Bootstrapping to the big time

Filed in archive Bootstrapping Trends on November 4, 2007

Many might not think of companies the size and scale of Google when it comes to discussions on the subject of bootstrapping.

But as Craig Silverstein, Director of Technology for the company explains in this video, even the search giant grew from humble beginnings.

In fact, as Tom Taulli observes in this recent post at BloggingStocks, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched the company using old PC's, free software and occasional infusions from their credit cards.

Here from a 2004 Newsweek story is another look at their bootstrapped beginnings.

There may actually be no limit to the size of a company built through bootstrapping and certainly, as with Google, outside funding may loom in the future after an initial bootstrapped startup.

In this video moderated by Jim Fallows, Google founders Page and Brin talk about how their company has scaled up from those early beginnings.

The video also gives some insight into how companies with small beginnings can grow to create an ecosystem from which other small companies (including bootstrappers) can grow.