

Am I Investable? - earthshout

Am I Investable?<p>I have been wondering lately "Am I Investable". Should I be focusing my attention on getting funding for my ideas or helping someone else. Finance or Wage?<p>There is a lot of advice on the net about startup this, and seed round that, and all sorts of blah blah blah about products and pivoting and something to do with hockey sticks. Most of it is plain common sense. But there is one recurring theme that cuts through all of it.<p>It doesn't matter what your idea is or how skilled your team is, when someone hands over a few hundred thousand dollars, they are investing in you, not your product. Sure, your idea is great, but can you "make it happen". In essence "You" are the product, not your idea.<p>So, my question is, would you invest in me as a product? I do have some prototypes. Should I just say screw it and blatantly ask rich people for money?<p>Am I investable?<p>Thanks for listening. Feedback is most welcome.<p>tl;DR<p>= Product features =
Focused: Like a shark with a laser.<p>Pliable: Able to take direction and constructive criticism well. Feed me...<p>Tested: 20+ years making stuff work for users. From GrandMa to CEO.<p>Smart: Like, you know, like, really smart.<p>= Background =
20+ years making anything work for everyone. I worked mainly in the x86 PC and server world, making machines, fixing them, connecting them, training people and generally just making sure the alignment of the bones were in matched to the current moon phases. There isn't a problem I can't find the cause of or a workaround for.<p>= Current Activities =
Learning the complete Web 2.0 stack. Aside from being able to build the machines for 20+ years, I can now install CentOS 5 in my own VPS running WHM/cPanel. This platform provides me with Web Hosting, DNS, Email and other funky stuff like node.js. Using those tools, I have now built 15 websites of which 5 are "Apps" running on Expression Engine and Bootstrap. They all include the basics: Analytics by two different services, Social Media, Search, proper Content Management and are responsive in mobile environments.
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joelrunyon
First problem: you're asking us if you have what it takes.

If you show up to an investor with that attitude they won't spend a second
with you.

Stop _asking_ us if you have it, and start _telling_ us that you have it (or
at least act like you do).

You have to believe in yourself so much to a level where you can convince
someone else to believe in you so much that they'll hand you their hard-earned
money.

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ig1
Very few investors will invest purely in an unproven team, YC and HackFwd are
exceptions rather than the norm. Most investors would expect to see tech or
traction in addition to a solid team.

As an individual with no product and no track record you have a minisiscule
chance of raising investment.

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earthshout
Thanks for your comments. The post wasn't written as a beg for money. It's
more of a commentary of how I feel about all the startup advice. I fully
understand a working product backed by good research is the ticket to get in
the door.

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theITGuy
There is no contact info in your profile.

Can you show some of your work?

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earthshout
fixed. Thanks for reading..

