Why I build this way: No funding, no debt, no shortcuts

I've built 11 production systems with zero external funding and zero debt.

People sometimes treat this as a humble brag or a badge of honour. It's neither. It's a deliberate choice that creates specific advantages for the kind of work I want to do.

Here's why I build this way.

External funding creates pressure

When you take investor money, you're not just taking capital. You're taking their timeline, their expectations, and their exit requirements.

Investors need returns. Those returns typically come from growth—fast growth, often at the expense of other considerations. The incentive structure pushes toward:

• Moving fast, even when you should move carefully
• Prioritising features that look good to the next investor over features that actually help users
• Scaling before you've figured out what actually works
• Compromising on things that matter for things that look impressive

When you're building for vulnerable populations, this pressure is dangerous. Safety takes time. Getting it right takes iteration. And sometimes the right answer is "not yet" or "this isn't working"—answers that don't fit a fundraising narrative.

Debt creates constraint

Debt is less aggressive than equity, but it still shapes decisions.

When you owe money, you need to generate revenue to service that debt. That can push you toward monetisation strategies that conflict with your mission. It can force you to ship before you're ready. It can make you accept contracts you shouldn't accept.

I wanted the freedom to say no. To turn down partnerships that would compromise safety. To spend an extra month on something important without worrying about making payroll.

Speed comes from other places

People assume bootstrapping means slow. Actually, the opposite can be true.

Clarity creates speed. When there's no board to report to, no investor updates to write, no fundraising process to manage, I can focus entirely on building. That focus translates to velocity.

Reusable foundations create speed. I don't build each system from scratch. Phoenix, Trustline, Sacred Registry, Aegis—these shared foundations mean every new system starts ahead.

Modern tools create speed. The development tools available today are extraordinary. What would have taken a team of engineers six months in 2015 can be done in weeks now, if you know what you're building.

No committee creates speed. I don't need consensus. I don't need approval. When I see something that needs to exist, I can build it immediately.

What this costs

I'm not going to pretend there are no downsides.

Scale limits. There are things I can't do alone that a funded team could do. NovaHEART could grow faster with investment.

Credibility questions. Some potential partners assume that "no funding" means "no traction" or "not serious." I have to work harder to demonstrate credibility.

Personal risk. When the company has no outside capital, any financial stress falls directly on me. There's no cushion.

Sustainability concerns. Some projects need more resources than I can provide alone. I've had to turn down opportunities because I couldn't execute at the required scale.

These are real costs. I've accepted them because the alternative costs are higher—for me and for the people these systems serve.

What this enables

What I get in return:

Mission alignment. Every decision I make is evaluated against one question: does this help vulnerable people? Not "does this help us raise the next round" or "does this fit our growth narrative."

Safety-first culture. I can spend an extra month on crisis detection without anyone asking why that's better than shipping faster. I can say "this isn't safe yet" without defending that decision to people with different priorities.

Long-term thinking. I'm building infrastructure, not an exit. That means making decisions that pay off over years, not quarters.

Authenticity. When I tell partners and users that safety comes first, it's actually true. There's no investor in the background pushing for growth at any cost.

Is this right for everyone?

No. Definitely not.

Some problems require resources that only outside capital can provide. Some founders work better with external accountability. Some markets move so fast that bootstrapping means losing.

But for the work I do—building infrastructure for vulnerable populations—this approach fits. It lets me build the way I believe things should be built.

That's worth more than any funding round.

If you're building for vulnerable populations and considering the funding question, I'm happy to talk about what I've learned. Reach out.