

Should You Use a Credit Card to Finance Your Startup? - mchang16
http://www.employeeevolution.com/archives/2008/04/11/should-you-use-a-credit-card-to-finance-your-startup/

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No, no no no! Not even if it is at 0% interest. I've done this, I'm still
paying it off, don't do it.

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mynameishere
_Not even if it is at 0% interest_

Yes.

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thorax
Very interesting to read the responses here. They aren't at all what I
expected to see on this particular site.

I personally know two very successful 'exited' entrepreneurs that would never
have had their companies acquired if they didn't rack-up an insane amount of
bonus miles on those early startup credit cards.

My belief is that if you _absolutely_ believe in your startup, you should be
willing to get essential funds anywhere legal on reasonable terms, especially
if the amounts are in the magnitude of $25,000-30k of debt. Clearly you
shouldn't _start_ borrowing on credit cards, but doing some financing on the
credit card when things are tight and failure is the only alternative... It's
a no brainer to me, and it's part of the reason I've stayed out of debt my
entire life, so that I have that extra flexibility if it is ever needed.

$25,000 in equity early on is going to cost you a lot more down the line, if
you truly believe your startup will be successful.

I think it's great to hear people who have learned so solidly not to use
credit cards. But when the chips are down, what is an entrepreneur but someone
who takes calculated risks for things they believe in?

Do what you must to keep your dream alive. If it can't succeed, quit, but if
it _can_ and _should_ succeed, a successful entrepreneur will do what they
need to do to make it happen. There isn't a "no" or "never" in that equation.

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mchang16
There are so many other ways to finance a start-up, that this should probably
be the LAST option...and it's so high-risk that if you can't get money another
way, you might want to wait until a better idea comes along that you can get
someone to finance.

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noodle
imo, no, unless you're doing the 0% APR across credit cards dance. there are
just too many other, cheaper ways of getting a little bit of money.

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reynolds
We do a ton of stuff on our credit cards, but really only to scale an already
profitable campaign.

