Bootstrapping

Definition

Building a company using nothing but your own savings, credit cards, and an alarming tolerance for ramen noodles. It's the startup equivalent of performing surgery on yourself -- theoretically possible, but everyone watching is deeply uncomfortable.

Example Usage

"We're bootstrapping our company, which is a dignified way of saying I remortgaged my house to build an app that rates different types of toast."

Related Terms

Advanced

carve-out

Reserved portion of an acquisition's proceeds specifically allocated to employees or specific shareholders, ensuring they benefit even if the waterfall would otherwise drown them. Exit sharing mandated by negotiation or generosity.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

conviction

A VC's strong belief in an investment thesis despite contrary evidence or market skepticism. The confidence to write a check when everyone else thinks you're insane—sometimes brilliance, often delusion.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

Cliff

The initial period before any stock options vest, typically one year, during which employees own exactly nothing and question all their life choices. It's called a cliff because if you leave before it, you fall off the edge of ownership into the abyss of having worked for below-market salary for nothing.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

drag-along rights

A contractual provision that lets majority shareholders force minority investors to join in selling the company, whether they like it or not. Democracy dies in cap tables.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

Ramen Profitable

The stage at which a startup makes just enough revenue to cover the founders' basic living expenses, assuming those expenses are limited to instant noodles and shared housing. It's the lowest bar of financial success that still technically counts as success.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

extension round

Additional capital raised on the same terms as the previous round (like a Series A-1) rather than progressing to the next stage, buying time without the stigma of a flat or down round. The startup equivalent of taking an incomplete rather than failing the course.

🚀 Startup / VC

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