Company
Date Published
Author
Emmanuel Straschnov
Word count
1167
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

With the decreasing cost of technology and the increasing availability of SaaS-based services, launching a venture is becoming cheaper and cheaper, making self-funding a viable option. The founders of Bubble, a visual framework to build web apps, have been bootstrapping their business for 6 years, with a team of 6 and over 150,000 users. They considered the pros and cons of not taking external funding, weighing the benefits against the potential drawbacks. The key question they asked themselves was whether the investors' interests aligned with those of their users. After early conversations with investors, they realized that their interests were not aligned, as investors wanted to focus on on-boarding users quickly, while Bubble's founders prioritized features and performance. However, bootstrapping offers several advantages, including a safer approach to running a business, allowing the company to figure out its revenue model earlier on, reducing the risk profile, and fostering a community-driven culture. Despite some risks, such as the potential for being overwhelmed by competition or working on a lifestyle business that may not be aligned with the founder's vision, bootstrapping can be a valuable option for entrepreneurs.