If you take outside funding, you're not bootstrapping. According to Wikipedia: "Bootstrapping in business means starting a business without external help or c

If you take outside funding, you're not bootstrapping. According to Wikipedia: "Bootstrapping in business means starting a business without external help or capital." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping#Business http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping#Business There is nothing wrong with taking outside funding, but then you don't get to call it bootstrapping any more (as per the widely-accepted definition above of what the term means). This is mixing up terms.