Report and Analysis from 107 Bootstrapped Startups

It would have been nice to seen which startups were surveyed. I don't need to know there answers, but it's great to know who else is trying to make this work.

hey guys..<p>yep, this is anonymous survey<p>I created different options for bootstrapping to see the participants behavior, remember this is a general survey to see general responses<p>everyones approaches are different, the order is different depending on the person

Maybe I'm a little mixed up, but OP and I must have very different definitions of "bootstrapping". I am really confused by 3 of his graphs.<p><i>Support for start-ups</i><p><pre><code> 1. Savings - 33% 2. Savings + Consulting - 41% 3. Consulting - 15% 4. Angel Investment - 5% 5. Friends &#38; Family - 15% </code></pre> Category 1 sounds like they're true bootstrappers. Categories 2 and 3 sound suspiciously like service businesses and side projects. Categories 4 and 5 are not bootstrapped.<p><i>I define a start-up as having about 6 different stages I define them as follows:</i><p><pre><code> 1. Early Stage Concept - 7% 2. Developing Prototype - 32% 3. Pitching - 13% 4. Finish Prototype - 15% 5. Start Selling - 29% 6. Scale Up - 8% </code></pre> Why isn't "Start Selling" first? Better yet, why isn't "Find Out What People Want and Will Pay For" first? Why are so many people building stuff that may not even be wanted?<p>Why not:<p><pre><code> 1. Find Out What People Want 2. Show Them a Prototype 3. Collect Deposits 4. Build It 5. Find Other Instances of Those People and Convert Them </code></pre> <i>What is holding you back?</i><p><pre><code> 1. Prototype not ready - 28% 2. Prototype needs to change - 9% 3. Can't find customers - 9% 4. Not enough time (consulting) - 12% 5. Need cash injection to scale up - 37% </code></pre> It sounds like most of the companies either (a) haven't sold anything or (b) haven't sold enough to keep bootstrapping. Are these start-ups or are these side projects?<p>I wonder how many of the 107 companies raised the same questions I did. <i>That's</i> something I'd really like to know.