"Bootstrapper" is used for a person or process that starts out a task with very few resources. People into self improvement, usually starting with only a program and little equipment or help. A bootstrapper might also refer to someone starting a business with just a few resources at hand. A person who starts a computer business in a garage could be referred to as a bootstrapper.

This term probably comes from the expression "to pull oneself up by the bootstraps." If I pulled myself up by the bootstraps, it means that I started off in poor circumstances, and worked very hard to improve my own situation.