Insider's Guide to How to Fund Your Startup How you fund your startup will play a deciding role in the company you build.

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Nieves Rathbun and Sue Madigan, friends who started separate skincare companies in the Bay Area, also took separate paths when raising money for their businesses. Rathbun decided to bootstrap her product line, By Nieves, by tapping her savings and personal credit, thus retaining total control. "The idea of owing anyone $500,000 is just terrifying," she says.

Madigan, on the other hand, accepted $200,000 from an angel investor, because she wants to take her skincare line, Project FIG, nationwide. She's currently pitching to more investors, and says she enjoys the challenge: "It takes a certain personality to love going in front of people who fire questions point-blank at you and let them dig into your finances."