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Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
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Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#2IMO, the easiest way is to borrow from a bank.
If you're in the EU the EC give out startup grants. In Scotland we get them through our local Councils.
Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#3Build a prototype/mvp/alpha/demo product. Something. Anything. Then depending on the type of startup, there are so many ways to get started. If you live in a big city, go to tech meetups and start gathering contacts who will help you get to angel investors. Or apply to incubator programs like YCombinator (there way more of these than you think). Regardless of the avenue, i repeat, work on your product and your pitch. Neither come easy.
Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#4Have you looked into angel.co?
Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#5IMO, the easiest way is to borrow from a bank. If you're in the EU the EC give out startup grants. In Scotland we get them through our local Councils.
Practically impossible to get a loan for a startup in the US :( Anyone have experience with this? Would be very curious to hear about it.
Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#6IMO, the easiest way is to borrow from a bank. If you're in the EU the EC give out startup grants. In Scotland we get them through our local Councils.
Practically impossible to get a loan for a startup in the US :( Anyone have experience with this? Would be very curious to hear about it.
We've tried this. Banks won't loan unless you have prior success in that business. Only a few do Purchase Order financing (where you show them a list of pre-orders that you need money to service) and it's expensive and also requires prior success. All would require a personal guarantee. I had one tell me they wouldn't loan unless I had the amount of the loan in an account at their bank. What's the point of that? Generally speaking, U.S. banks are worthless for startups, unless you want to fund your business with credit cards.
Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#7Friends and family is an important one. It's not a lot of money, but investors are a little like sheep, and if you can show that you've been able to convince some investors and are committed enough to beg and borrow from your own family, then they are more likely to be interest.
Getting paying customers is the best way to raise money. No equity given up, proof of your business model, and that looks great to investors later on, too.
Incubator programs aren't all created equal. Do a LOT of work to vet them first. Many will offer a small amount of money, offer very little support during the incubator, have no connections at the end of the incubator, and then dump you with no support after the incubator, but kindly taking a percent of the company. There are some good ones, though.
Angel investors and VC are an option, but those are not easy to get and you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.
The best thing to do is build your product and keep building it, and talk to as many people as you can. Resources will come out of the woodwork slowly, and connections will be made that will lead organically to what you need.
Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#8IMO, the easiest way is to borrow from a bank. If you're in the EU the EC give out startup grants. In Scotland we get them through our local Councils.
I really meant get an unsecured personal loan and finance your business with it. Surely can't be that hard in America?
Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#9Have you looked into angel.co?
Alright, a person create a profile there, that get no views, no references, and then so what?
Re: Ask HN: What are some ways to raise money for a startup?
#10IMO, the easiest way is to borrow from a bank. If you're in the EU the EC give out startup grants. In Scotland we get them through our local Councils.
Practically impossible to get a loan for a startup in the US :( Anyone have experience with this? Would be very curious to hear about it.
actually there are a couple of VC Banks that do this (again generally further stage companies). I know http://www.triplepointcapital.com/ does this (they invested in our startup, but for equity).