Fund My Startup

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.” – T. E. Lawrence

Roughly 2 months ago we put a temporary, yet tight lid on nearly everything financing related.  It was following an epiphany we had regarding a new strategic focus, that we reevaluated the allocation of our resources.  As opposed to using up valuable resources on financing activities, we decided to instead direct them towards attracting reputable customers, generating revenue, and revamping the entire product.  By focusing solely on building tangible value for paying customers, we anticipated our financing story would also improve.

A week ago I received a request for our executive overview; for the first time I could…

“All men dream: but not equally.  Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.” -Thomas Edward Lawrence

An important question that frequently arises for any product company is, “How long will it take to build?”  Internally you will debate this (our lead developer can insert his silent chuckle here).  Externally you’ll hear it constantly from your customers, partners, investors, family, and really just about everyone you meet.  If you’re honest with yourself, the realistic answer is usually simple: we don’t know, but we’ll estimate anyways.

This rule applies to every build: your alpha, your beta, & every iteration within.  This is the nature of building a new product.

Product timelines are tough to pinpoint because of the…

“The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road; long before I dance under those lights.” -Muhammad Ali

There are many reasons why I love software startups: innovative thinking, blank canvases for building new products, smart people, etc.   The single greatest reason, however, is that each day that you don’t die as a company becomes another opportunity to edge slightly closer to a product/market fit.  With proper focus you’ll always end up building a little bit more, generating a few more customers, gathering additional customer/market feedback, and refining your product.

Why must you keep building?  Because as Marc Andreessen writes, a product/market fit is the only thing that matters and as Paul Buchheit points out, it usually takes a long time to get there.  If you’re working on a new deal I recommend you read both posts.  Here’s an…