I've always been drawn to building things from the ground up. Bootstrapping ISMS Copilot wasn't a strategic decision as much as it was the natural way to do things. It's the only way I know.
It's about the process. The act of creating something valuable, step by step, with the resources you have today. Not overextending, not chasing some distant, imagined finish line, but focusing on the tangible progress you can make now.
With ISMS Copilot, that meant starting small. It meant focusing on a very specific problem: making security compliance understandable. It meant resisting the urge to build a massive platform with all the bells and whistles. Instead, it was about crafting AI assistants that provided genuinely helpful guidance, one question, one framework, one policy at a time.
There's a certain satisfaction in that. In knowing that you're building something sustainable, something that grows organically because it provides real value, not because it's fueled by external pressures or artificial growth targets.
When you're bootstrapped, the journey is the destination. You're not rushing to an exit or chasing a valuation. You're focused on the day-to-day: improving the product, helping users, solving problems. And that's where the real joy is.
Ambition can be a powerful motivator, but it can also overshadow the present. If you're constantly striving for some future outcome, you risk missing the beauty of the process itself. And the process – the daily work of building, learning, and iterating – that's where 99.99% of our time is spent.
Bootstrapping keeps you grounded. It forces you to be resourceful, to be creative, to prioritize ruthlessly. It also gives you complete control. You're not beholden to investors or external stakeholders. You're free to build the product you believe in, the way you believe it should be built.
For ISMS Copilot, that means focusing on providing the best possible compliance guidance, without unnecessary complexity or distractions. It means staying lean, staying focused, and staying true to our core mission: making security compliance understandable for everyone.
That's why I love bootstrapping. It's not just a funding strategy; it's a philosophy. It's about finding joy in the journey, embracing limitations, and building something meaningful, one step at a time.