Getting funded is the first thing most of startups try to do even before they launch their initial product prototype. Why is so much buzz about funding? Although I have started few online businesses in the past 10 years I never managed to get funded but I can tell you that it was not the main reason I failed.
Most of startups believe that funding is the key to success or in other words money will solve all their problems. It is naïve the least to believe that since unfortunately majority of problems come due to excessive funding or money because simply human brain is not utilized in full and gets idle.
I personally do not think that you need any serious funding to get your business off the ground for the following reasons:
1. Gone are the days where you need few thousand dollars to launch a business on the web, you can find very talented programmers at outsourcing marketplaces that can do a complete job for few hundred dollars depending on the work. Once your business has revenues you can hire in house engineers.
2. The more you delay the launch of your product due to not getting funded the higher the chances that you will give up because you do not progress. If your product is not out within 3 months it will never be, I have gone through this and I know from first hand. The first beta does not need to be a complete product; it needs to have basic functions so you can start the ball rolling.
3. Unless you have some serious connections in your industry it will be hard to get funded, would you trust a guy coming to your office asking for xx amount without even having a prototype or never even heard of him before? Most of us would not.
4. In order to convince others to trust you with their money you first need to prove that your idea can be monetized. Forget about Facebook and Youtube, these are exceptional cases. You need to have a monetization plan from first day otherwise you will not be able to pay your bills.
What do you think? Do all start ups need investors or most of them are just wasting time?
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