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Wow if I had 100k in the bank as that article assumes I would invest every penny of that in to my new venture and aim for becoming profitable as soon as possibl

Wow if I had 100k in the bank as that article assumes I would invest every penny of that in to my new venture and aim for becoming profitable as soon as possible before even considering a VC investment. I would rather approach them in a position of being a sustainable, profitable business than to ask them to invest in my idea before I had committed all my own available assets.

ta12121 14y ago
"The one thing I learned very early in Hollywood is to never use your own money. Especially on a fucking Kevin Smith movie." Kevin Smith
jmathai 14y ago
It's not really that simple though. $100k doesn't last as long as you'd like...especially if you're a first time entrepreneur. You really need time to make mistakes. If you're able to be sustainable without funding then that's awesome but it's less about the $100k than it is about focusing on the right things. That comes with experience, usually. I'm on my second startup. First one raised $500k and we blew it. Focused on all the wrong things. This second one I approached much differently. I did invest about $100k (not including lost wages) into it and still wasn't successful at the end. Again, in hindsight I focused on many of the wrong things. That's why I go back to needing time to make mistakes. I did wind up getting a grant from the Shuttleworth Foundation within about 8 weeks of not having a single penny (minus what was in 401k). I'm not advocating raising funding. I would have done it since I knew I needed the extended runway. But it was my last option. And getting a grant from the foundation was a happy medium between the two. Basically, starting up is not for the feint of heart and you will make mistakes and you won't anticipate making them...which leaves you in really tough spots.
- jdevonport 14y ago
  I see where you're coming from, however I really do believe it is possible to build a great business on a shoestring. I think there is a lot of comfort to be had in having more cash in the bank but not having much sure does focus you on making sure you are delivering a great product that your customers are willing to pay for from day 1. I started my current project on practically nothing, with an idea and cheap rackspace cloud account. A year on we have 5 people, sure it would be great to have the luxury of a large amount of funding but I think running on a budget does have an upside in that it forces you to always focus on customer satisfaction and profitability. Growth is just slower on the organic route and that is the main thing that concerns me.

ta12121 14y ago

"The one thing I learned very early in Hollywood is to never use your own money. Especially on a fucking Kevin Smith movie." Kevin Smith

jmathai 14y ago

It's not really that simple though. $100k doesn't last as long as you'd like...especially if you're a first time entrepreneur. You really need time to make mistakes. If you're able to be sustainable without funding then that's awesome but it's less about the $100k than it is about focusing on the right things. That comes with experience, usually. I'm on my second startup. First one raised $500k and we blew it. Focused on all the wrong things. This second one I approached much differently. I did invest about $100k (not including lost wages) into it and still wasn't successful at the end. Again, in hindsight I focused on many of the wrong things. That's why I go back to needing time to make mistakes. I did wind up getting a grant from the Shuttleworth Foundation within about 8 weeks of not having a single penny (minus what was in 401k). I'm not advocating raising funding. I would have done it since I knew I needed the extended runway. But it was my last option. And getting a grant from the foundation was a happy medium between the two. Basically, starting up is not for the feint of heart and you will make mistakes and you won't anticipate making them...which leaves you in really tough spots.

jdevonport 14y ago
I see where you're coming from, however I really do believe it is possible to build a great business on a shoestring. I think there is a lot of comfort to be had in having more cash in the bank but not having much sure does focus you on making sure you are delivering a great product that your customers are willing to pay for from day 1. I started my current project on practically nothing, with an idea and cheap rackspace cloud account. A year on we have 5 people, sure it would be great to have the luxury of a large amount of funding but I think running on a budget does have an upside in that it forces you to always focus on customer satisfaction and profitability. Growth is just slower on the organic route and that is the main thing that concerns me.