[rfurlan]

1. Getting funded can generate a great deal of buzz, which can be very beneficial. 2. Having investors means having access to their networks, which is sometimes worth more than money. 3. If you bootstrap, every single dollar you make is yours. Also, every dollar you spend could have been yours to keep. 4. Without having investors freaking out about their 30x returns you might not move as fast as you could. 5. It is nice to have your investors pushing you outside your comfort zone (to give that talk, make that phone call).

[rzbn]

From my understanding, the buzz you get from getting funded and who your investors are is actually worth more than they money they get. There are lots of great products getting built but there is no platform to launch them. Your average founder's network consists of what maybe a few hundred people consisting of family and friends and most of them non-techy so they wont be the first to try new things.

While a funded VC has access to the extensive network of influential investors, thousands of people and buzz from blogs.