

Ask YC: Should you take 'dumb' seed money? - johnrob

When looking for seed funding, what would you do if the only available option were a family or friend (not a 'real' angel investor)?<p>I ask this question because it might seem tempting to simply take the money and get cracking.  But, would it be better practice to force yourself to raise a real angel round?  The idea being that, if you can't get an investor to commit, either your idea is bad or you won't cut it as a founder.
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aaroneous
I can think of many companies that, at their inception, raised money anywhere
they could in order to get to the stage that they could test and develop their
ideas.

If you have family or friends that can give you some cash to get your business
going, I say go for it.

Plus, it's going to be VERY difficult to get angels to invest in the
pre-"getting cracking" stage if you don't have those existing relationships.

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bigtoga
Guy Kawasaki poses and answers this question in his book, "The Art of the
Start" and his answer is "You should be so lucky to have the choice." That's
all - nothing more. Take from it what you will.

