How to bootstrap and grow a company without VC
At the heart of it is one idea: respect for money.
By Kathleen Webber
When you scroll LinkedIn or read the global tech headlines, it can feel like raising a big VC round is the only “real” way to start a company. The big team photos with champagne, the celebratory posts, the headlines — it is exciting and inspiring. In New Zealand, that story often does not match our reality. The majority of Kiwi businesses will never raise VC. That is not a bad thing.
I have built two companies without it so far, ResolvePay and LiveRem, and I want to share what that is actually like, what we have learned, and how you can do it too.
This is not an argument against venture capital. For some companies, it is exactly the right path. It is not the only path, and I think it is worth normalising the choice to build something lean, profitable, and customer-led without giving away large chunks of equity.
At the heart of it for me is one idea: respect for money. When you bootstrap, it is your own cash or sweat equity on the line. That forces a discipline that never leaves you. If we ever take investment, we will treat that money with the same respect we treated our own.
Start with what you have
We were fortunate with self-funding LiveRem, but it was also by design. When we started ResolvePay, we signed up our first customer before we had completed the product. That revenue funded the completion of the first iteration of development of the tool that has since helped remediate Holidays Act issues for more than 100,000 New Zealanders. That early customer belief gave us the confidence and capital to grow ResolvePay into a profitable business.
When the time came to start LiveRem, we decided to reinvest ResolvePay’s profits rather than seek outside funding. We also applied the same product discipline: making sure we were building exactly what customers wanted and would pay for. That combination of early customer commitment, profitability, and disciplined design gave us a strong foundation to bootstrap LiveRem.
You do not need a “war chest” to begin. You need a plan that bridges the gap between where you are and your first paying customer. When it is your own money, your salary, your savings, your risk, you feel every decision. That is the best training ground for being a disciplined founder.
Prioritise revenue over development
It is tempting to spend months, even years, building the perfect product. Perfection does not pay salaries.
We have always taken a true MVP approach. The question we ask ourselves is simple: what is the smallest thing we can build that someone will actually pay for? Not what they say they like in a survey, but what they will commit to with their budget.
As a founder, it is easy to believe that more features will bring more customers. I always have a long list of ideas I think would make the product amazing. The reality is different. Starting small and growing as customers grow, letting them guide the roadmap, is far more efficient and ensures every feature is validated by real users.
When you are using your own money, you cannot afford to over-engineer. Every feature has to justify itself in real dollars.
Most importantly, distribution beats product. Building a new feature feels safe because it is within your control. Distribution feels harder, but it is what generates revenue. A good product matters, but getting it into the hands of customers matters more.
Build lean: fractional, flexible, focused
We have taken the approach to use a fully fractional, remote team of specialists. Without taking VC we simply can’t afford to have a large team of permanent staff.
This is one of the great advantages of bootstrapping. You learn to stretch every dollar and only spend when it truly moves the business forward.
Before we hire an extra person, we first look at what tools or automations we can implement to solve the problem.
When it is your own money, you are ruthless about cutting waste. Bootstrapping teaches you to ask whether an expense is creating value, or simply making you feel like a “real” startup.
Invest time as equity
One of the hardest calls when bootstrapping is not paying yourself for a while. It is tough. Sometimes it is the only way to get momentum.
We published the NZ Founders Report earlier this year that found the average founder does not pay themselves a salary via payroll for the first 29 months.
If you are in this situation, I recommend recording your time and treating it as equity. Document it and treat it seriously. You are not working for free, you are investing in yourself and your company’s future.
Respect for money also means respecting your time. It is the one resource you can never get back. When you log it as equity, you keep yourself accountable. You can ask yourself whether you are putting your hours into things that create long-term value.
Explore alternative sources of capital
Not taking VC does not mean ignoring capital altogether. There are other options outside of VC if you can’t or don’t want to 100% bootstrap:
● Self-funding through employment: staying in your current job longer, working part-time, or taking on contract work so you can use your salary to cover early costs.
● Friends and family: people who believe in you and want to help, although it is important to be clear on expectations and risks (will likely take equity unless they provide a loan).
● Grants and R&D support: These can reduce the cost of product development or research if you plan and apply early.
● Accelerators: not just about money, but networks, mentors, and credibility (will likely take equity).
● Angel investors: often smaller cheques, but they can get you through an early phase and bring networks and expertise (will likely take equity).
● Debt funding: traditional loans or revenue-based financing can give you capital without giving up equity, but you need the cash flow to service repayments.
The key is to be intentional. Do not just blindly take the first cheque you are offered. Know exactly what you will use it for and the return you expect to generate. Respect the source of that capital, whether it is an angel investor’s personal savings or the taxpayer through a grant.
The trade-offs of bootstrapping
Choosing not to take investment has benefits, but it also comes with trade-offs.
Bootstrapping can mean:
● Slower growth: without outside capital, you move at the pace your revenue allows.
● Reduced ability to scale quickly: larger opportunities may take longer to capture.
● Harder access to networks and expertise: investors can open doors quickly, while bootstrapped founders often need to build those connections themselves.
● Less external validation: raising capital signals to the market that someone else has believed in you, which can bring authority with customers, partners, or future hires.
These trade-offs are real and worth considering.
For us, the benefits of independence and customer focus have so far outweighed the costs, but every founder needs to decide what matters most for their business.
Why we have not yet taken any investment
For us, the decision comes down to control. We did not start our companies to work for someone else. We wanted the freedom to make decisions based on what was best for our customers.
Taking on venture capital means bringing in shareholders who have their own expectations. That is not a bad thing, and many VCs care deeply about building businesses that truly serve customers. Ultimately, though, the VC model depends on increasing valuation so that further rounds can be raised or an exit achieved. The reality is that most New Zealand businesses outside of the tech industry will not follow the path of VC investment.
For us, our mission with LiveRem is to build a profitable, lean company that is globally scalable, where customer success is the north star.
The flip side
I am not anti-investment. If we take VC or any other kind of investment in the future, it will be for a very intentional reason, such as accelerating global expansion, putting more into marketing and sales, or funding a specific product development opportunity.
We will only do it with clear expectations on both sides. For me, that means:
● Values alignment: are we on the same page about why this business exists?
● Purpose of the capital: what exactly will the money be used for?
● Timeframe and ROI: how quickly do they expect returns, and does that match our reality?
The hardest position you can be in is needing funding. When you are desperate, you cannot be selective. Bootstrapping has given us the power to choose and to approach potential investment from a position of strength.
Lessons learned
Listen to your customers more than anyone else. Advisors, investors, and friends can give advice, but only your customers know what they will pay for.
Cash is oxygen. Manage it carefully, because running out is the one mistake that is very hard to recover from.
Your time is equity. Track it, respect it, and invest it wisely.
Respect for money is your edge. When you bootstrap, you never lose sight of the value of a dollar, and that mindset scales with you.
Final thought
Bootstrapping is not glamorous. There are no champagne press releases and no glossy headlines. There is a quiet satisfaction in building something real, profitable, and customer-driven on your own terms.
We might still choose to take funding one day. The difference is that it will be our choice, not our lifeline.
That, to me, is the real freedom of bootstrapping. It all comes back to one principle: respect the money.