Not sure if this helps you, but there is this amazing story of how AirBnB raised money. "They told us about a great stunt they pulled at the Democratic Convent

Not sure if this helps you, but there is this amazing story of how AirBnB raised money. "They told us about a great stunt they pulled at the Democratic Convention in Denver (in which Obama was nominated). They bought a bulk supply of generic cheerios and made up these cereal boxes to generate seed capital for their startup" From http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/03/airbnb.html http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/03/airbnb.html On a side note though consultancy seems a good way to raise that initial money, i have seen some friends who just get stuck in the consultancy mode and cant make time to work on products. If you do go that route set a hard date and stick to it.