A Bootstrapper’s Fable

A stag overpowered by heat came to a spring to drink. Seeing his own shadow reflected in the water, he greatly admired the size and variety of his horns, but felt angry with himself for having such slender and weak feet. While he was thus contemplating himself, a Lion appeared at the pool and crouched to spring upon him. The Stag immediately took to flight, and exerting his utmost speed, as long as the plain was smooth and open kept himself easily at a safe distance from the Lion. But entering a wood he became entangled by his horns, and the Lion quickly came up to him and caught him. When too late, he thus reproached himself: “Woe is me! How I have deceived myself! These feet which would have saved me I despised, and I gloried in these antlers which have proved my destruction.”

What is most truly valuable is often underrated.

Most startups that I’m involved in are bootstrapped. When building a company, it’s easy to become impatient. The nature of this impatience often leads to desiring angel or venture capital. Sometimes raising venture capital is necessary, yet most of the time, it’s simply a matter of wanting what you don’t have.

If you’re in this state, it’s important to step back and appreciate the nature of your venture. Don’t make the same mistake the stag made. Learn to understand the benefits of being bootstrapped. When you’re bootstrapped, each decision is critical to your success. When you’re bootstrapped, you can’t afford to sit around and hope for a business model. This is a profoundly important element, and can indeed be a competitive advantage that other players in your space can’t touch. For a real-life example, Yonkly, a white-label beautiful microblogging platform is bootstrapped. We’ve maxed credit cards, put in hours of sweat and have continued to press on. Our dedication to Yonkly has positioned us ahead of our competition (both of which have venture financing). We believe that one of the core reasons for this revolves around our mindset. We’re in it for the long haul, and our bootstrapped mentality shows through in our product offering.

To all the bootstrappers out there, don’t be a stag, appreciate your venture for what it is.