Seek out Venture Capitalist, Go Public, or stay private?

Hey I have a site where I know the niche and it's unique and original. Anyone have experience going through a Venture Capitalist..it seems like they would take control over your company and you would basically owe them your life, or trying to sell shares in your company/site publicly. There has to be an inexpensive way to let people invest in your company without going through attornies right? Any thoughts on this...and while were on this topic, what are your methods to raise capital from outside sources? Kinda hard to launch a great site/idea without outside money, althought I'm doing it...I'll continue to abuse free directories till you enlighten me ;p

 

In short, you're right to assume VCs can be a pain in the ___ . They can be worked with of course, but it isn't easy, especially for someone without experience.

Look into "angel investors" and see what you can find.

Consider asking friends and family.

Think seriously about exactly how much money you need. Can you get your idea off the ground with less than you're thinking now? The answer certainly could be no, but when you're asking for money, the less you need the better.

 

How much money do you need, I have been involved in VC, Angel, boot strapped projects. Unless revenue potential is huge (or you can convince them it is huge), VCs won't touch it.

Depending on the concept, I would recommend bootstrapping it, or find a partner.

 

I have run successful websites with no budget,

mainly i rely on organic SEO and posting in free forums/classifieds. i make my own websites and pay cheap hositng at godady.

but i will admit that i cannot achieve full potential with out advertising in some print material and adwords or other websites and that costs big bucks, were talking thousands if not tens of thousands a year.

 

VCs will ask for a high equity stake in your business. Unless you want to surrender control to them, their probably not the best option for you.

Try your bank - you can still raise substantial money without giving up equity.

 

Hey,
I was a VC analyst for a period of time. Its extremely difficult to get VC funding, but I will tell you what they are looking for, in essence.
A solid, yet original business plan
A unique idea, or preferably, a large innovation on a previous idea.

Do you need over a million to build your idea? Congratulations. Feel free to work with anything like Sequoia Capital, Novus or anything else.

If you're looking for $10,000 or so, and some great advice and connections, go to YCombinator.com

 

In my personal experience I would say to at least attempt to do whatever you can to fund it yourself. You will save yourself a lot of headaches and *ss kissing...

 

How much do you need then?