There are 3 primary ways you can own a business. 1. Build yourself and bootstrap: Pros: You own everything, no debt, no VCs etc Cons: Slow, usually not a ton of leverage, usually takes longer than the other 2 2. Buy an existing company: ETA, Search fund, private equity Pros: You are buying a business that already is working and ideally profitable. Usually if you can pay down the debt you own most if not all the company Cons: If you use a personal guarantee you risk losing your own assets beyond the business. Many ETA style startups are solid companies but a bit harder to find rapid growth. 3. Venture backed Startup Pros: Grow fast, have a salary, don't use your own money, no personal guarantee Cons: Raising funding is very hard for most, most fast growth startups do fail, VCs will be your business partners for better or worse, often dependent on later rounds of funding I try to look at any business as one of these 3 paths. At some levels they may blend together a bit. For example in an early stage Venture company you may raise capital from friends and family, the same might be true with ETA or Bootstrap. However, these are largely the 3 categories for company ownership. The more you understand all 3 the better choices you will be able to make as to the right path for you