https://i1.wp.com/richtopia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/bootstrapping-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1
- ###### [Source](https://i1.wp.com/richtopia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/bootstrapping-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)


## Bottom-Up or Top-Down?
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For the past 13 months, I’ve been “working my face off” (my fav phrase from Vaynerchuck), or at least I think I am, and one of the persistent questions that lingers always is - should we look for investment? When is the best time to scale upwards and quickly?

This is probably the most itching dilemma with evenly balanced pros and cons for people starting a business. On one hand, the allure of a cash injection is so tempting, especially if it comes with connections and business advisement. On the other, retaining full equity for the long-term seems like the most sensible choice in many scenarios. Many startups don’t have a choice and must go with one track, but those contemplating which route to go down, I just wanted to take a moment to reflect and share my own experiences. 

http://www.ruimtevoordestad.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/evenwicht-bottom-up-en-top-down2-01.jpg
- ###### [Source](http://www.ruimtevoordestad.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/evenwicht-bottom-up-en-top-down2-01.jpg)

Why I’d recommend starting out fully bootstrapped ->

### Learning All the Ins and Outs
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No matter your experience level in entrepreneurship, any new business is going to bring about unique challenges and scaling issues. For instance, if you run a restaurant, you’re going to need to know everything from the macro to micro, from balancing budgets to scrubbing pan grease off at the most efficient rate. Even big ideas are built up from incremental steps IRL. And as the creator of any company or initiative, you need to at least understand and be aware of every possible inch of how the organization runs. 

This is even more important if you’re looking to scale up in size and impact. Every employee will be taking partial responsibility of the company, and if you’re unaware of exactly what that responsibility is, nothing will get done and your resources will flatten out quickly. You cannot delegate a task if you don’t understand a task. Ideally, those employees or contractors would be far better at doing the task than you, but that still requires a degree of familiarity to fit in all the necessary pieces. 

### Space to Fail
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When you’ve got big VCs breathing down your neck and millions of your and other people’s money is on the line, there isn’t much space to fail. And every startup will fail to some degree and at some regularity. Whether its losing a client or Twitter spat, you need to understand every obstacle that might come your way and more importantly, what to do when that obstacle gets the better of you. 

https://prod-academy-wp-content-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/2016/04/failure-leads-to-success.jpg
- ###### [Source](https://prod-academy-wp-content-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/2016/04/failure-leads-to-success.jpg)

Luckily, learning from failure is an extremely transferable experience. Losing out on a $1000 deal will help you snag that $1,000,000 deal down the road. Failing when you’re top heavy is much more dangerous than when you’re low to the ground and can afford tripping early on. 

The extra amount of affordance for failure also comes from the likelihood that a smaller, younger business has fewer stakeholders, employees, clients, etc. and any given slip-up won’t have that much collateral damage. You’ll also have more time and space to figure out what went wrong and how to prepare against such an outcome the next time around.

### The Power of the Underdog
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Everyone hates Goliaths. No one wants to extend a helping hand to Facebook or Google or Amazon, these are already titans of industry that can afford to pay a consultant or advisor. This is where the significant advantage of being a David comes in. Early on in a business, you’re going to need help - advice on taxes and laws, an extra hand in networking and relationship building, finding more customers and getting the product/service out there. That help will usually come from others with more experience lending a helping hand, one that is more likely to appear the younger the business. 

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/biblestudy/images/4/4e/Goliath.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160525152328
- ###### [Source](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/biblestudy/images/4/4e/Goliath.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160525152328)

Humility is an incredibly powerful asset, one that is undermined by investment or big press. People are drawn to humility and more likely to contribute to it. 

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What do you think? Do you agree with these takeaways/assumptions? Or do you have a different approach when it comes to entrepreneurship? I’d love to hear your thoughts below! 

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