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Why Funding can Kill Your Startup Fast – Emerging Market
- anotheryou 10y agomisleading or wrong title...
- wexcely 10y agoReally? Why is it misleading? I think you should read the article before commenting, it's what we're facing in Nigeria/Africa here
- icebraining 10y agoThe original title is "can kill", whereas you posted "will kill" on HN.
- wexcely 10y agoOh I see, my bad. Thanks for pointing that out.
- noxToken 10y agoBecause can is not the same thing as will. If something can happen, then there is only a chance. Certainty could be anywhere from 0.01% to 99.9%. If something will happen, then it is implied that it will occur with 100% certainty (provided all criteria are met). Difference in title aside, the phrases do not mean the same thing.
- anotheryou 10y agoDidn't notice the mix up between "can" and "will" in the titles and referred to to the "will". My first thought, before reading the article was: "good: fail quickly". From reading the article I get: "Focus only on funding and marketing will kill your startup fast", but not, as the title implies, that there is a downside to being funded and using that money in a not too stupid way. I blame the companies priorities if it's blowing all funding on a marketing campaign, while having a stagnant product. I assume without funding they would fall over the same wrong priorities, just not as fast.
- noxToken 10y agoAgreed. Without knowing anything about OP, I'm chalking it up as a language error and not knowing the implicit difference between can and will.
- mrits 10y ago"Why will an investor invest in you when you have not even made 1 sale?" Well, to get a great deal for starters. Once you do have some sales you are going to have investors lining up at the door.
- chrishacken 10y agoWe have a lot of sales and we don't have investors lining up at the door.
- eloisant 10y agoMaybe not, but if you have good numbers you'll have a good valuation and any investor who comes in will need to put more money on the table for the same share.
- wexcely 10y agoGood numbers gives good valuation. My theory is run after your clients/customers and investor will run after you
- pascal1usa 10y agoDid you really say a good product will sell itself? Generally this is not true, especially for enterprise solutions. But, I'm happy to be proven false if you can provide examples
- wexcely 10y agoIt's hard for any product to sell itself, especially in a crowded Market. I believe good product is easier to sell.
- yannyu 10y agoIt's unfortunate he used those exact words, but you're also leaving out the greater context: "A good product will sell itself without spending the billions on marketing. It’s so amazing that a startup that has not even spent ₦100,000 on marketing came for an investors meeting and was asking for ₦100 million to be spent on marketing for a 4-month duration." His point is referring to these startups coming in asking for huge amounts of money without having spent even a small amount already. It doesn't make sense for an investor to put in $10 million if you haven't even put in $10 thousand.
- pejrich 10y ago> It doesn't make sense for an investor to put in $10 million if you haven't even put in $10 thousand. That's not always the case, and it depends on the situation. If a startup founder is working for no salary and focusing fulltime on the startup, then money might be better in their pocket, than in the company. $10k could by the founder 6months working at the company. Sweat equity and opportunity cost are also important to consider. Just because a founder hasn't put up cash, doesn't mean they aren't also committed and taking a risk.