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None of the things the author talks about have anything to do with when or why it makes sense to take VC money. In one sentence: You should consider going to

by ohazi 8y ago

None of the things the author talks about have anything to do with when or why it makes sense to take VC money. In one sentence: You should consider going to VCs when you already have a business that works, when money is the limiting factor to growth, and when there is a land-grab-like advantage to growing faster than your competitors. It has nothing to do with the kind of lifestyle you want, or feeling overworked, or personal autonomy, or mastery, or wanting to create a fun work environment. All of that gets more stressful after you raise money, not less. It sounds like the author was feeling frustrated after having tried a bunch of things that didn't end up being profitable. That's totally understandable, but it's a terrible reason to raise money. You don't raise money and then figure out the business later -- you figure out the business first, demonstrate that it works, and convince people that it would work better/faster with access to more capital.

fredrivett 8y ago
Hey ohazi, thanks for sharing your thoughts here. A point of clarification that didn’t make the article: we’ve not technically raised VC funding yet, we’re in an incubator. But we’ve effectively raised an initial round via our budget, and are on the path to raise our first round proper. I agree with the rough sentiment of what you’re saying but think it’s a slightly too narrow point of view. Joining an incubator or accelerator helps minimise downside whilst in the process of figuring out the problem space and whether your hypothesis have legs. Sure, you can do this as a side hustle first and that’s great too, but as I say in the article, it depends on your circumstances. I’m not raising money specifically because of personal life challenges, deciding to raise only came after making the big life adjustments. It’s my belief that raising can sometimes be less pressurised than bootstrapping, though admittedly most startup founders don’t live it out that way. We’ve got our beliefs based on what we know and our experience so far, I look forward to walking it all out and reporting back on what I learn.

by ohazi 8y ago

fredrivett 8y ago

Hey ohazi, thanks for sharing your thoughts here. A point of clarification that didn’t make the article: we’ve not technically raised VC funding yet, we’re in an incubator. But we’ve effectively raised an initial round via our budget, and are on the path to raise our first round proper. I agree with the rough sentiment of what you’re saying but think it’s a slightly too narrow point of view. Joining an incubator or accelerator helps minimise downside whilst in the process of figuring out the problem space and whether your hypothesis have legs. Sure, you can do this as a side hustle first and that’s great too, but as I say in the article, it depends on your circumstances. I’m not raising money specifically because of personal life challenges, deciding to raise only came after making the big life adjustments. It’s my belief that raising can sometimes be less pressurised than bootstrapping, though admittedly most startup founders don’t live it out that way. We’ve got our beliefs based on what we know and our experience so far, I look forward to walking it all out and reporting back on what I learn.