4 years ago
I had this idea I turned into an enterprise (crashed now though). And I needed
investors- VCs to help me get it up. I was but a broke student. I didn’t know
anyone apart from a few guys on LinkedIn; So I started researching VCs who
could invest in my start up.
After
spending a few days, I found someone. I was delighted because his CV was
crazily awesome. I pitched my idea to him. Then he asked me for a business
model. Huh? I didn’t even know what a business model meant. I just had this
idea and I was passionate about it. I am an engineering student. I don’t know
nothing about a business model. But he insisted. He told me if only he could
see my business model; he might invest in my idea.
So I
“googled” what a business model means. Read some books on business modeling and
some other crazy stuff about business. I spent months preparing, coupled with
help from some of my colleagues, I had a business model.
I sent him a
copy of the business model, I even backed it up with black magic prayers and fasting. But did he invest? No! He just gave me more
excuses.
Luckily for
me, I found another Angel. I was fully prepared for this one. Pitched him my
idea, sent him a copy of my business model and business plan. But guess what? He just simply told me to go fuck myself that I’m not an expert in
that market. That he only invests in start-ups created by aliens experts.
I found more
smart guys. Some said our market was too small. Some VCs said “they love the
idea but that we need to do some more due diligence on the space.”
Some even
asked us for a bunch of hard-to-get stuff- market research, traction metrics,
and better proof of growth. Even when we got them this information, they still
didn’t invest.
So I thought
my idea was bad…. So I packed up.
Flash forward
to present……
I am
currently working on a new startup that needs seed investment. And I was about
making the same mistake (I didn’t even know it was a mistake) when a friend
told me how he got seed investors invest in his idea. He told me they didn’t
ask for no traction metrics, or proof of growth or any of those crazy stuffs. And
He wasn’t even an expert in that market. He just had this crazy idea,
researched on the market, and developed a business plan and model.
I asked him
how he did it. He said he didn’t go for smart guys. He went for people who
could bet on him to succeed. His main investor is not even an expert in that
market.
He referred
me to some crazy VCs and I might just be getting a crazy investment for my
crazy idea.
Bottom
line
Smart people
are looking for easy investment. So when they see a crazy idea, all they do is
give you smart and nice feedbacks. “Oh we need traction metrics” “Oh this…Oh
that”
A smart person
can never invest in a crazy idea. They are scared to lose their money because
they feel that idea has never been tested ok. So they don’t want to give a
single fuck about any idea, once they know it is crazy.
It only
takes the crazy ones to see any good in your crazy idea.
But when you
get the same feedback consistently from different VCs…. You should really work
on your idea. But if your feedback feels contradictory, then you may be able to
pass it off as noise and realize that you haven’t found the right person yet.
Good luck on
your search for a crazy investor.
