4 ms·

I like the takeaways, but the no VC seems to be quite an exaggeration. They invested temporary resources (design, frontend) and a full-time salary (mine) into

by a_imho 9y ago

I like the takeaways, but the no VC seems to be quite an exaggeration. They invested temporary resources (design, frontend) and a full-time salary (mine) into Snipcart, our developer-first e-commerce platform.

jacquesm 9y ago
That's not venture capital, that's a bit of boost at the front, and most of it not in money. They didn't say they self-financed all of it, just that they did not take on any venture capital.
- weego 9y ago
  OK so it's not VC in the narrowest of definitions, but there was capital investment by a third party so there are some language gymnastics involved to overstate the independent nature of the company.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    There is nothing narrow about that definition, rather, you are trying to stretch what it means to take on venture capital to things it was never intended to cover. The language gymnastics are entirely on your part.
  - drharby 9y ago
    Moving goalposts?
- a_imho 9y ago
  Semantics, there is similar argument there without the exponential growth they are closer to a (micro) saas than a startup (discalimer, I've no idea how big Snipcart is) and their return is ~on par with the investment.
toyg 9y ago
Looks like Spektrum was basically acting as an incubator that spent some money on them. Your criticism might be valid depending on whether the incubator got some ownership rights (in which case it was acting as VC, albeit on a small scale) or not (in which case it was just an angel investor).
- a_imho 9y ago
  So we were lucky that our relationship with Spektrum wasn’t creditor > debtor. It was more of an intimate partnership. After all, both companies shared almost all the same owners.
  - toyg 9y ago
    Yeah I saw that. To me, assuming Spektrum retained no ownership in the final company, it sounds like the people in that "almost" were basically swindled of a bit of resources, basically ending up as angels without their knowledge.
    - a_imho 9y ago
      It's hard to tell. Going by that tangent take the angel money is not an advice most can act upon and not something to write home about, unless I missed the part where they deliberately turned down venture capital. edit: I'm talking about taking free money, not setting up a successful business. That is hard and they succeeded in it.

by a_imho 9y ago

jacquesm 9y ago

That's not venture capital, that's a bit of boost at the front, and most of it not in money. They didn't say they self-financed all of it, just that they did not take on any venture capital.

weego 9y ago
OK so it's not VC in the narrowest of definitions, but there was capital investment by a third party so there are some language gymnastics involved to overstate the independent nature of the company.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  There is nothing narrow about that definition, rather, you are trying to stretch what it means to take on venture capital to things it was never intended to cover. The language gymnastics are entirely on your part.
- drharby 9y ago
  Moving goalposts?
a_imho 9y ago
Semantics, there is similar argument there without the exponential growth they are closer to a (micro) saas than a startup (discalimer, I've no idea how big Snipcart is) and their return is ~on par with the investment.

toyg 9y ago

Looks like Spektrum was basically acting as an incubator that spent some money on them. Your criticism might be valid depending on whether the incubator got some ownership rights (in which case it was acting as VC, albeit on a small scale) or not (in which case it was just an angel investor).

a_imho 9y ago
So we were lucky that our relationship with Spektrum wasn’t creditor > debtor. It was more of an intimate partnership. After all, both companies shared almost all the same owners.
- toyg 9y ago
  Yeah I saw that. To me, assuming Spektrum retained no ownership in the final company, it sounds like the people in that "almost" were basically swindled of a bit of resources, basically ending up as angels without their knowledge.
  - a_imho 9y ago
    It's hard to tell. Going by that tangent take the angel money is not an advice most can act upon and not something to write home about, unless I missed the part where they deliberately turned down venture capital. edit: I'm talking about taking free money, not setting up a successful business. That is hard and they succeeded in it.