ans. Venture capital is expensive risky debt with very onerous terms. The terms make sense when you have pre-established credibility, need to hit key milestones quickly, grow to a certain size inorganically, change the world in a short span of time AND are indifferent to who ends up with the business you hYes to have a pot of money simplifies life and removes a number of complications, but is that the right short term goal? The amount of time that you spend searching for venture capital, may be better utilized working with customers, building a product, figuring out how to get to revenues and getting your business closer to your next big productive milestone.

I say this because I have had two different experiences. My first involved spending more than two years looking for elusive VC cash, ignoring real customers who could have supported and carried the business further. End result - death by business plan rewrites and the search for a better valuation.

My second experience involved building a business from scratch with no VC funding at all. In the same amount of time it took the first one to fail, the second supported 12 employees and became cash flow positive from its 6th month. Today the businesses grosses 260,000 dollars in revenues in a country where the average per capita income is less than 800 dollars a year. Yes it is small but it is ours.

If you run a small profitable business or would like to run one and are not the sharing kind, venture capital is not a good fit for your future plans. Venture capital is expensive risky debt with very onerous terms. The terms make sense when you have pre-established credibility, need to hit key milestones quickly, grow to a certain size inorganically, change the world in a short span of time AND are indifferent to who ends up with the business you h

usiness closer to your next big productive milestone.

I say this because I have had two different experiences. My first involved spending more than two years looking for elusive VC cash, ignoring real customers who could have supported and carried the business further. End result - death by business plan rewrites and the search for a better valuation.

My second experience involved building a business from scratch with no VC funding at all. In the same amount of time it took the first one to fail, the second supported 12 employees and became cash flow positive from its 6th month. Today the businesses grosses 260,000 dollars in revenues in a country where the average per capita income is less than 800 dollars a year. Yes it is small but it is ours.

If you run a small profitable business or would like to run one and are not the sharing kind, venture capital is not a good fit for your future plans. Venture capital is expensive risky debt with very onerous terms. The terms make sense when you have pre-established credibility, need to hit key milestones quickly, grow to a certain size inorganically, change the world in a short span of time AND are indifferent to who ends up with the business you h

plan rewrites and the search for a better valuation.

My second experience involved building a business from scratch with no VC funding at all. In the same amount of time it took the first one to fail, the second supported 12 employees and became cash flow positive from its 6th month. Today the businesses grosses 260,000 dollars in revenues in a country where the average per capita income is less than 800 dollars a year. Yes it is small but it is ours.

If you run a small profitable business or would like to run one and are not the sharing kind, venture capital is not a good fit for your future plans. Venture capital is expensive risky debt with very onerous terms. The terms make sense when you have pre-established credibility, need to hit key milestones quickly, grow to a certain size inorganically, change the world in a short span of time AND are indifferent to who ends up with the business you h

sses grosses 260,000 dollars in revenues in a country where the average per capita income is less than 800 dollars a year. Yes it is small but it is ours.

If you run a small profitable business or would like to run one and are not the sharing kind, venture capital is not a good fit for your future plans. Venture capital is expensive risky debt with very onerous terms. The terms make sense when you have pre-established credibility, need to hit key milestones quickly, grow to a certain size inorganically, change the world in a short span of time AND are indifferent to who ends up with the business you h

ans. Venture capital is expensive risky debt with very onerous terms. The terms make sense when you have pre-established credibility, need to hit key milestones quickly, grow to a certain size inorganically, change the world in a short span of time AND are indifferent to who ends up with the business you have built with your hands.

If I need money I would take a look at what I want to achieve and if the four conditions mentioned above don't apply, see if I can find some way of getting there without VC funding. It will be a slower, more painful journey but atleast I will get somewhere.