
Greg Linden: "I should have focused on angels." - lurkage
http://glinden.blogspot.com/2008/05/starting-findory-funding.html
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zach
Along these lines, I think there's a trap that folks who follow YC like myself
can fall into. Since YC sets up founders and angels in the best atmosphere
possible, the founders can be completely product-focused.

So you, Bootstrapper Bill, think you should be too. But of course, that's one
main reason why YC does what it does, to create that focused environment where
it otherwise wouldn't necessarily exist.

If Demo Day is not coming up, you've got to start hustlin' on day one, not
obsessing over user experience. Starting up a company is all about sales --
either selling products or equity -- before it can be about users or
technology. That distinguishes it from the side project you do when you get
around to it.

I bootstrapped* my project, which I thought meant I didn't have to start
working on funding right away. So wrong, especially outside of the Bay Area.

Strive early and constantly for access to the best investors.

They're like oxygen tanks when you're climbing Everest. Most people know they
need them. But even if you won't need them, you don't know that ahead of time.
When you need them, you really need them. And if you can't get to one when you
need one, you're in real bad shape.

And as mentioned in the article, even if you want VC funding, you want angels
to be the filter (for them and you). If PG says that investor quality may be
the number-one advantage of being in "a" startup hub, you do get the feeling
that access to quality investors is kinda critical, even if you're starting
off bootstrapping.

* - By bootstrapping I mean no outside funding at all. I suspect the term may be a little more liberal than I expected when I recently heard about a company that "bootstrapped from $300,000 of angel investment." Hmm, those are some pretty big straps.

~~~
webwright
"Since YC sets up founders and angels in the best atmosphere possible, the
founders can be completely product-focused."

YC companies are completely product focused for 2.5 months. That's it.

Then you dive into fundraising, which is close to a full time job for 1 of the
founders... And as much as YC helps, that still takes a long time.

As an illustration, of the 20+ YC companies that demo'd late March (6 weeks
ago), only 2 are funded that I'm aware of, and a few more have term sheets
(which is really the start of the negotiation... "deals fall through").

YC accelerates the funding process a bit, but a lot less that you might think.

------
agentbleu
Maybe it was an idea that just didn't have enough innovation to make the
traction better. But one hell of a good effort I would say for a bootstrapped
startup, toughing it out in market with fully funded sharks.

Can I ask what's next in your pipeline, how does this experience influence
your future projects?

~~~
agentbleu
I see your now at <http://labs.live.com/> so all in all the game was won IMO
no? You got a great job as a result.

