bootstrapping
Bootstrapping is the act of refusing external financial aid and trying to sustain a venture by yanking your own shoelaces. It hides funding shortages behind a veneer of creativity, endlessly running the obstacle course of invoices. It may sound heroic, but in reality it grinds your sleep and bank balance into exhaustion. At the same time, it offers the paradoxical dystopian lifestyle of freedom and solitude by refusing everyone’s help.