Also one other comment on using services from like SCORE (and there are others like them). If you use them to help many times local banks (and definitely SBA l

Also one other comment on using services from like SCORE (and there are others like them). If you use them to help many times local banks (and definitely SBA loans) will give you preferred rates/access as they consider it a risk reduction that you have "professional" guidance. Honestly some of the advice I got a couple of times was wacky shit that in no way helped my business, but it helped me secure a loan so it was worth every minute of my time. Tech people forget that 90+% of small business exists outside of tech and use these services all the time to grow cause they can't raise VC funding. There are a ton of resources available to us, we just have to not always look for tech only solutions/providers. I am also not saying these services are always easy or good, so you still have to do some homework, but in terms of percentages of businesses that get local loans vs VC dollars it is pretty one sided not favoring VC's. Of course you also aren't getting $10M of cash and no payback terms when you go to a bank, you are getting 5-250k typically, although $1-5M not out of the question once you have built up to it and prove the business supports those value. I have a friend who's small real estate investing business has over $1M in line of credit from 2 local banks, that's how he flips houses and remodels his rentals before sale etc. And his entire business is just him, and he subs out all work.