I spent some of my best years bootstrapping a business (trying to avoid the word "startup"), growing steady each year 30-50%. No hockey stick so far, but our customers are happy and the product rocks.<p>1) It is hard, properly HARD.<p>2) It does not seem like it is fair to yourself - you might feel like you are not really giving yourself a proper chance, be it capturing the market, hiring the best possible talent etc.<p>3) It might make you more risk averse, as you are gambling with your baby.<p>4) On the other hand, it is not the low risk path either, so it sort of conflicts with #3. I mean that there are a lot of risks involved in raising capital at an early stage, but going the tortoise path has other kinds of risks. Also see #2.<p>5) Your type of market needs to support it, obviously. Low investment product, stable customer base. In our case, the customers are large semi-governmental organizations and in all of history we have lost just 1 established customer. This gives a lot of consolation that you are building a house, one brick at a time.<p>6) You need a lot of mental stamina - everyone else seems to be doing things more cleverly. Your buddies will move on to work for the big bucks and establish their careers, others might be busy burning through VC money. It will take time.<p>8) Sometimes an investor will come along and try to offer you their money. But it often turns out as if your are playing a totally different ball game. One thing I learned was to ask not just how many X they expect us to deliver, but straight out ask how many X-s their "family" or whatever expects <i>them</i> to deliver.<p>But in the end you <i>might</i> have a company that is actually self sustaining, fantastic people around you and customers that appreciate what you are doing to them. I consider myself lucky, though. Feels like all odds were stacked against us.