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Comment by stevedc3 | Hacker News Reader

OP here. Thanks for reading. Good comments.

As far as winning out vs competitors, efficiency can be key. There is no question there.

One of the things about frontier tech (autonomous, AR, sensor networks, ML) is that many people are funded and do it too early. So they need to somehow last.

Most startups spend the money within two years or less. It’s programmed into the psychy. A Sequoia would never admit this but they want you to spend your money fast and move on to the next thing if you aren’t growing fast enough. Buying one more year can be crucial.

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Actually every VC I’ve spoken to freely admits this. It’s “grow big, fast, or try again later”

That’s why it’s a horrendous idea to take VC funding if you’re not looking to spend it fast, and take huge risks. If you want to be capital efficient, do that, then raise when you know you can spend the money and the ROI is “guaranteed” (meaning you have a successful sales and execution engine), because then you can do it on your terms.

Otherwise, you raise, lose control, and are beholden to VCs for your next dollar. Good luck with that negotiation; they have the leverage.

Profit and revenue gives startups leverage, in nearly every way.

I need to build my v2 and am avoiding accepting angel funding from an investor who wants 30% for $250k. Sales are not stopping at this point. I am using stripe for all sales. Do you have a suggestion for me to get a loan? I need $150k to build v2 AND keep the lights on for say 12-14 months. Thanks.

Check with SVB or Lighter Capital?

I spoke to these guys: https://stripe.com/works-with/fundingcircle

But they want tax returns and credit score. Thank you and i will look into Lighter Capita. SVB is silicon valley bank?

Yes.

Tax returns and a credit score for your business? Or are they asking for a personal guarantee?

I just applied to Lighter Capital. Thank you very much!

If the business doesn't have a need for high growth (which it perhaps doesn't if 250k moves the needle), why not consider more sweat-equity?

We decided not to take angel investment, took longer to build a small business, and gave equity to more founders.

We're very proud of our profitable centicorn (one hundredth the size of a unicorn).

I agree. But I'm on WP and the sales are not slowing down.I need to build out offWP to a web app. Keep the WP version running while standing up the web app build. But the engineers want $12,500 for 100 hours/sprint for both. I get a designer + Engineer. I'm thinking just pay enough to get to a web app with maybe 2 sprints $12,500 X 2 = $25k. Start making sales and then use the sales to keep paying if needed to increase sales / expand add new features from customer feedback.

Talk to TinySeed. Might be a good fit.

I applied seems my marketplace start up is not a good fit. :-(

Tinyseed , Indie.vc, Lighter Capital, Earnest Capital, OnDeck, Kabbage, MainVest, Point9

I guess its not easy to qualify since they get a bazillion application.

Do you just apply on the web ?

Do u have good references ?

Is it "real revenue" or r u counting the nominal sale value ?

Also - if u r still on WP then 30% may not be too bad :/

I applied to tiny seed i don't think they want me. I filled out the Lighter capital form today (no reply) i think i applied to earnest capital , kabbage no. MainVest never heard of them but i am gonna look and point9 same. looking for money is taking time away from making sales and improving the product. I think i "may" be able to swing it from sales!

Y combinator and its ilk are 100k

I'd tell the investor they can do 5-10% at that, or better, a convertivle note w 20% discount and $3-5M cap and (A) pointing to YC and (B) pointing out no follow on investor would join if they did higher -- after seed/A/B, only 50-60% of co should be sold. If a real investor followed, you'd be stuck paying legal fees to wash out the angel investor.

This all assumes a scalable startup, not a consultancy etc

Aren’t some of the frontier tech investments to also understand the space, where the tech is currently at, and what team members to back or grab when the space is ready? To me, it would make sense for Sequoia to allocate some capital to these situations in order to capitalize on when the tech is ready to move from frontier to viable?

Agreed. Many startups just need time to get going. Not all startups can achieve 8% weekly growth rates in the first 2 years.

Your second tweet in the article regarding to the rate of returns. What's time horizon?

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