:: COMPARE ::
The short answer
Burn rate is just negative cash flow, and a founder's own savings burn as readily as an investor's. What bootstrapping removes is the funding deadline, not the metric: one countdown ends at the next round, the other at the month revenue has to cover the bills.
Side by side
| Aspect | Burn rate | Bootstrapping |
|---|---|---|
| Associated with outside capital | Yes | No |
| Has a funding deadline | Yes | No |
| Can outrun revenue | Yes | No |
| Ends in | A round, profit, or a close | Slow growth |
What each one means
How fast a company consumes cash, normally stated per month. Divided into available funds, it gives the runway — how many months of cash are left before it runs out. Gross burn counts everything going out; net burn subtracts what comes back in.
Full definition of Burn Rate →Building a company on internal cash flow and personal savings, with no outside capital. Growth is capped by revenue; ownership is not. The word carries other senses too: starting a computer by loading its own start-up code, and, more generally, getting anything going without outside help.
Full definition of Bootstrapping →