Bootstrapping is the way

June 6, 2026 · 235 views · 0 likes · 0 reposts · 0 replies

Bootstraping is the way.

Most founders don't actually need VC money.

Buy your freedom ... Stay away from VC as much as you can.

Tibo @tibo_maker

I'll never raise VC funds again for my startups ❌

the VC horror stories going around X this week have been brutal to read

- a GP fell asleep for 30+ min during a $15m series A pitch - one VC signed a term sheet, then ghosted. never wired the money - another wanted a cut of acquisition proceeds despite investing $0 - a top VC offered a founder his co-founders' stock in exchange for firing them - another committed $5m at the start of a round, then asked to be "downsized" to $100k the day they were supposed to close - one VC passed on a company because he didn't think a woman could lead a security company. that company is worth $87b now

almost every founder I know who has tried to raise has a story like this. it's not rare. it's the default experience

most founders don't actually need VC money. they think they do because the ecosystem trains them to. raise, scale, exit, repeat. that's the only path anyone talks about

and even the well-meaning VCs are stuck with the math. they need outsized exits because the model runs on a power law. one or two big wins per fund cover everything else

so if your business is doing fine but not on a billion-dollar trajectory, the attention just fades. follow-on rounds dry up. intros slow down. the partner who was in your DMs 3 years ago stops replying

that's when the pressure kicks in. you start hiring ahead of revenue and chasing growth numbers someone wrote on a whiteboard. you stop building for users and start building for the next round

I've raised before - that's why I won't again

every product I've touched since has been bootstrapped and profitable

today my portfolio is at $1m mrr across 5 saas products

and the best part isn't the number, it's that I feel completely free

free to move fast, change direction, double down, or slow down - whatever feels right

no one wrote that on a whiteboard for me

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