Situation: An early stage web Company is looking at steep ramp up expenses. Many companies have bootstrapped their way to success. However outside investment may speed the process. How have other CEOs evaluated these two options?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Raising money takes time and is a major distraction to your development process. The two big variables will be investor interest and timing of investment.
  • Talk to Angels and VCs now. Start by presenting a broad outline of your technology and business model. Ask what they will want to see to offer you funding at different levels.
  • This will give you a reality check as to investor interest in funding you, and creates a roadmap to funding if the response is positive.
• What are you seeking? Money or accountability? One CEO bootstrapped the company early, then looked for outside investment to gain accountability and advice – a whip to help move things along.
  • This CEO found that investors brought few of the anticipated assets, and added a new level of distraction and pain.
• If you are looking for funding to purchase content to serve through your portal, consider a more creative way to gain content.
  • Can you use a Web 2.0 portal through which your target audience provides both the content and the consumer audience in a marketplace exchange? Establish the audience and add premium services to monetize the model.
  • This can minimize your upfront cash investment requirements, and may create a faster track to positive cash flow.

Note: OOM = Our Own Money; OPM = Other Peoples’ Money

Key Words: Investors, Investment, Ramp-up, Bootstrap, Financing, Cash Requirements  [like]