| I've been through a similar situation, and it did not end well for me. If you are asking for donations from strangers on the internet, yes, you are starting to panic. The good news is, you are aware that there is a problem. The bad news is, the problem is real. I won't give any money, but here is the advice I can give: 1) That feeling of "...all I need is a little more time and funding before I can launch the product. When my product is launched, everything will change." is very dangerous. Get out of hope mode, and get into planning mode. I know it is hard because emotionally you need the hope to keep you going. It's good to take care of your emotional needs, but when you are driving across a desert with an almost empty gas tank, "I'm almost there" is a good way to end up stranded. 2) Realize you are undercapitalized. This is a primary cause of business failure. You need to do something about it. Either get more capital or start cutting corners. If you are trying to build a house, but only have enough money for a garage, you can end up with either a finished garage or a dead construction site. One of those is worth more than the other. 3) If you don't know what is going to happen if you fail, have a plan. Ideally you should have that before starting, but if not, don't end up here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13445141 4) I don't know the cloud business well, but I have a friend who owns a cloud business and he is able to compete by offering a niche service. It seems that having good relationships with his customers is a more important part of his business than the servers or software. You may be well served at this point by getting a prospective customer or two to sign a letter of intent that they intend to buy your product when released. You could take this to a bank and have a decent chance of getting a loan to get you to the finish. You probably won't get a loan without this. 5) Your value proposition appears to hinge on automated cloud management plus charity tie-in. I'd use your charity contacts to help you network with local prospective customers. Charity tie-in can get you in doors you can't get in on your own. Best of luck. |
I have approached some startup incubators and I'm awaiting response from them. From my experience, banks do not value entrepreneurial risk.
I'm really only left with one option--find a job. I'm not giving up on App Evolved just yet.