Bootstrapper Notes 

Reality journal from a budding ecommerce bootstrapper...

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Bootstrapping vs. Fund & Burn 

Sandhill.com

An opinion by Greg Gianforte, CEO, RightNow Technologies. Greg lists eight solid reasons why Bootstrapping will consistently deliver better results.

Guy Kawasaki 

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Great Stuff on Amazon 

All good reads .. with my favorites shown first

The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything

by Guy Kawasaki

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $17.79 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $26.95

You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth about Starting and Growing Your Business

by Barry Moltz

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Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $18.95

The Bootstrapper's Bible: Volume 1

by Seth Godin

a plug for Seth

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Amazon Price: $2.86 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $2.86

Bootstrap: Lessons Learned Building a Successful Company from Scratch

by Kenneth L Hess

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Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $24.95

High Tech Start Up, Revised and Updated: The Complete Handbook For Creating Successful New High Tech Companies

by John L. Nesheim

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Amazon Price: $31.50 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $50.00

Bootstrapping Your Business: Start And Grow a Successful Company With Almost No Money

by Greg Gianforte, Marcus Gibson

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Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $12.95

Great Stuff on the Web 

More good reads ..

Art of the Start

A MUST read: "The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything" from Guy Kawasaki

You Need to Be a Little Crazy

Barry Moltz, serial entrepreneur, speaker, and author of "You Need to Be a Little Crazy" maintains an incredibly resourceful website offering up invaluable insight for every starting entrepreneur ... "buddy can you spare some cash?"

Edge Perspectives with John Hagel

Bootstrapping as a management technique is a powerful concept with implications for business far beyond the startup world. It potentially helps businesses to cope with accelerating change and growing uncertainty, provides an interesting new way to think about leverage, learning and innovation, enhances scalability of business operations and may even provide a key to at least one form of increasing returns.

Here's How to Make it Happen With Your Own Money

Despite the dream of some entrepreneurs to meet a VC with deep pockets, the fact is that 99.9 percent of business owners will struggle alone, pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. With a little luck and a lot of pluck, bootstrapping a business can be both financially and emotionally rewarding.

Bootstrapping Your Business

Why Bootstrap?

Every year, almost 8 million entrepreneurs start their own businesses in this country. They need lots of things to build a great company. Energy. Chutzpah. A really good idea. What they don't need is money...

Simple Advice 

8 common sense things to remember

1. Realize that some businesses are easier to bootstrap than others.
2. If possible, run your business part time in the beginning.
3. Keep overhead low. Work out of your home as long as possible.
4. Negotiate time rather than price. Rather than expending effort negotiating reduced prices from vendors and suppliers, try to get payment extensions.
5. Maximize your resources. You don't necessarily need top-of-the-line equipment and cutting-edge technology.
6. Stay focused. Bootstrapping isn't easy. It requires discipline, diligence and hard work.
7. Don't empty your wallet without assessing your finances.
8. Finally, if at all possible, don't finance your business with personal credit cards.