bootstrap

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
bootstrap/ˈbuːtstrap/

▶noun

• 1 a loop at the back of a boot, used to pull it on.

• 2 Computing the action of booting a computer.

▶verb

• 1 Computing fuller form of boot1 (sense 3 of the verb).

• 2 start up (an Internet-based business or other enterprise) with minimal financial resources.

• 3 use existing resources to raise (oneself) to a better situation: the world's developing countries are bootstrapping themselves out of poverty.

– phrases
pull oneself up by one's bootstraps improve one's position by one's own efforts.