Yeah, but the reasons for failure are different. A startup usually fails because the founders are convinced they can't do whatever they want to do without investors and they never raise any money. OR, they do raise money and eventually run out of it because they never made enough money to support the costs that were enabled by ... the investment.

A bootstrapped business is alive as long as the founder is willing to continue trying to make it work. So a bootstrapped business doesn't fail per se — usually the founder fails to make money within the timeframe they'd hoped for and gives up.

I didn't start making real money with my business until I was 4 years in. There wasn't some magical day where I got lucky and started making money. The first 4 years was me basically being an idiot and making every mistake possible. It gave me the education I needed to price my product appropriately, position it, and sell it.

Some might say I'm a "survivor" but I don't think I am. I'm just determined as hell and didn't give up when I wasn't making any money. I worked freelance contracts and kept the thing going because I knew at the very least I was getting smarter even if I wasn't bringing in money, and eventually the education would probably prove useful or pay me back. Better and cheaper than grad school anyway, right? I sometimes think about the people who are "Masters of Business Administration" on paper and have never actually built or run a business.

The people I know who have successfully done it aren't geniuses with a bunch of money and lots of connections. They all just had the same determination to stick with it, adapt, learn, and find their way to what they want. There is definitely some pain and self-doubt involved, but like I originally said, you come out stronger for it.