3 ms·

I'm pretty sure you will get turned down. YC is in business of collecting promising young companies, growing them under tender care, and reselling them to fat a

by DenisM 16y ago

I'm pretty sure you will get turned down. YC is in business of collecting promising young companies, growing them under tender care, and reselling them to fat angles or VCs. Do you see yourself being resellable to this crowd? I don't, because bootstrapping is a different route. A successful investment target proclaims "I know how to productively utilize plenty of capital", but what you are saying is "I know how to utilize very little capital, and I plan to spend a lot of effort to keep it lean". That makes you a very bad investment, but a very good bootstrapper. Here's everything you need to know to pursue your bootstrap dream: http://www.startupbook.net/ http://www.startupbook.net/ These will be the best $24 you have ever spent in your entire life. If you won't take my word for it, know that it's been endorsed by patio11.

iliketosleep 16y ago
everything he needs to know about pursuing a bootstrap dream is embodied in your second paragraph. write an ebook and sell it online for $24!! if the bootstrapper thinks along such lines, he is bound to be successful!!!
- DenisM 16y ago
  You comment is shallow, mean-spirited, and is aimed to derail the conversation with innuendo. Why not tell us instead what you think about the content of the book or any of the ideas it espouses? Or maybe you could criticize author for not practicing what he is preaching. That is if you were able to demonstrate that, which you won't because he actually did bootstrap several software businesses before writing the book.
  - iliketosleep 16y ago
    The innuendo exists only in your mind - my words were sincere. I honestly admire anybody who can sell an ebook online for $24, and I for one find think there's much to be learnt from such a business model.
    - ahoyhere 16y ago
      Well then, you'll probably like me. I've made $45k to fund my bootstrapping with MY ebook: http://jsrocks.com http://jsrocks.com. And I've just started writing about how to do it on my blog: http://unicornfree.com http://unicornfree.com ;)
gdltec 16y ago
I disagree with you. YC is in the business of doing as much as possible with very little, in my own opinion... the amounts they invest in these startups say it all. Until you can prove your business and then you get a larger investment. What you described is more towards the type of investments that VCs do... not YC.
- DenisM 16y ago
  Well, and my point is that VCs are very often down the line from YC, so there has to be a feedback of sorts. YC has to measure its own success somehow, and I suppose they do that by "exits". Such as a VC round, a real exit (acquisition), or a certain level of prominence and profitability - that which is not compatible with bootstrapping. Boostrapping is only great when you attack a small niche, that is too small for people with more resources to get into. The same smallness will inevitably make meaningful "exits" impossible.
  - gdltec 16y ago
    The fact that I start a business by bootstrapping it does not mean I am after a small niche (not that there is anything wrong with that). My aspirations are much greater than that, bootstrapping is just what I believe works for me, as a start, my next step is to get some angel investment to be able to go to the next phase and applying to YC seems like a good route to take. Thanks for your comments.
- maxklein 16y ago
  The amount they invest is more: They invest their time, their attention, their connections to investors and their reputation. The money is not what they invest, and it's not what people go to them looking for.
pg 16y ago
That's not true. All future rounds do is dilute us, the same way they do the founders. So all other things being equal, we'd prefer it if founders could achieve the same level of success on less money.
- DenisM 16y ago
  Hm. Do you ever invest into self-proclaimed bootstrappers? I was under impression that you don't. In fact, here's what I remember you told me: "yours looks like a micro-isv in the making, not a startup in the common sense". I took it to mean that you invest into people going after larger markets (which imho requires being able to utilize capital - the antithesis of boostrapping), and specifically avoid people going after smaller niches capable of sustaining only a small group of one founder and a couple of hired employees. It would help if you clarified that.
  - pg 16y ago
    How people fund a startup initially is a separate question from how ambitious their long term plans are. So we would be very interested in investing in the next Microsoft, for example.
    - gdltec 16y ago
      That is exciting to hear. I do not want to build the next Microsoft, I want to build something better! and more useful for people than a word editor ;) (full disclosure, I like and use MS products very much).

by DenisM 16y ago

iliketosleep 16y ago

everything he needs to know about pursuing a bootstrap dream is embodied in your second paragraph. write an ebook and sell it online for $24!! if the bootstrapper thinks along such lines, he is bound to be successful!!!

DenisM 16y ago
You comment is shallow, mean-spirited, and is aimed to derail the conversation with innuendo. Why not tell us instead what you think about the content of the book or any of the ideas it espouses? Or maybe you could criticize author for not practicing what he is preaching. That is if you were able to demonstrate that, which you won't because he actually did bootstrap several software businesses before writing the book.
- iliketosleep 16y ago
  The innuendo exists only in your mind - my words were sincere. I honestly admire anybody who can sell an ebook online for $24, and I for one find think there's much to be learnt from such a business model.
  - ahoyhere 16y ago
    Well then, you'll probably like me. I've made $45k to fund my bootstrapping with MY ebook: http://jsrocks.com http://jsrocks.com. And I've just started writing about how to do it on my blog: http://unicornfree.com http://unicornfree.com ;)

gdltec 16y ago

I disagree with you. YC is in the business of doing as much as possible with very little, in my own opinion... the amounts they invest in these startups say it all. Until you can prove your business and then you get a larger investment. What you described is more towards the type of investments that VCs do... not YC.

DenisM 16y ago
Well, and my point is that VCs are very often down the line from YC, so there has to be a feedback of sorts. YC has to measure its own success somehow, and I suppose they do that by "exits". Such as a VC round, a real exit (acquisition), or a certain level of prominence and profitability - that which is not compatible with bootstrapping. Boostrapping is only great when you attack a small niche, that is too small for people with more resources to get into. The same smallness will inevitably make meaningful "exits" impossible.
- gdltec 16y ago
  The fact that I start a business by bootstrapping it does not mean I am after a small niche (not that there is anything wrong with that). My aspirations are much greater than that, bootstrapping is just what I believe works for me, as a start, my next step is to get some angel investment to be able to go to the next phase and applying to YC seems like a good route to take. Thanks for your comments.
maxklein 16y ago
The amount they invest is more: They invest their time, their attention, their connections to investors and their reputation. The money is not what they invest, and it's not what people go to them looking for.

pg 16y ago

That's not true. All future rounds do is dilute us, the same way they do the founders. So all other things being equal, we'd prefer it if founders could achieve the same level of success on less money.

DenisM 16y ago
Hm. Do you ever invest into self-proclaimed bootstrappers? I was under impression that you don't. In fact, here's what I remember you told me: "yours looks like a micro-isv in the making, not a startup in the common sense". I took it to mean that you invest into people going after larger markets (which imho requires being able to utilize capital - the antithesis of boostrapping), and specifically avoid people going after smaller niches capable of sustaining only a small group of one founder and a couple of hired employees. It would help if you clarified that.
- pg 16y ago
  How people fund a startup initially is a separate question from how ambitious their long term plans are. So we would be very interested in investing in the next Microsoft, for example.
  - gdltec 16y ago
    That is exciting to hear. I do not want to build the next Microsoft, I want to build something better! and more useful for people than a word editor ;) (full disclosure, I like and use MS products very much).