Not sure how widely held this view is, but for me the main appeal to bootstrapping is that I don't have to wait until the company is acquired or until I IPO to

Not sure how widely held this view is, but for me the main appeal to bootstrapping is that I don't have to wait until the company is acquired or until I IPO to feel like I've "made it". I would feel like I've made it if I can make the same salary I would otherwise make as a developer building something I actually care about AND possess a degree of ownership over it that feels more real. Everything else from that point is just bonus. Being involved in a VC-backed startup probably makes way more sense if you really, really like wealth and money. It's probably the rational course of action. I don't want a ton of money though, nor be wholly guided by what's rational or logical. I just want to really live.