I'm no longer going to use the term "bootstrapped," and this week I talked about why. https://twitter.com/SoftwareSocPod/status/1389513894247473157

First: if it's never occurred to you that there might be problems with "bootstrapped" or "pull yourself up by your bootstraps," it's okay. It does not mean anything about you.

This is an opportunity to update your mental dictionary, and for us to create a new word together.

I've used the term myself for years. I was aware there were some other political connotations to the phrase, but since people in "our world" don't use it that way, I didn't think much of it.

The phrase "bootstrapped" comes out of "pull yourself up by your bootstraps," which is problematic for two reasons and just plain confusing or ineffective for two more.

1) The phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" comes out of American politics and is used as a way to shame poor and minority (especially black) people for not bettering themselves despite massive structural disadvantages.

http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/featured/america-talks-immigrants-pulling-bootstraps-yet-didnt-even-get-boots/ https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/why-its-hard-blacks-pull-themselves-bootstraps-when-it-comes-health

I want to note that I'm not the only one who gets a strongly negative reaction when using the word "bootstrapped" outside of our little corner of tech. https://twitter.com/Najvasol/status/1387477620518834178

(The non-Americans might be saying "That isn't my culture, so why can't I say it?"

The original context matters, especially when it is still used in that context.)

2) Politics aside, "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" implies someone did it all on their own.

None of us get to where we are without help. From free AWS credits to supportive spouses to accommodating day jobs that gave us time at night...it takes a village.

3) The original phrase is non-sensical, and was originally meant to communicate the stubbornness of someone who tries to go things alone.

(Just try to picture someone literally picking themselves up by their bootstraps.)

4) Putting all of that aside... the phrase "bootstrapped" isn't clear and we as a community aren't even clear on what it means.

What if you self-fund? What if you take alternative funding (Earnest, TinySeed)? Credit cards? https://twitter.com/mjwhansen/status/1294730479502004232

We're basically saying "not VC funded" by saying "bootstrapped"... at the expense of alienating people outside of our little bubble.

Which is completely at odds with what we as a community often want, which is to help other people discover this freedom for themselves.

So, I think this is an opportunity for us as a community to come up with new terminology to describe, what is in effect, "the not-VC-funded tech world that is primarily comprised of very small companies that intentionally do not want to become big companies."

I say this as an open consideration for all of us to listen and consider.

I'm switching to "customer-funded," but some people said that could imply crowdfunded

Language is, and always has been, a work in progress.

I recognize this may come as a surprise to a lot of you. That is okay.

This has been a week of "if you don't agree you can leave," and I will intentionally not do that.

This is an opportunity for all of us to better define ourselves as a community.

At the very least, consider running a mental language software update, and switching to a term that more specifically describes what you're doing or how you got started.

also, I'm very much not the first person to advocate for this shift https://twitter.com/hnshah/status/1105247791893307392