Bootstrapping Hollywood style

Filed in archive Bootstrapper News on August 26, 2006

Not every exercise in bootstrapping involves starting a small software firm or service business.

Meet Maggie Burns, struggling TV writer, proofer and avid knitter.

Maggie authors the Bootstrap Productions blog with the colorful subtitle "Climbing MT. Hollywood, One Step At A Time."

There's also this site featuring a serialized novel--"Start at the end!"--and a page showcasing and marketing Maggie's talents with brown sheep wool and mohair: $25 plus $5 shipping will get you a hand knit hat like the one pictured above.

Burns has managed to get some attention, like this mention at FishbowlLA, but what her effort really shows is the potential of the blog for bootstrappers starting with little more than the talents they possess.

It isn't the first time the bootstrapping approach has been used for start-up in the notoriously difficult fields of the arts and entertainment, either.

Maggie's blog should not be confused with this site maintained by the BootStrap Foundation, a group dedicated to aiding San Francisco bay area playwrights develop a following for previously unproduced work.