Ask HN: When bootstrapping a startup, what are some ways to keep the lights on?
Published in 2017, this chronicle by @sherm8n details the mechanics of building a profitable, self-funded business without venture backing.
Core Principles for Independent Builders:
Charging customers from day one acts as the ultimate filter for building software that solves genuine, high-urgency problems.
Keeping fixed overhead low and leveraging lean infrastructure allows founders to stay alive until market tailwinds kick in.
Small, repetitive improvements in customer retention and conversion rates yield massive returns over multi-year horizons.
Community Debate Themes:
The community focused on B2B customer acquisition channels, cold email vs SEO distribution, and balancing full-time employment with side-project development.
CATEGORY Bootstrapping & MRR →
HISTORICAL ERA Cloud & Mobile Era (2014–2019)
COMMUNITY SCORE ★ 8 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 19 comments
The easiest way would be to do most everything yourself and keep your overhead as low as possible besides the cost of hosting. Get a cheap server from https://www.digitalocean.com for example but keep in mind its not cheap to manage it especially if you do it yourself and it ends up getting hacked. Go for management bundled into the server from https://www.iozoom.com to keep your costs down.
Start an affiliate type website selling other peoples products and earn commission. Get logo and site designed from https://www.fiverr.com, learn about seo and online marketing at forums like https://www.warriorforum.com. Once you get a better understanding of online marketing you can promote your site for little to no money at all.
I just tripped across this and I thought it would interest you:
https://www.moonlightwork.com
I also run a google group called Business Bootstrappers and you are welcome to join:
https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/business-bootstrappers
I've seen a lot of smaller outstaffing companies like moonlightwork.com offering remote employees and it's a good way to keep your costs low. The lights will go out quickly if you get developers at $50-$100 an hour and upwork is hit or miss and you can waste a lot of time. Toptal seems good but not cheap. Check out intellabridge.com they have good mid-level remote developers you can hire for $18-$20 an hour and they specialize in designing and building MVPs.
Plain and Simple. Charge from Day 1 and don't give stuff for free unless it absolutely makes sense. Also, keep costs low as much as possible. Don't get AWS if you can get a $5/Month DigitalOcean droplet. Don't spend money on ads etc. unless you know exactly HOW it works. Focus on building inbound marketing i.e. people finding you organically.
Hire slowly... don't hire until it's a real pain point and the runway for 6+ months is there.