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> Setting aside parts of the profit for future investment Companies go public without being profitable. Raising money via IPO is one step to becoming profitabl

by pb7 6y ago

> Setting aside parts of the profit for future investment Companies go public without being profitable. Raising money via IPO is one step to becoming profitable. > Getting a loan from a bank or your local credit union No bank is going to loan $100M to a complicated startup with no collateral that needs capital to grow quickly and is unlikely to be able to start repaying for years. This is where VCs come in — they understand complex business models and invest as needed in exchange for equity. > Community This is regular investing. The people in your community are not more important than people living elsewhere. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to invest in promising businesses everywhere. > Owner funding Bootstrapping is already extremely common and accounts for most small businesses of which there are thousands and thousands. It’s not suitable for big businesses that make global impact. You can’t have a bootstrapped Google or Airbnb or Square.

runarberg 6y ago
Now I do think you are just trying to win an argument and not actually debating in good faith. Community funding includes accelerators such as Y-combinator, wealthy philanthropists, and charities. Heck I didn’t mention it but you could crowdsource the money for all I care... Point is, alternatives exists that are less predatory then shareholders and investors. > No bank is going to loan $100M to a complicated startup (Since we are both just trying to win this argument) Perhaps startups that need $100M to get started, and are unable to crowdsource, loan, or community fund that amount simply should exist. Or at the very least, perhaps it should downscale to a more affordable price, earn some profits and scale up as the profits turn in. I’m not gonna cry for a hypothetical startup that failed because they couldn’t raise $100M before they even began the work. > You can’t have a bootstrapped Google or Airbnb or Square. So what? I see people complain about Google and AirBnB all the time on this very forum. These are massive companies that have shown predatory and monopolistic behavior time and time again. Maybe the business world would be better if we didn’t have any tech giants. And instead, smaller tech companies would have to collaborate on big scale projects. Remember that we got the CD by a collaboration.
- pb7 6y ago
  > Now I do think you are just trying to win an argument and not actually debating in good faith. You’re projecting. > Y Combinator You realize YC takes 7% of the equity and becomes a shareholder forever, right? This is exactly what you’re complaining about. > you could crowdsource the money If only there existed a system where anyone can fund any company at any time and then exchange hands when they wanted to fund another one... hmm... I’m done here. You’re just trolling now.

by pb7 6y ago

runarberg 6y ago

Now I do think you are just trying to win an argument and not actually debating in good faith. Community funding includes accelerators such as Y-combinator, wealthy philanthropists, and charities. Heck I didn’t mention it but you could crowdsource the money for all I care... Point is, alternatives exists that are less predatory then shareholders and investors. > No bank is going to loan $100M to a complicated startup (Since we are both just trying to win this argument) Perhaps startups that need $100M to get started, and are unable to crowdsource, loan, or community fund that amount simply should exist. Or at the very least, perhaps it should downscale to a more affordable price, earn some profits and scale up as the profits turn in. I’m not gonna cry for a hypothetical startup that failed because they couldn’t raise $100M before they even began the work. > You can’t have a bootstrapped Google or Airbnb or Square. So what? I see people complain about Google and AirBnB all the time on this very forum. These are massive companies that have shown predatory and monopolistic behavior time and time again. Maybe the business world would be better if we didn’t have any tech giants. And instead, smaller tech companies would have to collaborate on big scale projects. Remember that we got the CD by a collaboration.

pb7 6y ago
> Now I do think you are just trying to win an argument and not actually debating in good faith. You’re projecting. > Y Combinator You realize YC takes 7% of the equity and becomes a shareholder forever, right? This is exactly what you’re complaining about. > you could crowdsource the money If only there existed a system where anyone can fund any company at any time and then exchange hands when they wanted to fund another one... hmm... I’m done here. You’re just trolling now.