While sitting in a group of young entrepreneurs at a panel discussion in Mountain View last month, I was struck by how many of them felt like they needed investor money simply to validate the existence of their companies. Having recently closed a $4.4 million venture round, I was there to speak about my fundraising experience as an entrepreneur, founding ReadyForZero, an online software program that helps people manage their challenging financial situations. The panel discussion--an exclusive event hosted by Y Combinator--was meant to introduce newly accepted YC companies to alumni who have successfully raised outside investment dollars for their companies and candidly discuss and demystify the process. Just one year prior, my cofounder and I had attended this very same panel discussion as a new YC team and listened to war stories from alumni and other inspiring entrepreneurs. I had come back to return the favor, admittedly, feeling only slightly more prepared than I was the first time.
As I listened to their questions, though, I noticed a lot of them started with something like: “This other company, that is doing something completely different than us, raised $X million last week...so we need to raise at least that much to succeed.” As a startup, it's common to compare yourself to other startups; in this case it was the only way they were measuring their company’s success.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Build Something People Need: On Raising Venture Capital And Creating Startups That Matter | Fast Company
Author:Rod Ebrahimi
