Journal: News & Comment

Cash or brains?

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Mark Cuban is famous for having lots of money and owning a sports team. I don't care about that, but he knows what he's talking about when discussing startup companies (via Tim Bray):

Investors don't care about your dreams and goals. They love that you have them. They love that they motivate you. Investors care about how they are going to get their money back and then some. [...] The minute you slide off course from the promises you made to get the money, your dreams fall in jeopardy. You will find yourself making promises to keep investors at bay. You will find yourself avoiding your investors. Then you will find yourself on the outside looking in. [...]

There are only two reasonable sources of capital for startup entrepreneurs, your own pocket and your customers pockets. [But] You shouldn't have to take money from anyone. Businesses don't have to start big. The best ones start small enough to suit the circumstances of their founders. [...]

So what's wrong with that? It's OK to start slow. It's ok to grow slow. As much as you want to think that all things would change if you only had more cash available, they probably won't.

The reality is that for most businesses, they don't need more cash, they need more brains.

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