Here is the central reason for bootstrapping: nobody will lend you a dime on an idea, nor can you sell any percentage of an idea for anything. To see this clearly, take one of the most successful recent tech startups you can think of, say one of those hot items going for a billion, rewind it 10 years, and, placing yourself in the point of view of the founder (but knowing how things actually are to unfold), write down…
I agree that you have to have something that people can invest in - something that has value - before it will get any money. chmike's question of how does YC do it then? It's based on talent, as he said. The people / founders with domain expertise / knowledge do have a certain value to them - and that is really what they're investing in. If you're an engineer, then your value to tech startups and investors is seen ev…
pg, can you tell us something about this?