| This is slightly offtopic but i really like the funding road theyve taken, after going through a Startup Accelerator and ultimately failing with the original product after 2 years (a game) myself. If i was to try again sometime in the future, id certainly do it like this. 1. Build a good prototype and evaluate if the product works and if there is demand on a really small scale 2. Try to raise money through crowdfounding. 3. If it works, you have proven to everybody (including yourself and potential later investors) that there indeed is a market for your product(s). You dont have to step in front of investors and try to sell an unproven idea. Try to make a hit product and get VCs on board after this stage (if you need to) 4. If it doesnt you can quit or try it out on your own in bootstrapped fashion. Never ever again would i take outside money for equity in a very early stage, but this is just my personal view and the lesson i learned in the last years. This approach can work great for games/products, it wont really for your next social web startup/app project mind you. In that case i would go the bootstrapped route directly and try to prove my product before going for the stars. |