Getting funding with an unorthodox team


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We have three co-founders...all of us business men and business owners. None of us are programmers. We have decided that finding one more co-founder(a coder), would probably be the best move for us. As of now, two of our co-founders live here in the Sacramento area, and one lives in Wyoming. We are all good friends and initially split the business in 3rds(no docs yet). As of now I am the only one that can dedicate full time hours. My other California partner will eventually be joining full time if we get traction. My out of state partner will probably not be able to come on full time.

My question is simple; Even with a good idea...will this team have a hard time getting funded?

Any help, advice or suggestions would be very appreciated! Thank you...

Funding Partnerships

asked Jun 20 '12 at 10:36
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Derek
164 points
Get up to $750K in working capital to finance your business: Clarify Capital Business Loans
  • Gasp! Somebody gave me a negative reputation mark. lol At least tell me why! I might learn something, I can take criticism. Really I can! :) – Derek 12 years ago

1 Answer


2

Funding is a hard question to answer. A lot of the time, people with money who want to fund companies are looking for a business (product and team) that will make them money. The best way to get funded is to self-invest. By this, I mean you simply put your time, and personal monies into the pot. If an investor was to come along, make sure you can show them how an investment on their part gives them the correct share of the company (based upon the sales, and all other investments), how long the monies will be in the company, and what their rate of return is.

Put another way...

If you came to me looking for $50,000 to invest in your widget company, the first thing I would want to know is what your sales were for the last 3 years, what your sales are for the next three years (and logical reasoning for it) and what your personal investment(s) are. So if you have 4 partners, and you've each invested time and monies (say $5,000 each), and you've seen sales like:

  • Y1 : $100
  • Y2 : $5,000
  • Y3 : $7,000

but you're projecting sales of:

  • Y4 : $50,000
  • Y5 : $100,000
  • Y6 : $250,000

It will look a bit funny. I'll want to know why your $20,000 and 3 years of work have only netted you $12,100, and you think my $50,000 will all of a sudden make a difference of $400,000 over the next 3 years.

You also need to think about personalities. If you're all passionate and into a product, that makes a difference, to the point where you have to stay with the product to make money. I've seen investors invest in crap ideas, making little money, because they saw the potential to get in with a smart person, and I've seen smart people with great ideas not get funding because they can't articulate, or because of a personality conflict.

Ultimately, funding shouldn't be something you're worried about now, especially if you're looking at something to do with software. If you're trying to push a product, and need capital to get started, keep in mind that the sooner you request funding, the more of your business you'll likely have to give up in order to secure monies.

I hope that helps, I think the downvote was due to the lack of specificity in the question, but IMHO it's unmerited. Let me know if this needs further clarification.

answered Jun 21 '12 at 19:03
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Madd Hacker
493 points
  • (great name btw)...thank you for your input. Very insightful post. We are at the seed stage. I think what Im trying to figure out is, one of the founders lives out of state and will only be able to contribute on a very part time level, and will probably never join full time. So were not really sure what his roll will be yet. The other founder is here in my city, and would like to come on full time. However, that cant happen until we experience success first...as he has a full time business he owns and operates. – Derek 12 years ago
  • So, that leaves me to commit full time. The business is split in 3rds as of now. So Im just wondering if an investor will baulk at this setup. As far as the downvote I received I think I know who did it. I was approached by an overseas developer who asked to skype with me. I told him that I didnt think that we would be interested in outsource overseas. Just after I received downvotes on two of my questions. – Derek 12 years ago
  • Thanks @Derek sorry to hear about the overseas guy, I know SO has had several issues with anonymous downvoting... Anyway, I don't think your investors will mind as long as their is justification in why the business is 33% each. If your partner in Wyoming provides funds, or came up with the idea, that's more acceptable than "he's a friend". Best of luck! – Madd Hacker 12 years ago
  • Thanks Maddhacker...I really appreciate the help! – Derek 12 years ago

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Funding Partnerships