[cj]

My definition of bootstrapping has more to do with the mindset you have while running the company, rather than whether the company actually has investors.

There’s always someone putting money into getting a new business up and running (bootstrapping is not free). Whether that small amount of money comes from the founder’s pocket, family/friends, or an angel investor - the money to pay your AWS bill and other basic services has to come from somewhere.

Bootstrapping is an operational mentality IMO.

[threeseed]

You really don't understand bootstrapping do you.

So my partner started a business during COVID. We don't have rich family/friends or know any angel investors and so we paid for costs by selling things, using savings and maxing out credit cards.

No outside money. No modification to a cap table (not that it exists).

[cj]

If tomorrow you decided to go and raise $100k from an angel (or if you received a $100k small business grant) to pay off your credit card debt and replenish some of your savings, I wouldn't immediately kick you out of the "bootstrapped founder" community.

I see your point though. There is "pure 100% bootstrapped" and "mostly bootstrapped, but not completely". IMO it's a spectrum. Just like the term "startup" - it's a spectrum, no binary definition.

[threeseed]

If you raise $100k from an angel then you were a bootstrapped company and now you aren't.

No spectrum. No complications. No twisting of words. Very simple.

[cj]

I fail to see the benefit of subscribing to a viewpoint that is so black and white, and why definition that allows for no exception is necessary.

If we are taking things to the extreme, I could argue that Visa/Mastercard is your investor considering you maxed out your credit cards, you’re spending someone else’s money by doing that. And just like convertible notes or debt financing, you’ll have to pay it back. Convertible notes typically provide the option for the investor to demand cash repayment after a certain amount of time has elapsed, same as your credit card company.

These silly semantics are why I think it’s more practical to define bootstrapping as an operational philosophy/mindset rather than a strict binary financial definition.

[chana_masala]

> I fail to see the benefit of subscribing to a viewpoint that is so black and white, and why definition that allows for no exception is necessary.

Maybe look at it in a different situation. Imagine someone punched you in the face and when you confront them about it they saying that you're holding to silly semantics about what it means or does not mean to get punched in the face.