If that's the message then it seems to miss the motivation for being fully bootstrapped, which (as I see it) is owning a profitable company without outside inte

If that's the message then it seems to miss the motivation for being fully bootstrapped, which (as I see it) is owning a profitable company without outside interests dictating what you do. Given a choice between owning a $X company outright, and owning 10% of a $X*100 company, if both could pay me enough salary to be comfortable then I'd take outright ownership every time. I don't need to be a billionaire, I just need to be free to do my thing.