Ask HN: Micro investment capital (~$50k) for a solo bootstrapped SaaS? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Micro investment capital (~$50k) for a solo bootstrapped SaaS?

21 points_xnmw15 comments

I'm a bootstrapped solo founder in Kyiv, Ukraine running a profitable SaaS that is about 2 years old and shows solid steady (slow) growth. I need a small capital injection for equipment upgrades (still using an old iPhone 7!) and moving expenses. $50k would be a life changing sum of money for me, enabling me to move to a safer area (e.g. rural Western Ukraine) and set up a productive work environment. Any idea where I can find a small investment? Happy to trade some equity or something.

Incorporated as a Delaware C-Corp using Stripe Atlas. Business loans (Pipe, TinySeed, etc.) aren't an option for a business of my size and location, and YC isn't interested in a solo founder in a warzone, I guess.

View on HN

You can cold email Beginner Angel Investors. You can find them as senior/staff engineers at FAANG/Successful startup on LinkedIn.

Since the equity is basically worthless in this deal, I'd suggest going the "Mr Wonderful" way. Give equity + regular dividends until the (amount x 2~4)$ are paid.

What about a kickstarter (or similar) or lifetime offers on appsumo. Might bring in extra cash fast.

Thanks for the lifetime appsumo idea. Never thought of that!

What are your willing to give in return for that investment? What's your end of the deal?

Equity or developer consulting hours.

I'm also a founder who started a C Corp using Atlas.

I see two options here:

* Do you process transactions through Stripe? Have you received an offer from Stripe Capital? It probably won't be enough, and their APR is unfavourable compared to typical loans, but it could be a starting point.

* Doing part-time consulting. That's what I had been doing for 3-ish years before I managed to get my business off the ground. Start from the monthly freelancer threads on HN and work your way from there. If it doesn't work, try Upwork (not a fan, but you gotta do what you gotta do).

Haven't got an offer from Stripe Capital, revenue probably doesn't meet their criteria.

When you say business loans aren’t an option because of size and location, is it because you’re a 1 person company or because you’re in Ukraine? Just trying to understand where these companies consider risk.

Both, and the fact that my previous startup went bankrupt (maxed out personal credit) so my credit score is shot.

What sort of niche do you operate in? And what’s the ballpark MRR? You might find someone here.

Email is on my HN profile, not comfortable with sharing publicly.

You haven't said what the SaaS business is, maybe start with that?

have you tried messaging business angels?

No, have no idea who/where/what to say.

well linkedin, you can also find mailing lists

try to first look at people from your country/close people

idk try to invite a 100 business angels on linkedin with a small intro message like "hey, I'm X from Y, we do Z, we have N users with X revenue, looking for a small investment, would love to chat about it"

Reply on news.ycombinator.com