What we think of as startup-style capital, the kind that goes into software, is a hard sell for firearms manufacturers, because it's very difficult to get an ed

What we think of as startup-style capital, the kind that goes into software, is a hard sell for firearms manufacturers, because it's very difficult to get an edge, compared to software. Manufacturing is expensive, with a lot of up-front costs, and can't easily be scaled without a lot more up-front costs. Meanwhile, established deep-pockets competitors can just duplicate a successful product. This is really about boutique/niche product manufacturing. There's usually not a reasonable path to becoming a billion-dollar company, at any degree of risk. That's what "startup capital" wants... to get in on the ground floor of a billion dollar company. They want that 100x return. You're not going to get a 100x return manufacturing a better rifle scope or a boutique handgun. This is what banks are for. Start business on scraped capital, show real customers and real profit, then go to a traditional bank with a traditional business plan for scaling capital.