What startups can learn from freelancers: The Lost Art of Bootstrapping

Startup entrepreneurs have a lot to learn from freelancers when it comes to starting a business.

When freelancers set out on their own, they know there’s only one way to raise money: to provide value to clients and charge them for it. Freelancers don’t have any illusions about someone else bankrolling their business for them.

Not so among startup entrepreneurs. The first thing we do after coming up with The Next Great Idea(tm) is to search for a windfall from VCs and angel investors. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?

I thought so at first, but after months of pursuing venture capital in vain, I remembered something from my days as a freelancer. I remembered The Lost Art of Bootstrapping–the art of building your business organically and raising money from the people who will happily fund your business: your customers!

Once we embraced this attitude, Anthillz was off to the races. It’s a great feeling when you begin to control our own destiny.

For more about bootstrapping, check out this video:

“Bootstrap or Bust: How to Stop Complaining and Start Controlling Your Startup Destiny.”