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Does it strike me odd that CEOs and founders complain about fund raising? That's one of the most important parts of their job. And I don't see how having 20 VC

Does it strike me odd that CEOs and founders complain about fund raising? That's one of the most important parts of their job. And I don't see how having 20 VC pitch meetings lasting 30 minutes on average over the course of three months is exactly "hard" work. I'd expect nothing less, and perhaps even more. Or at least some kind of analytical approach to the process that is both reasoned and strategic as it is diligent. I'd assume after the first few presentations you'd pretty much have it down save for some specific research on the firm. If its a lot of e-mailing and paper/busy work, one can hire an assistant or PT contract staff to help. This is the kind of work I'd relegate as a skill, but not a pure talent if that makes any sense. Some people are probably more natural than others but the skills required aren't worth staking your life on, and this is very much one of those things where all the value comes from experience and knowing the right people. If people don't want to fundraise, the solution is simple: don't be a CEO or start a company.

eli 9y ago
If you bootstrap it isn't really part of the job at all. You can still start a company and be CEO. Not every startup needs $750M and many would be worse off to have it.
adventured 9y ago
> Does it strike me odd that CEOs and founders complain about fund raising? That's one of the most important parts of their job. > If people don't want to fundraise, the solution is simple: don't be a CEO or start a company. That has to be heavily qualified, as it applies to a very small subset of CEOs and founders. Your last statement is radically off-base vs the reality of who starts most new companies in the US. The extreme majority, 99%, of all CEOs and founders in the US do not actively fund raise as part of their jobs. They have actual operating businesses that require their attention and pay for themselves with sales, or otherwise are bootstrapping on variations of self-funding. Few start-ups in the US are backed by venture capitalists or involve VC fund raising. ~500,000 new businesses are started every month in the US. ~400k-500k new employer businesses are started each year. Less than 1% of all of those businesses are backed by venture capitalists.
wastedhours 9y ago
As others have mentioned, your final statement has the implication you need to fundraise from a VC to start a company. I'd reframe it to being "your job as a CEO is to ensure you're adequately funded". If that entails going to VCs, that's your job, If it's meeting bank managers for a standard loan, that's your job. If it's building or bootstrapping to gen revenue, that's your job. I agree with your initial point though, this process (making sure there's cash in the bank to execute on the vision) is essentially part of the CEO's role, but most articles on the topic see it as being something different.
linkmotif 9y ago
I think a lot of people hope that they can start an company by bootstrapping it. They hope they can start a company without selling. At least without selling themselves to VCs. I have this hope. In reality this hope in unrealistic, because capitalism requires capital. Very few businesses can realistically be bootstrapped. I think you are correct in your assessment that most of the people who’ve commented on this thread about not wanting to raise funds like this are unfit for reality. I myself wonder if I am fit for reality, and try to be realistic about the fact that I will need to raise money or risk jeopardizing what I’ve spent a long time working on. If you think finance and raising money like this are somehow beneath you, you’re unfit for this scene. This scene is all about selling yourself in the basest most vulgar ways to get capital so that you can engage in capitalism. ABC. Bootstrappers are the real unicorns.

eli 9y ago

If you bootstrap it isn't really part of the job at all. You can still start a company and be CEO. Not every startup needs $750M and many would be worse off to have it.

adventured 9y ago

> Does it strike me odd that CEOs and founders complain about fund raising? That's one of the most important parts of their job. > If people don't want to fundraise, the solution is simple: don't be a CEO or start a company. That has to be heavily qualified, as it applies to a very small subset of CEOs and founders. Your last statement is radically off-base vs the reality of who starts most new companies in the US. The extreme majority, 99%, of all CEOs and founders in the US do not actively fund raise as part of their jobs. They have actual operating businesses that require their attention and pay for themselves with sales, or otherwise are bootstrapping on variations of self-funding. Few start-ups in the US are backed by venture capitalists or involve VC fund raising. ~500,000 new businesses are started every month in the US. ~400k-500k new employer businesses are started each year. Less than 1% of all of those businesses are backed by venture capitalists.

wastedhours 9y ago

As others have mentioned, your final statement has the implication you need to fundraise from a VC to start a company. I'd reframe it to being "your job as a CEO is to ensure you're adequately funded". If that entails going to VCs, that's your job, If it's meeting bank managers for a standard loan, that's your job. If it's building or bootstrapping to gen revenue, that's your job. I agree with your initial point though, this process (making sure there's cash in the bank to execute on the vision) is essentially part of the CEO's role, but most articles on the topic see it as being something different.

linkmotif 9y ago

I think a lot of people hope that they can start an company by bootstrapping it. They hope they can start a company without selling. At least without selling themselves to VCs. I have this hope. In reality this hope in unrealistic, because capitalism requires capital. Very few businesses can realistically be bootstrapped. I think you are correct in your assessment that most of the people who’ve commented on this thread about not wanting to raise funds like this are unfit for reality. I myself wonder if I am fit for reality, and try to be realistic about the fact that I will need to raise money or risk jeopardizing what I’ve spent a long time working on. If you think finance and raising money like this are somehow beneath you, you’re unfit for this scene. This scene is all about selling yourself in the basest most vulgar ways to get capital so that you can engage in capitalism. ABC. Bootstrappers are the real unicorns.