Sorry mate you're wrong ;) It can't be explained if you have not lived in the real valley - but googe had no revenue when they too their 100k
If au wants to get somewhere it needs to make more bets earlier. Chris Saad Please excuse brevity and typos - Sent from my iPhone On 01/10/2008, at 8:00 AM, "Elias Bizannes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > "before they have revenue or even a proven path to revenue." > > Don't mean to bash you Chris, but I really hate that - it's the > whine of the industry and it won't go away The problem with the web > is you get starry eyed developers building technology that doesn't > have a market willing to fund it. Investors of any kind aren't > stupid and it's not a charity. > > At university, I created a publishing house (and which is why I got > into the internet, but that's another story). One of our first > projects, was a magazine, in which I went door knocking to local > businesses, whereby we raised advertising of a few thousand dollars > with nothing but a rate card and me talking with passion. That first > edition, we raised enough to print 4,000 editions in glorious > colour. Success perhaps? Not quite - we had a shocking distribution > strategy, and I could not bear to face returning to those > advertisers asking for more because I knew fair well their > investment was a flop. But at least I gave them *hope* of making a > return: I had an identified market (students) matched with their > need (exposure to that market). All I need to do was prove I could > do it - that's the right way. However asking to "trust me, there is > no market yet but we'll find one" is just wrong. There is no way in > hell they would give us money, and of the 95% of businesses that > turned us down, most of them did so because they didn't appreciate > the market. But at least we could identify that market for them to > make that decision. > > Asking investors to take in more risk is not appropriate. They know > full well how much risk they can take. Entrepreneurs just need to > recognise they have an obligation to make a return and you need > objective evidence to prove you can. If I was to invest my cash into > a business, I will look at signs that I can recoup and build my > investment either through knowing the person well enough that I have > faith in them or evidence that there is a return to be made within a > period (like revenue). > > So in the absense of proof you will make a return, I think the only > justifiable reason why a investor should invest in you is because s/ > he actually knows you as a person and can make a judgement on your > ability; not blind faith. > > > On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 7:16 PM, Chris Saad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > Richard I would imagine that a typical web startup these days would > take $100-250K at a seed round, before they have revenue or even a > proven path to revenue. In some cases that amount may even be enough > to work out if it's going to succeed or fail. > > At that level (and in Australia generally) investors are going to > have to take on more risk if they want to make real bets on the web. > > Chris Saad > > Cell: 646 797 2890 Twitter: @chrissaad > > FaradayMedia.com . Media 2.0 Workgroup . APML.org . > DataPortability.org > > > > On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 12:16 AM, Richard Hayes <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > wrote: > > Dear group, > > There is a new funding opportunity based in Sydney. > > There is a new group who are currently actively looking for new > investments. > > A formal 'beauty parade' aka pitch will happen mid-November but I can > not tell you 'officially' who they are. > > The group has about some serious private money and any investment will > be in the $100-250K range. > > Anyone who thinks they have an 'investor ready' project should contact > me off-line. > > But as we all know that there is a huge difference asking for money > and receiving funding. > > 1. You must have a business plan. > 2. IP helps > 3. Revenue and hopefully even profits (or at least a reasonable path > to profitability) > 4. A decent board and management (or at least advisors) > 5. Exit strategy within 3-5 yrs (saying Google will buy us does not > count!!) > > If anyone wants to talk I will be at Opencoffee tomorrow or just call > me over the next week. > > BTW, I will be hosting a Opencoffee / Silicon Beach Sailing day next > weekend. Sailing, Sea Food and Beer. Possibly not in that order. > > > > Richard > 0414 618 425 > > > > > > > > > > -- > Elias Bizannes > http://liako.biz > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Silicon Beach Australia" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
