Ask HN: Bootstrapper on the brink, what to do?
First, I just want to compliment you on getting this far with customer acquisition.  And, getting some customer traction before considering talking to investors is great!<p>I have personally been an early employee at a venture funded start-up that ultimately didn&#x27;t succeed soon enough at paying customer acquisition and ended up selling intellectual property for only a bit more than it cost to develop it.  And, then I took a go at the solo bootstrapped thing like you have been doing. I developed an enterprise type web app for a particular industry and have had potential customers tell me that is really cool and premium but their felt need wasn&#x27;t sharp enough to make room in the budget and spend meaningful money. So I know what it is to build something and not get to a good market fit with paying customers.<p>In looking at your situation it would seem critical to understand the backlog of customers that you mention.<p>Are these customers who have already committed money&#x2F;signed contracts? Or, would these be considered more like warm prospects?<p>How long are they having to wait between decision and implementation? Do customers in this backlog know what kind of wait time they are facing under your current solo part-time commitment?  Are they willing to wait? Or, are you losing customers to other competitors or internal solutions because of the wait time?<p>What is the dollar value of your current backlog?  If for example it was another $2000 in monthly revenue that is committed but at risk if you don&#x27;t deliver fast - I would encourage you toward greater commitment try for a small business loan or take on your more personal sources of investment that you mention in option 3.  On the other hand if the backlog is something more like $500 in monthly revenue I might suggest that you continue with #1 because your growth curve might already be slowing down.