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I am naive... however, some opinions... If the startup is truly revolutionary|innovative, shouldn't we see VC's pounding down the doors to give them money? If

I am naive... however, some opinions... If the startup is truly revolutionary|innovative, shouldn't we see VC's pounding down the doors to give them money? If they have money, shouldn't they spend that on their personnel (assuming they are not manufacturing robots or something) if we are talking software? Seems to me that startups want to have their cake and eat it too. If you have money to pay, then pay competitive wages. If you don't, offer equity. If you have something worth a shit, people will want to work for your startup. The next facebook, unless it is the next facebook, isn't going to sell a lot of people. I look at the YC list of startups and shake my head... most of them don't make much sense. They might be winners, but I would ask for a large paycheck instead of equity for most of them.

heurist 10y ago
No, VCs are fallible and don't always recognize opportunity. They may not trust that it can be delivered. They might be hedging their bets for whatever reason. Having a good product is no guarantee of significant funding. Most startups, even potential game-changers, only have a limited amount of cash on hand and need to make it stretch as far as possible. You're thinking about the unicorn case which is so rare as to be a joke.
- st3v3r 10y ago
  I also have a limited amount of cash, and thus I need to work where I can maximize my compensation.
eldavido 10y ago
There's a limit to how much a company can raise pre-product/pre-traction. It hinges a lot on the team and whether they've had a big exit. Keep in mind, most early-stage funding is done by angels who "work for themselves", not VCs -- real, true VCs work for their limited partners (investors) and if a deal goes south, there can be a lot of "how the hell did this get funded" blowback that can be career-limiting. So as much as I like to think VC can change, their incentives do make it a bit difficult.

heurist 10y ago

No, VCs are fallible and don't always recognize opportunity. They may not trust that it can be delivered. They might be hedging their bets for whatever reason. Having a good product is no guarantee of significant funding. Most startups, even potential game-changers, only have a limited amount of cash on hand and need to make it stretch as far as possible. You're thinking about the unicorn case which is so rare as to be a joke.

st3v3r 10y ago
I also have a limited amount of cash, and thus I need to work where I can maximize my compensation.

eldavido 10y ago

There's a limit to how much a company can raise pre-product/pre-traction. It hinges a lot on the team and whether they've had a big exit. Keep in mind, most early-stage funding is done by angels who "work for themselves", not VCs -- real, true VCs work for their limited partners (investors) and if a deal goes south, there can be a lot of "how the hell did this get funded" blowback that can be career-limiting. So as much as I like to think VC can change, their incentives do make it a bit difficult.