Bootstrapped Companies
topic on 4 shows · 7 statements across 7 episodes
the Y Combinator Startup Podcast 
Startups For the Rest of Us 
the Official SaaStr Podcast 
Top Founders
7 statements about Bootstrapped Companies, every show
Walling: Bootstrapped companies fail when founder motivation runs out
“Funded companies fail when they run out of money. Bootstrapped companies fail when the founder runs out of motivation.”
Walling: Funded startups fail from no money; bootstrappers fail from lost motivation
“I say a lot that funded companies Go out of business or fail when they run out of money and bootstrap companies fail when the founder runs out of motivation.”
Martin: Applying Venture-Backed Playbooks to Bootstrapped SaaS Hurts Growth
“And I would also add on that bootstrapped companies learning from venture-backed companies is counterproductive.
To their overall growth.”
Lemkin: Big bootstrapped SaaS companies take 3 to 4 years longer
“On average, and I've written up the data, and I'll give you an example, it usually takes bootstrapped companies that go big, that have multi-billion dollar outcomes, another three to four years longer than venture-backed ones, and that sucks.”
Flora: Scarcity of giant bootstrapped startups proves bootstrapping forever is suboptimal
“There are very few examples of hundred percent gigantic bootstrapped companies, and I think if it was the way to go, there'd be a lot more of those.”
Reale: Bootstrapped founders must prioritize risk mitigation over maximizing growth
“And when it's when you're bootstrapping, I think you tend to kind of lean towards mitigating risk because that could quickly throw your formula out of whack.”
Freemium is generally a bad business model for bootstrapped startups
“Freemium is a bad idea generally for bootstrap companies because like you're going to have a ton of support for free users who don't pay you anything. And if you're not getting any money from them, it's going to be really hard to bootstrap.”