As a lifelong bootstrapper, bootstrapping seems to be generally self-funded.  Which involves seeding some money yourself, often from another source, because it involves going from 0 to 1 with as little resources as possible and using income to grow the business.<p>In the early stages of bootstrapping the only goal is to nail down what customers will pay for.  Spending as little as possible to reach such a lightbulb is bootstrapping in my experience.<p>It&#x27;s easy to get distracted with too much free time and funding on one&#x27;s hands, especially in the hands of an inexperienced founder with little to no business experience.<p>Bootstrapping also necessarily doesn&#x27;t need to grow fast. YC itself also says to start small and get the business down before focusing on growth.<p>Lots of businesses are self-funded and start as a freelance -&gt; part time -&gt; full time.<p>Here&#x27;s an article about how 98% of Canadians fund their startups.  It&#x27;s pretty funny considering how we think it&#x27;s 98% not this way based on the marketing of the 2%.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.techvibes.com&#x2F;blog&#x2F;how-canadian-entrepreneurs-finance-their-startups-2012-08-30" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.techvibes.com&#x2F;blog&#x2F;how-canadian-entrepreneurs-fin...</a>