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Comment by scobar | Hacker News Reader

I've just recently begun learning about the startup world, so I have almost no experience. Unfortunately, this result will restrict those who don't already know and cannot afford the time to learn how to build a prototype. Thankfully, the effort required to get a software prototype built has been dropping significantly.

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Prototypes /= traction so that almost won't help either. I had a prototype two years ago. Nobody cared. We had an MVP a year ago, nobody cared. Now we are out there actively selling and even then investors are saying: We want to see that you will have 1MM in revenue in the next 12 months before we decide.

A rule of thumb in fundraising is this: "When you don't need money you will be able to get it."

This is so true. Plan on never getting any money out of VCs and spend your time making a great product that your users will pay money for.

I agree that a prototype /= traction, but it is a necessary step to get traction. I understand that marketing/sales are necessary to expose the product to target users, but a prototype allows founders to reiterate based on feedback to build what people want.

I agree with your rule of thumb too. One analogy that best described it IMO goes something like, "Investors are there to throw gas on the fire, not ignite it."

I understand that marketing/sales are necessary to expose the product to target users, but a prototype allows founders to reiterate based on feedback to build what people want.

This is certainly true as it will help validate your idea/market, and it is a step toward traction. A common mistake though is to assess positive feedback to a prototype as traction. Your quote is also apt. Here is another from me, right now:

"Nothing matters except sales"

Yes, and you can use sales to reiterate based on feedback to built what people want to some extend too: http://blog.close.io/lean-sales-how-to-validate-your-saas-id... :)

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