Thanks for your comment.

It likely will not be practical to raise no investment, since there will be non-negotiable expenses to be covered in the near term.

There are alternatives to venture capital that are being prioritised, grants and favorable angel investment among others.

I do agree, VC investment must remain at the bottom of the list.

Thanks for your response.

This was an interesting suggestion. A worker owned coop seems like an equitable way to operate a service.

Being that the venture will likely only ever involve a small team who are already owners, the benefit appears small in this case.

I’ll see that my friend will keep it in mind for the future.

Thanks for your response.

I immensely respect your drive. Many young founders I meet don’t have it in them to go bankrupt and then do it all again.

My friend aims to never touch VC funding, same as you. They have plans to push for many other funding avenues; but it is still kept as a last resort for the survival for the project. The view is that, at least, the technology will be made available and they can use the profit to fund their next venture independently of any outside investors.

I wish you the best of luck in your current venture and the next.

Thanks for the considered response.

My friend shares the same view. The problem to be overcome is covering non-negotiable expenses for the duration of the project until there can be revenue. There are several solutions, grants and favorable angel investment, with VC funding at the bottom of the list.

Thanks for your thoughtful response and kind wishes.

I’ve passed it on.

Thanks for your response.

I’m aware. I find it unfortunate that so many small teams I meet focus on including these buzzwords in their business model just so they have a perceived higher chance at VC funding. But, what then?

Particularly AI where it is not needed or useful, seems like one is setting their team up to fail.