How to Bootstrap for a New Startup by Hiring FreelancersGet the most bang for your buck by leveraging the online talent pool of independent contractors.

If you're launching a new company, cash is king. With what little startup capital you have, you've got to spend it wisely. Ask any founder whose startup struggled or even failed early on and the concepts of both spent cash and bad hiring strategy are likely to come up.

The go-to reaction for a lot of founders is to offer equity instead of a salary or hourly rate. The problem, however, is that this strategy can go south in a big way. Not having a working relationship with your new hire means that you've essentially brought on a partner — and a big partner if you leveraged a lot of equity in exchange for minimal or no cash upfront. Given that even freelancers and salaried employees might exit a company for any number of reasons without the additional complexity of equity, this might not be the right route to pursue at first.