Don't raise money, is what people have been telling me for years!

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Introduction

Starting a business is like climbing a mountain - the hardest part is reaching the summit, which is creating something people actually want.
Once you're there, don't let your guard down! because the second-hardest part is scaling that mountain of funding.
Without a solid financial foundation, your startup could crumble. Remember, fundraising may be brutal, but it's necessary for survival in the startup world.

This is a first issue of a three part series about Finance 101:

Today we dive deep into:

• Why bootstrappers need to raise money

• When to raise money

• How much money is enough money

🚀 Why do bootstrappers need to raise money?

Bootstrappers: yes, you had traction and more than 10 paying customers… cool, right?

You need a UI/UX designer?
You need a sales team?
You need to pay for that AWS bill?
You need to pay for ads?

Are you going to do all of this ALONE ?! 🤨

Nope ! You validated the idea and have a good MVP but scaling needs money and this is where the S*ht hits the fan.

The SaaS game is all about money and competition, it’s a race and even if your idea is original, what would stop a copycat that has the money and the audience and probably the experience to do the same idea? 🙃

I will give you an example:

Typical scenario: As a bootstrapper, you will probably buy a cheap domain name and spend a whole year learning SEO and content strategy. As a result, you will scale your business with 1% while your competitors will grow exponentially in the field. You did what you can, but you FAILED.

⌛ When to raise money ?

YC says if you can raise money, you should do it right away. However, Hotjar gives more context to this saying and splits it into three scenarios depending on which phase your business is at:

• Scenario A: Launching phase

• Scenario B: Growing phase

• Scenario C: Scaling phase

Scenario A: Launching phase
You have an idea for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) but don't have the money to develop it ? There is plenty you can bootstrap to get ready before getting funds:

Scenario B: Growing phase
You're already ahead of the game with an MVP and a solid plan for its growth. But how do you fund that growth? Here are some tips:

Scenario C: Scaling phase
You've hit a wall, and there's no way to grow your business without some extra help. Also, the growth stop is purely a limited funding problem:

Investors also need persuading. Usually, just a product that they can see, use, or touch will not be enough. They will want to know whether there is product market fit and if the product is experiencing an actual growth. How much growth ? Usually, 10% per week for several weeks is very impressive!

⌛ How money is enough money ?

Startups should aim to raise enough money to reach profitability, so they don't have to raise money again. This will make it easier to raise more money in the future and survive without new funding if the funding environment gets tight.

Must-know facts about funding:

• When deciding how much to raise, consider : how much progress the money will purchase, credibility with investors, and dilution.

• The amount of money you ask for, should be tied to a believable plan that buys credibility with investors and persuades them that their money will have a chance to grow.

• Some startups may need a follow-on round of funding to reach their next "fundable" milestone, which is usually 12 to 18 months later.

Tips :

• You should try to give up as little as 10% of their company in the seed round, but most rounds will require up to 20% dilution. You should avoid giving up more than 25%.

• When asked “How much are you raising?”
  Simply answer that you are raising for N months (usually 12-18) and will thus need $X, where X will usually be between $500k and $1.5 million.
  As noted above, you should give multiple versions of N and a range for X, giving different possible growth scenarios based on how much you successfully raise…

Bonus:

• Why, where and how to raise money from YC.

• Fantastic reads 📣:

📑Conclusion

Before raising money or doing anything else, it is essential to recognize that you are not just a developer but a business owner. As a business owner, you will be managing someone else's money, and they may not always agree with your decisions. They might ask you to do other stuff or go another route that you don’t like. It is also important to keep in mind that as you grow, you will be responsible for the livelihoods of your employees, and their survival depends on your success. This was the first part to get you familiar with raising money. In the next issue, we will further explore:

• Financing options

• How to negotiate with investors

• What not to do (After raising money)

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