We experimentally analyze the self-starting operation of a figure-eight mode-locked fiber laser. The design is based on a power-balanced nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) with highly twisted low-birefringence fiber and a quarter-wave (QW) retarder in the loop. The NOLM operates by nonlinear polarization rotation. Self-starting mode-locking requires a careful adjustment of the NOLM lowpower transmission, which is easily realized with our setup by adjusting the angle of the QW retarder. The laser is capable of generating ~20 ps pulses at the fundamental repetition frequency of 0.78 MHz.