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I'm seeing VCs wanting 10k MMR and am left wondering why I would need a VC at that point. That's quit your job and have a lifestyle business territory.

hackitup7 4y ago
Some markets require outsized upfront investment in order to fund investments for the purposes of land grabs or standing out from the market. It tends to look like upfront R&D (pharma, biotech, but also SaaS companies like Snowflake) or upfront Sales & Marketing (C3.ai has >$200m ARR and less than 100 customers, you need a lot of sales and marketing to make that happen including stuff like their billboard on the 101 north of SFO). VC is like steroids for your business. You might not need them, and once you take them you unfortunately can't really stop taking them. But in some cases, they really do help.
- candiddevmike 4y ago
  I like the steroid analogy, though Im not sure it's positive. Judging by the state of most recent IPO companies, there seems to be a terrible comedown from those steroids, the business that take them become addicted to them, they're "performance enhancing" by covering up a non existent go to market with "user growth", and the VCs become drug dealers pushing you to take more and get you hooked. I'd rather consider a traditional business loan with that kind of revenue.
  - hackitup7 4y ago
    Fwiw it was meant to be neutral / descriptive, not positive or negative. I've been close to quality businesses built both with and without VC money, there are pros and cons to both. I just hate seeing the "venture capital is bad don't take it under any circumstances" line because there are circumstances where it can be the difference between success and failure.
JohnFen 4y ago
> wondering why I would need a VC at that point You probably don't. Most companies don't need VC money. VC money is essential for certain sorts of startups (those needing a huge upfront monetary investment just to get on the starting blocks). If yours isn't like that, you're probably better off going with a more traditional financing route.
fdgsdfogijq 4y ago
Its so you can try to build a business with > 1B valuation.
borski 4y ago
If you want to build a lifestyle business, go ahead and please do not take any VC money. If you want to build a business that is large, globally impactful, and has the potential for great success or dramatic failure, VC money (or other debt/investment) is generally required for that, dependent on the market of course.

hackitup7 4y ago

Some markets require outsized upfront investment in order to fund investments for the purposes of land grabs or standing out from the market. It tends to look like upfront R&D (pharma, biotech, but also SaaS companies like Snowflake) or upfront Sales & Marketing (C3.ai has >$200m ARR and less than 100 customers, you need a lot of sales and marketing to make that happen including stuff like their billboard on the 101 north of SFO). VC is like steroids for your business. You might not need them, and once you take them you unfortunately can't really stop taking them. But in some cases, they really do help.

candiddevmike 4y ago
I like the steroid analogy, though Im not sure it's positive. Judging by the state of most recent IPO companies, there seems to be a terrible comedown from those steroids, the business that take them become addicted to them, they're "performance enhancing" by covering up a non existent go to market with "user growth", and the VCs become drug dealers pushing you to take more and get you hooked. I'd rather consider a traditional business loan with that kind of revenue.
- hackitup7 4y ago
  Fwiw it was meant to be neutral / descriptive, not positive or negative. I've been close to quality businesses built both with and without VC money, there are pros and cons to both. I just hate seeing the "venture capital is bad don't take it under any circumstances" line because there are circumstances where it can be the difference between success and failure.

JohnFen 4y ago

> wondering why I would need a VC at that point You probably don't. Most companies don't need VC money. VC money is essential for certain sorts of startups (those needing a huge upfront monetary investment just to get on the starting blocks). If yours isn't like that, you're probably better off going with a more traditional financing route.

fdgsdfogijq 4y ago

Its so you can try to build a business with > 1B valuation.

borski 4y ago

If you want to build a lifestyle business, go ahead and please do not take any VC money. If you want to build a business that is large, globally impactful, and has the potential for great success or dramatic failure, VC money (or other debt/investment) is generally required for that, dependent on the market of course.