Bootstrapped
Funded from revenue and personal savings, without outside investment.
A bootstrapped business grows on customer revenue and (initially) founder savings — no angel, VC, or accelerator money. The upside is full ownership, no dilution, and no pressure to hit VC-scale outcomes. The downside is slower growth and personal financial risk. Bootstrapping works best in verticals where the market is large enough to build a real business but not large enough to attract VC competition. Most indie SaaS is bootstrapped; most consumer social is not.
Related terms
Indie Hacker
A solo founder or small team building profitable internet businesses without outside capital.
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
The predictable monthly revenue from active subscriptions. The indie-founder scoreboard metric.
PLG (Product-Led Growth)
A go-to-market motion where the product itself drives acquisition, activation, and expansion.