[geori]

Yeah. I'm a big fan of MailChimp, but this is a clear case of survivorship bias. We have a ton of detailed reporting (CrunchBase, edgar.gov, startup accelerators, Mattermark, etc) on VC backed companies but very little on non VC. How do you get a detailed list of bootstrapped companies? Even if you did have a comprehensive list (Sec of State in each state), how are you going to differentiate amongst tech startup, lifestyle business, traditional new business, and service business? Angelist has some info, but it is a platform for fundraising.

[JackFr]

It is survivorship bias, and yet it isn't. I think you'd find a lot of these stories would read the same -- while engaging in some other business activity (consulting, sales, etc.) a potentially profitable business opportunity was observed, and gradually it became the primary focus. If there isn't an opportunity observed, or if it doesn't become the primary focus there is no startup and no story.