When we write we’re bootstrapping,  what does that mean?

Simple, we need to raise money to make the business work. Our business planning has shown us that news, in and of itself, will never make money, and at best might break-even eventually, so it’s a poor sell to raise capital. So, as such, we need to generate enough revenue, in one way or another, to allow ourselves to use the money we generate to pay for the services we need so we can launch, and make the next bit of revenue to continue the business.

That’s the quick and dirty version of what we’ll actually do, it will be a little bit more elegant than that, but that effectively summarises our approach to starting up.

However, our needs are relatively modest, and we’re experts at keeping costs low (you can find out how we can make that work here), so we have gone for a bootstrapping model, where we sell a membership for a fee, and that meets our start-up needs. We also accept donations for those who don’t want to become members.

It’s not ideal, but it is more acceptable than selling out the ideals of the business to achieve the same ends.