Bootstrap means to start with “existing resources,” is commonly used with startup companies, and is far more widely applicable. There are many examples of successful bootstrapping and many advantages.
Tenable, Sourcefire (acquired by Cisco for $2.7 billion), Malwarebytes, and SolarWinds are all companies that were bootstrapped. Wireshark and OSSEC are open source projects that were bootstrapped. The BSides conferences were bootstrapped. Charity: water and Kiva are charities that were bootstrapped.
You can bootstrap almost anything.
There are enormous advantages to bootstrapping. These include:
- Control: Bootstrappers have full control, keeping ownership and decision-making power. As they are using their own resources, there are no external investors or other parties dictating direction or priorities.
- Speed: There is no need to wait for approval from anyone, including possible investors or anyone else. Bootstrappers can get to market or mission or whatever matters quickly.
- Efficiency: Bootstrappers must be efficient due to limited resources. This leads to lean and sustainable operations from day one.
This talk is about how to bootstrap almost anything, whether it’s a company, an open source project, a personal pursuit, a charity, a conference, or just about anything else.
