[chrishacken]

I was thinking more along the lines of solo-founders. Obviously if you can afford to pay employees, you can afford a 401k. Which brings me back to the fact that you probably still need money to pay employees; which generally means you still need funding unless you're profitable very early on.

We're entirely bootstrapped, but we provide a recurring service and it's taken me 2 years to hire our first employee. I don't think most companies can wait 2 years after launching to hire an employee (We couldn't even.. I had to bring in short-term help on numerous occasions).

[nwenzel]

First, huge respect for bootstrapping. My co-founder and I ran a bootstrapped company together for over a decade. Skipped our own paychecks three times to ensure we made payroll for our team. But I’m sure you have your own stories just like that. Again, HUGE respect to you and everyone that operates without a backstop.

We went just over two years in our venture-backed company before hiring anyone. Built the business to nearly $200k ARR. Everyone we told was amazed. But if 2 people can’t operate a business with only $200k top line, you don’t need a complex financial model to know that your economics aren’t where they need to be.

So, yes, you need to have revenues and cash before you can hire and pay salaries. 401k is only a little further out than that.