Bootstrap
Warning
Startups can begin with resources they can reasonably manage. A harmful mindset treats startups like they must follow a predetermined path, like attending college and securing a job.
Canva and Airbnb both bootstrapped before taking outside money, and both became unicorns. Bootstrapping means running on money and resources you make yourself. You keep full ownership, decide freely, and keep operations simple. The downside is constant cash pressure, a growth ceiling, and not being able to just buy what you need.
Bootstrapping is common in the US, but it never really caught on in Korea, where startups usually lived on outside money. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, Korean founders had to start from personal savings or loans. Then came the smartphone boom of the 2010s and government support, the ecosystem grew, and VC money went way up. That fast rise in funding and support may have come without really understanding how Silicon Valley grew on its own, though.
Korean startups often think they need seed money from an accelerator, an angel, or a VC to make it. So it's a shock when founders have to take on more risk and put in their own money. VCs may also push for faster growth than a startup needs, because that's how their funds work and how competitive the industry is. The Korean startup news has been grim lately, but watching revenue and cash flow is just running a business.