Bootstrap or Raise VC?
June 5, 2007 by Mark Evans
Filed under Business News
Ben Yoskovitz, one of the founders of recently-funded Standout Jobs, has a good post today on whether start-ups should try to go it alone, get a small business loan, angel money or venture capital. He talks about a number of strategic issues including:
- the type of business
- the complexity of the business
- the status of the founders
One thing to remember about raising venture capital is while it gives you the money needed to aggressively grow, it also involves an awful lot of work before and after you get the money. Depending on a VC’s needs, post-funding could involve weekly conference calls, e-mails with lots of strategic details as well as meetings.
I just wanted to pitch in my few cents - I started off as an individual, never taking a dime.
I worked my ass off, but I made a few critical mistakes in the beginning. And a lot of them were pretty much your last line - I never really sat down to think things clearly through.
Beyond the reasonings of why VCs want it - it is good for business. It makes you sit down, think what the current status is, what you want to do next week, what your weaknesses are, and etc.
It took me a few years to realize how important strategy is - you can’t be sure of anything, but having a clear vision of *where* you want to be is great.
One thing I did do when I started was part-time consulting - it made sure money kept flowing in the beginning.