Something I've found very frustrating while pitching to investors, platforms and funds is that so many of them actually just bait and switch.
They pose like gyani people earnestly looking for investments or helping entrepreneurs, but when you speak to them they start selling you their services.
Fundraise is apparently just a step away, need to signup here first, or create xyz report first, or do outreach to xyz number of people, or do market research and fresh pitch deck creation, or hire xyz consultant/agency to get to the "next level" - basically a bunch of barriers you need to pay to clear despite having a profitable business with paying customers.
Fact of the matter is there are plenty of people raising money based off of pitch decks with no MVP , or even just the right conversations with the right people. But they are rare and hard to find organically. Requires lots of networking and connecting dots over months and years.
The point is, this selling in the guise of securing investment is tiresome and a waste of time for most entrepreneurs. They probably do get a few suckers occasionally which helps them stay afloat I guess.
Some of them might even take your ideas and start building something of their own or back someone to build it under them. Once you start pitching, the deck starts floating around in VC groups and networks mostly beyond the reach of the average entrepreneur.
Considering all this, just keeping one's head down and bootstrapping forever in peace seems like a better approach.
Couldn’t agree more with the last line. Taking investor money is considered a success factor these days - I just don’t understand why. It comes on the liability side of the balance sheet, so it’s actually bad for a founder, not good. Making a profitable model from the first instance is the way to go to build a sustainable startup - nothing else can be called a success factor.
On the malpractices, I guess networking and knowing the right people might help you avoid it. I haven’t faced it in my investment banking days, so I guess if you really reach out to the right decision makers at the right fund, I don’t think they will indulge in such practises. Hire an advisor and pay him in equity rather than cash if it helps.
All the best!
Tbh investment=success is ingrained in me too despite having experienced all the bs that comes with pitching. As a bootstrapper you're almost always hungry for revenue and you don't get enough time to think and strategise long term plays. I'm trying to delink the two in my mind and getting used to bootstrapping only.
Reaching out to major/popular funds is mostly ineffective because there's lots of competition there and they mostly reject unless going through warm intro. Which is why people like me try to explore other avenues.
Advisors never take equity from what I've seen, everyone wants cash upfront. But a success fee of 2-3% is still fine as long as they can get good investors. We haven't had any luck though, one or two advisors were trying it out but stopped eventually.
Taking investor money will seem like a great idea when you feel scaling up will help in reaching profitability and lessen risk. In most cases it does. The problem lies with whom you raise from.
Best way to get through Is incubators like YC, Antler and Seed funds VCs . You can reach out to founders like Kunal Shah, Harshil Mathur, Kunal Bahl etc who'd be kind enough to intro you to a few.
Such funds and people usually look for unicorn potential from the beginning. Mostly not into niche based startups (no matter how big the niche is).
I've applied to most popular funds and got rejected already.
How about trying american VC Funds / American Midsized VC Firms ? Did you try A16Z bro ? Marc andressen.
Hi @Rorschach - I am just starting up. Would love to connect and learn from your experience 🙌🏻
Sure, DM
Can't DM here. Add me to discord? https://discord.com/invite/2GuGAsEe
Absolutely feel the frustration. The investment game often feels like a maze of empty promises. Bootstrapping might be slower, but at least it's genuine progress. Dodging the bait-and-switch dance.
Alright folks, time for some real talk. I fucked up. Big time. And I'm here to share my story so you don't make the same mistakes I did.
Back in 2021, I co-founded a web3 startup. Yeah, you know where this is going. I was caught up in...
I will never understand this phenomenon of people getting funding based on pitch decks , while startups like mine wit...
Second meeting with the guy, thought his outlook might improve because we had better numbers than the first meeting (few months ago). Didn't even remember the first conversation, or our business, didn't do any research on our startup or ...
Fuck the defamation notice. Don’t take shit from anyone, if someone crosses their line, reply to them then and there,...
I'm hearing some horror stories of pressure and unreasonable expectations coming from VC's even at the seed stage. Pre and post funding.
Do you folks have stories to share about this. Especially w.r.t. interaction with associates with ...
Why: I know that with all the job layoffs happening, it's kinda stupid to quit but I just can't. After almost a decade in the startup scene I'm taking a break, probably for good.
From AI to B2C to ed-tech and more I have worked with ...
I have been investing now for 10 years+ at a $100mn Fund. If you have ever thought of starting up, do spend 5 mins reading this.
My younger brother who has been seeing me do investing has always been very excited about starting up. T...
