750k seems like a lot to me as well, however I have done startups that are very lean and all the investors are people that are working on the product. 35-70k o

750k seems like a lot to me as well, however I have done startups that are very lean and all the investors are people that are working on the product. 35-70k of my own money was more than sufficient. The problem is once you're live, trying to get enough income while growing the company and having other jobs so you can fund your own needs makes it very difficult (have failed 7 out of 7, just to varying degrees, 3 made multiples of money back but died off, 4 went down in a flaming pile of dung). I've done all but one of my startups in the midwest though (one in SF, SF failed out of the gate). I don't like the money game, so I'll probably never have a startup take off, but trading away too much seems like it's not worth it. I don't do startups to get rich, I do them so I have clients/customers to answer to instead of asshole bosses. My most successful startup was the one I regret (first I ever did alone 100% on my own dime). I should have gone after money 9-12 months in once I had a stable (although needing lots of work) product and 13 clients.