3 ms·

Looking for a Venture Capitalist or Angel Advisor

2 points by spoiledtechie 18y ago

brk 18y ago
A word of advice... You mention having 14 ideas... Find the 2 or 3 (at most) that seem most viable. Research them, prototype them, find a co-founder. THEN seek angel funding. Ideas are free, VCs/Angels get thousands of half-baked "idea" pitches regularly. Hard work, data, prototypes, co-founders and enthusiasm are far less common (and you won't convince anyone that you are equally enthusiastic about 14 different things). If you're just looking for some free guidance, I like your ideas #5, #15 and #8, in that order ;)
- ram1024 18y ago
  yeah, you're going to want to pitch em to a co-founder or close friend first. or if you want to follow guy kawasaki's method, find a woman. which i'm not saying your co-founder or close friend ISN'T. i'm just sayin... you know what i mean?
  - spoiledtechie 18y ago
    Why is it that 90% of the time you need a co-founder?
    - brk 18y ago
      It helps to prove you're not insane. If you can convince another reasonably smart and rational person to go along for the ride, it shows that at least you're not the ONLY person in the world to see merit in the idea. Keep in mind this means your co-founder should also have a decent pedigree. It's not very hard to convince your mom that you're smart...
      - ram1024 18y ago
        yeah having a co-founder acts as a "vote of confidence". it's a useful filtering tool that allows investors to cull out a large portion of ideas that the creators weren't able to convince anyone else to support. i'm sure a portion of the ideas were indeed good marketable ideas, but the amount of fat that gets trimmed by this tactic is just too good to pass up. like say if (hypothetically) Y-comb had 10,000 applications and you could easily work the number down to 6000 to read by cutting the single founders out, then it'd be a good idea to do so. maybe after reading through 6000 ideas you might have some left over energy to skim the others for something that might stand out...
- spoiledtechie 18y ago
  :) thanks for the free "guidance". I agree with you on finding the most viable. I just wish this process was easier. I wish I could take a few months off work to pursue these business ideas that I have.
  - pg 18y ago
    Go through your ideas and pick the one that you yourself need and that you can make at least a version 1 of in a reasonable time. Then do so, preferably with a friend you've known for a while and who you admire for his/her ability. This was the recipe for Apple, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and many other startups.
  - brk 18y ago
    If the process were easier, everyone would be doing it. Hang in and keep at it. Perseverance is rewarded.

2 points by spoiledtechie 18y ago

brk 18y ago

A word of advice... You mention having 14 ideas... Find the 2 or 3 (at most) that seem most viable. Research them, prototype them, find a co-founder. THEN seek angel funding. Ideas are free, VCs/Angels get thousands of half-baked "idea" pitches regularly. Hard work, data, prototypes, co-founders and enthusiasm are far less common (and you won't convince anyone that you are equally enthusiastic about 14 different things). If you're just looking for some free guidance, I like your ideas #5, #15 and #8, in that order ;)

ram1024 18y ago
yeah, you're going to want to pitch em to a co-founder or close friend first. or if you want to follow guy kawasaki's method, find a woman. which i'm not saying your co-founder or close friend ISN'T. i'm just sayin... you know what i mean?
- spoiledtechie 18y ago
  Why is it that 90% of the time you need a co-founder?
  - brk 18y ago
    It helps to prove you're not insane. If you can convince another reasonably smart and rational person to go along for the ride, it shows that at least you're not the ONLY person in the world to see merit in the idea. Keep in mind this means your co-founder should also have a decent pedigree. It's not very hard to convince your mom that you're smart...
    - ram1024 18y ago
      yeah having a co-founder acts as a "vote of confidence". it's a useful filtering tool that allows investors to cull out a large portion of ideas that the creators weren't able to convince anyone else to support. i'm sure a portion of the ideas were indeed good marketable ideas, but the amount of fat that gets trimmed by this tactic is just too good to pass up. like say if (hypothetically) Y-comb had 10,000 applications and you could easily work the number down to 6000 to read by cutting the single founders out, then it'd be a good idea to do so. maybe after reading through 6000 ideas you might have some left over energy to skim the others for something that might stand out...
spoiledtechie 18y ago
:) thanks for the free "guidance". I agree with you on finding the most viable. I just wish this process was easier. I wish I could take a few months off work to pursue these business ideas that I have.
- pg 18y ago
  Go through your ideas and pick the one that you yourself need and that you can make at least a version 1 of in a reasonable time. Then do so, preferably with a friend you've known for a while and who you admire for his/her ability. This was the recipe for Apple, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and many other startups.
- brk 18y ago
  If the process were easier, everyone would be doing it. Hang in and keep at it. Perseverance is rewarded.