[ddt]

The "graph moving in the right direction" doesn't have to be impressive in absolute terms. If I can prove that I have 100 paying, engaged customers this week, 50 last week, 25 the week before, etc. I've proved that the idea resonates with a market, and its growing. Note that this is still early stage. You have to be able to prove some indication of longterm value though.

[jkarneges]

If you have paying customers with consistent growth then you are well past idea stage.

I think DenisM's point is that founders often need to be somewhat wealthy on their own in order to create a product in the first place. This doesn't seem like an optimal division of responsibilities.