So its been a long time since I've blogged anything. Basically I've spent the past couple of months trying to find an investor and trying to find a way to pay the bills. After my last "handshake" deal fell through I couldn't last any longer without steady income, so unfortunately I had to bite the bullet and get a job. Fortunately, I am not giving up on the startup...I'm just not looking for funding any more. One thing about starting a business is you have to know when to stop looking and start doing. So I've worked out a deal with a delevoper to throw him a little cash and equity so I can get the site up and running...although pretty stripped down.

And yet help can come from the weirdest of places. One thing that I'm learning is that sometimes you need to be a little more patient than you want to be.

If you're starting a business or thinking about it...read this article.
...And then book mark it.

Wow...I knew from working in the VC industry that fund raising was a time consume process, but from a Founder's perspective it is a REALLY long process. People like your idea, but it is to early for them...People like your concept, but don't know if you can get the industry on board...People like your concept, but (insert reason here).

So I'm at a point right now where I need to keep looking for investors and wasting more time, or just screw investors all together and build something that isn't what I envisioned, but will work.

If this last potential investor says No, then I'm going it

I'm going to be the first to admit that the time table I had "alloted" for raising funds was not completely realistic. I figured that since I wasn't dealing with "professional" investors, but industry investors, the time for raising funds would be reduced. Well...so far this doesn't seem to be the case. One thing that is obviously extremely important when going off on your own is realism. Realism in your assumptions, in your forecasts, in your time table, etc. Unfortunately when you're expecting one thing and getting something else, that shot of reality hits you right in the face. But the real entrepreneur is able to shrug that hit off and go on.

So I'm in the process of of raising capital and I had a great meeting with an investor. He loved the idea and the whole concept. So he had me meet with one of his Web/Marketing guys, who also liked the idea and concept. The next day the Web guy shoots me an email with a bunch of concerns he has about traffic. After doing some research that refutes his concerts, I email him my results. A day after I email him my results he tells me he doesn't have time to look into this anymore and that he doesn't think the idea is viable. The Investor still likes the idea though...so now I have to wait for the "web" guy's schedule to clear up. So what am I doing in the mean time? Meeting with more investors! It's really easy to get frustrated when looking for capital, but just remember it usually takes months to get money...unless you just have a relative that can write you a check for the whole amount. Wouldn't that be nice!!!!

Well I've been busy with a lot of things so I haven't been writing to much in the way of posts. But one thing that I've discovered is very important...Customizing your presentation for your audience. This sounds like a no-brainer but sometimes a bit harder than you would think. My presentation was set up in a 15-20 minute "Angel Investor" format. I thought this was a great presentation with the flow and everything. I quickly found out though, when dealing with Non-Angel/VC investors...those same presentations that the Angles love, don't work so well. For my first round of investment, I'm looking to industry players for money.

Entrepreneurs need a certain level of stubbornness because they hear a lot of "No's" during the whole process. But there is a difference with being stubborn about your idea and listening to criticism and advice. A friend of mine is starting a company and he has a good idea. The problem is that there are already a lot of competitors and even the biggest is having a hard time gaining much traction outside of the early adoption crowd...not to mention can not figure out how to monetize their service. Our mutual friend who works in the advertising industry told him that his assumptions on CPM are wrong. I told him that his business plan as is, will not work or get Angel investment (and I can say that having worked at an Angel firm and looking over business plans all day). He disagrees with us saying that his company is different or we just don't know the space that well or (Insert other reasons here). Like I said, you need to be stubborn about your idea, but you also need to listen to people when they know what they're talking about. People that have experience or knowledge in certain areas will give constructive criticism, and it is your job as an entrepreneur to take that criticism and adjust accordingly. There is something to be said about going against all criticism and following a path you believe in...there is something else to be said when experience and real life examples are saying there is something wrong with what you're doing.

Raising capital seems to be one of the hardest and most important things an Entrepreneur can do. If you're lucky enough to have savings or enough skills to make what want for nothing but time, then you are that much more ahead of the game. Bootstrapping is very important and those who can do it successfully will have the greatest reward in the end. For those of us with not enough programming skills to make our product on our own...we turn to raising money. But where to turn is the question. Right now I would say I'm at the "Family and Friends" stage of this whole process. Turning to Family and friends is one of the easiest and hardest things to do.

So at the end of September I've decided to stop being an analyst and try my hand at another startup. Only this one is different. I'm going all in on this one. On other startups I've worked on, I still held a full time job and because of that, never had time to devote 100% to the startup. So this time, I'm not working and going into this all or nothing.
Which brings me to Risk and Support...and by support I mean just that....people supporting your endeavor. When I was just talking about this startup, my parents would give me the "why would you stop working, you've got a good job, blah blah blah" speech. My dad is very conservative. So I sat down with an young entrepreneur who my firm has invested in and asked him about what made him decide to go the Entrepreneurial route. We talked for a while and one thing that really stuck out in my head was when he said "People are only willing to support you for things you support yourself...Basically no one wants to support your risky idea if you don't believe in it yourself....no one wants to support something that makes you fail". So when I was talking about maybe taking a risk and going out on this startup, my family wasn't so sure about it...but neither was I. But, as soon as I said, "I'm doing this", everyone was ready to help where they could (unfortunately not monetarily). But having their support is definitely important and very helpful.