the unbelievers - you know an important secret they don't.