My biggest frustration with our little boot-strapped startup is that the bootstrapping part causes us to always grounded in reality. We’re incredibly careful to remain profitable as we grow the business. That’s a good thing for the long-term, but it can be incredibly frustrating when the gap between your vision and execution is huge.
There’s the Sifter that I see in my head and that we inch closer to every day, and there’s the profitable business that we’re growing and scaling carefully and sustainably. The good news is that we’re in this for the long haul and won’t be going out of business. The bad news is that everything will take longer than we’d like because we don’t have millions to throw at it.
So, if I had to provide my own personal definition of bootstrapping, I’d say it’s nothing but an incessant reality check.