[javiramos]

"There are ways to get money without VC, there are many small business loans out there, there's also friends and family which you can also get loans from,... You can also raise from Angels with non-traditional VC terms such as profit sharing."

For those developing hard technologies, there are also plenty of non-dilutive government grants. SBIRs are a popular funding mechanism that typically start in the $200k-$300k range and can go up to $millions if the technology goals are met. There are also many other government funding mechanisms, especially if your technology is health or defense related. The downside of all these government grants is (1) timing - it usually takes ~>6 months from proposal to $ in bank and (2) inflexible - if your plans change, it is not easy to pivot the use of the $.