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Canadian Startup Looking for Some GuidancePT 2

3 points by HappyG ↗ HN
PT 2 of Canadian Startup Looking For Some Guidance...

(again, sorry for the length)

Our goal is to apply in October for the Winter Y Combinator program as we have I have a few friends in the program now and have nothing but amazing thins to say about it, the people and environment the are immersed in right now. Sad part is, the application process does not begin till October and by the sounds of it, does not start for a few months post that....

I guess my question to the community is this.... What is our next best move?...a). go balls to the wall and just keep loading up on partners/clients...potentially overloading ourselves and crashing and burning from not being able to keep up? b) Concentrate on the 4 partners, build even more B2B and B2C traction and then seek funding? c) Seek funding/investors right now? d) Get my butt out to the Mountain View or surrounding area prior to October/Winter? d)None of the above, Try this instead.....

Thanks for any and all comments, thoughts, suggestions, ideas and/or help...

George

4 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 12.3 ms ] thread
throwaway000002
Have you talked to these guys, perhaps they can give you the kind of funding/advice you need:

http://www.highline.vc/

Personally, if I had traction, I'd try to build-up myself, but perhaps you're fearing "others eating your lunch"?

HappyG
I did not know about Highline, but I will look into them right now. Thanks so much for the link.

Its been a balancing act between keeping the momentum going and heading out looking for funding. Sort of the chicken before the egg situation...keep finding and attaining traction or spend more time looking for funding.

With a small team, Im finding I have had to pick one or the other...and my thought has been...keep the momentum going and funding will come...but if you cant keep up with the momentum...then sadly (and quickly) you have to start looking for funding...Feels like an impossible scenario...lol.

For the most part, Im not fearing "others eating our lunch" as our major competitors are in fact established...but that also makes their model established and in some sense, they are stuck with it. Further sort of makes our model standout.

Thanks so much for the tip and feedback throwaway000002. Appreciate it.

kirillzubovsky
If your partners actually care about your product, get them to pay for it, enough for you to continue working on this product. If you need to find more partners to make $, do it. Put yourself in a state where funding is no longer a requirement, and you will then find more funding. Yeah, it's weird how this works.
HappyG
Thanks for the reply Kirllzubovsky...

For the most part as soon as the product is launched (about 2 weeks) they will be paying...60% of all monthly revenue generated. More partners are definitely ideal...just scared shitless (pardon the language)about overwhelming our entire group as were stretched thin already...but you're right...more partners certainly does = more money coming in, as well as more proven traction...

Appreciate the feedback Kirllzubovsky. Thanks.