RKease Founder's Journey: Bootstrapping

"Bootstrapping gives you the freedom and flexibility in a way that raising capital or outside financing doesn't." - Sevetri M. Wilson

"Personally finance, build up my capital, have to be wise, have to be tactical." - Rkease Company

I have been in business now and started my venture in July 2022, and it has been such a wonderful and tedious venture, nonetheless. I have seen the highs, lows, ups, and downs of being a student music founder and it's been such a wild ride. I wouldn't trade it in for anything because of all the valuable learning experiences and wisdom that I have gained from it. The greatest insights that I have learned from my business is all the administrative work that I have had to do in order to build my business and brand to where it has to be. This is why bootstrapping has been an important concept for my venture and learning about bootstrapping is an art and a science.

Investopedia

According to Investopedia, "bootstrapping is a method where entrepreneurs, start companies with minimal capital, using personal finances or operating revenues instead of external investments" (Kenton, 2025). Business owners bootstrap for various reasons, which we will go into during the blog.

Raising Capital by Andrew J. Sherman

Reading the book by Andrew J. Sherman has been a phenomenal read in terms of understanding how raising entrepreneurial finance comes about, and what's needed in order to be successful with a venture from the finance side of things. There is a chapter in a book where he explains the importance of bootstrapping, as well as case study examples to which companies bootstrapped, eventually leading to their massive success.

Apple's Steve Jobs

Apple's Steve Jobs is an example of bootstrapping in the book because he and Steve Wozniak were able to develop their first minimum viable product in their garage for under $1500. This is how Apple began and it was through bootstrapping that they were able to gain early traction and an early customer base. Now if Steve Jobs were able to bootstrap and get his company off the ground, how important is the bootstrapping strategy for a venture. Now in my previous blog, I broke down the importance of bookkeeping and why it's important to do it for your financial foundation. What are the benefits of a musician bootstrapping and how have I incorporated this in my business strategy?

Rest, Kindness, Ease

Complete Business and Creative Control

• Don't need to answer to investors, labels, or venture capitalists regarding creative direction, marketing strategy, or business decisions.

• Retain all my equity because I don't have to give up any of my master recordings for funding and it's 100% mine.

• Faster decision-making because I don't have to deal with the bureaucracy of business meetings, to get external approval, meaning I can pivot faster to meet industry trends.

  • Example: Leveraging A.I. songwriting tools for my songs, such as Staccato.AI

Strong Financial Foundation & Discipline

• Cost-efficiency in keeping expenses low and being lean so that I can be creative with my resources and avoid unnecessary spending.

• I can focus on generating revenue streams because my music has to prove that it has market value.

  • Example: Selling my music direct to consumer through Wix Music

• Avoiding early debt, by not taking on advances from labels with unfavourable loan terms.

Building a Sustainable Foundation

• It forces me to treat my music as a business, such as budget tracking, bookkeeping, and understanding cash flow.

• I can prove the market on my own dime and prove that my music has market demand to see if my business model is viable through experimentation.

  • Example: Being a guest speaker at GDG London's DevFest and performing at GDG Windsor's devfest

• I get to learn every aspect such as legal, finance, marketing, sales, distribution, so that when I hire a team I'll be able to put them in positions to succeed.

Wave Business Expenses (Incomplete Statement)

Now bootstrapping with these expenses, through my own personal funds and not any funds from any outside investors, labels, angels, or venture capitalists, proves that I have skin in the game. It exemplifies that I am willing to risk my own money, with the hope of getting a return on investment one day. This is crucial because that is the essence of entrepreneurship because it shows that I have an appetite for risk and am willing to stomach it to make my dream come to fruition and that I can make my vision come alive without any outside influence. All in all this journey is phenomenal and I hope more future entrepreneurs bootstrap their vision and live out their wildest dreams. I hope everyone's day is full of rest, kindness, and ease, peace!