Why is raising money unproductive?

msiegel · on July 16, 2007

Wow, I've always thought of raising capital as a chore, not as the most exciting part of the business.

The most exciting part being, building & shipping great product that makes customers happy, thereby bringing in revenue.

Is it just me??

-Matt

Goladus · on July 16, 2007

I understood it to be, locally, the most exiciting thing happening at the moment. Shipping a great product (ie creating wealth) might be more exiting overall, but for a given week raising money is a lot more exciting than fixing bugs.

Also I think for some people, the novelty and change of pace is exciting. I've been coding for 20 years and love it, but have never had anyone invest money in a company I own. That unfamiliar situation is far more likely to get my adrenaline pumping, especially if the stakes are high.

drusenko · on July 17, 2007

of course not. there's nothing better than building a great product (if that wasn't the case, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing), there's just excitement around talking to investors -- you're getting them excited and they're getting you excited. do you get really really pumped to sit down and work on a bug?

staunch · on July 17, 2007

1. Silicon Valley bigwig gives you millions of dollars and his connections to help you grow.

2. You build a great successful company worth a lot of money.

3. You're personally rich and successful.

You can see why being on step 1 of a process that is proven to make people rich and successful might be exciting.