I've invested much more. I first began with less than $20k on my first product that received a great deal of acclaim. I built and expanded around that. Times are very different now. It is MUCH more difficult to bootstrap $20k into millions of dollars. My cookie project began with $800k net from the sale of our house. Unless you are in high technology I think it is very very very difficult to bootstrap a enterprise today. Shark Tank is NOT the way to go. The sharks end up controlling you and your original inspiration gets compromised for dollars. Creating wealth for the Sharks is what Shark Tank is about.