I think VC money is just one piece in the big puzzle of making a business success in
Let’s face it, we have lot of issues here that we can’t solve (as startups)-
1. We don’t have many precedents of great success stories. This doesn’t allow many VCs and Angels to take big risks.
2. VC firms in
3. There is no ecosystem here in
We keep hoping that some success stories will happen, so that VCs can entertain further more startups, eventually leading to creating desired ecosystems. We are a long way from making a Silicon-Valley-like-story probable here. It will come about only through some disruptive examples. And we, as entrepreneurs, all hope we are one of them. (That’s the hope which drives us!)
Instead of solving these bigger problems, hoping that VCs understand us, hoping that there is an ecosystem, etc, which are beyond us, I think we should concentrate on JUST DOING IT.
It takes lot of hard work to raise money, but it can be done. There are not many angel investors, granted, but it can still be done. Its tough to get a team in place without money, granted, but it can still be done. It may be tough to sell your product/idea to your customer, but it can still be done. Through dogged perseverance! And I think that’s the only way to go about it- in the present scheme of things in
I think there will be lot of time for us entrepreneurs to sit back and analyze - to reason what-we-did-right and what-we-did-wrong. But for now, I think the only mantra that works is JUST DO IT! Thinking too much about the right way to do it may not help. What is the right method to raise money? Boot-strap? Sell your Apartment to self fund? Borrow Money? Angel Money? VC Money? Who knows! Frankly I don’t have a clue what is the right method. We thought we knew the right method- because many ‘experts’ told us what it was. But it didn’t take off. Come to think of it, there are examples galore to justify all these methods. May be, any one of them is OK. May be, all of them is OK. Moreover, I think we wasted lot of our time trying it get some VCs convinced. In retrospect, I believe we could have utilized our energies in a better way. But then again, how else would we be so convinced that there is no VC money chasing companies like us?
What we believe now is this- Take each small step at a time, prove it, convince someone around you to pump more money and then go the next step. I have been told by some VCs that it is NOT the right way to do it. Then I asked one of them if he was ready to fund us so that we can do it the
[Edited from a comment posted by me at Venturewoods.org]
3 comments:
What is the website of your startup?
very inspiring.. god speed :)
Good thoughts Sujai. I like this definition of entrepreneur - Entrepreneur is one who could do more than what others think is possible, can do that with less resources than others think is possible, in less time than others think is possible. Entrepreneurs are chronic optimists.
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