Do I need funding? If yes What type of?


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I am going to become first generation entrepreneur. I don't understand the actual meaning of VC, angel funding, seed funding. etc.

Where can I know the meaning of all these type of funding?
Which type of funding is available in India?

I do not wish to loose control of my business / product or control of decision making. Will getting funding loose this control?

How can I decide what type of funding do I need?
Is there any way that I will be able to give only share of income to investors and not the ownership in company?
When we get a funding, then do investors get the ownership in company for the lifetime of company?

Funding

asked Feb 24 '13 at 18:15
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Abhijit Navale
245 points
Get up to $750K in working capital to finance your business: Clarify Capital Business Loans

2 Answers


2

I would highly recommend reading this essay from Paul Graham. Although it's a little bit old, it still does a fantastic job explaining the differences between different funding sources and how a typical startup might progress through them.

answered Feb 24 '13 at 19:03
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Hexedpackets
121 points

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There are different types of funding, it mostly relates to how far along your business is. The earlier you get funding, the more you will give up for less (they are taking more risk early on and the terms will reflect that). Ultimately, funding is all the same though, they give you a bunch of money in exchange for a % of the company. This is a permanent exchange, they have that % of the company until they sell it.

If they have more than 50% of the company, then they have the controlling vote, but it's uncommon for that to be the case (they actually want you in control).

Aside from all of this, do you need funding? There are plenty of complications and downsides that come from funding. How do you answer this? Well can you get the business up and running without an external party giving you money? If so, then do it. At worst, if you decide you want funding later then you'll be in a better position to negotiate, and at best you will never need it.

answered Feb 24 '13 at 19:34
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Joel Friedlaender
5,007 points
  • It also relates to your *type* of business. If you're a services company that bills hourly, almost certainly not. If you're a software product company, maybe not. If you're a hardware company, probably. If you're a medical research/device company, absolutely. – Casey Software 11 years ago

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