No, this has nothing to do with tweaking your vintage version of PONG.

However, again from Scott Burkett (thanks so much to one of our regular readers Randall who bookmarked this post and suggested it) is the story of how to truly "bootstrap your business to fame and fortune":

Nolan Bushnell is perhaps one of the world's foremost bootstrapping entrepreneurs. He founded Atari with $250 and a lot of resourcefulness. Recently, he gave a presentation where he offered the following tidbit:

"So how do you bootstrap? Well, you take all the money in your hind pocket, all the credit on your credit cards, and see if you cant get a customer that will pay for your products or services before your bills come due. That is what bootstrapping is all about. Or, you can become a consultant, and work for hire.
Can you actually find someone that is willing to hire you, and charge them a whole bunch of money so that you can actually pay for somebody else, while you're sleeping on the floor somewhere, and make the cash flow that you need? One of the good things you can do is not hire yourself, but knock down 8 hours a day for someone else, steal as much of their time as you can, i.e. close your door and work on your business while they're paying you, and you do as much as you can that way. That is, until you get found out and fired. But it is a strategy! Persistence is really important."

Yep, that's how it's done, so don't look so shocked. The number of guys I've known in the newspaper business editing newsletters and writing blogs on company computers while they should have been working...oooops! Strike that.

The point is that many methods are used to make up for lack of cash. I once worked at a cable station where it seemed like everyone had a wedding video service and you could never find a camera to shoot the news on weekends. It was a regular business incubator.