Ask HN: Do you think VC has made bootstrapping harder?

4 points·r_singh··4 comments

Or do you reckon it's the other way around?

VC Money is one factor which could make bootstrapping harder. If you are able to raise money from VC, you can offer much better salaries to attract talent whether you are profitable or not. They can throw money at Sales/Marketing. They can hire Customer Support people faster. We all know there are companies that bleed money but can easily spend money because they hope to make it big one fine day and it's not their money.

Source: A Bootstrapper who is beginning to see value of VC Money even though it comes with its own issues.

Note that outliers are always there but it is usually harder/slower to scale a company without VC Money.

Boostrap with service company, and build product on a side.

This works since 2000s - check success stories of some known companies and you will find this path in many stories.

I would say, thanks to VC money it is easier to get sevice jobs aside.

Having both worked at a web agency building its own SaaS, and been employed full-time while building a SaaS on the side - I agree.

VC has flooded the market with money, so it's easier to keep a stable income while hacking on the side. At the same time, to succeed as a bootstrapper, chances are you weren't going to compete in areas where VC loves throwing money (as in, it's a tremendous challenge to build your own Linear, Notion etc on the side).

It depends on the final outcome.

If the bootstraped company succeeds it's less market for you. But if the company fails and you can turn a profit on that same market then you might benefit from it.

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