VC pride in funding the STARVING ENTREPRENEUR.

Two recent encounters with young, new entrepreneurs have solidified a concept in my brain that I’ve known for a long time, but have not had the opportunity to explain until now. There’s this myth that being a startup founder is romantic and dreamy, like the starving grad student or starving artist motif. Until you’ve done it, you will always think of it that way. Once you’ve actually done it — built a startup from nothing through exit — you genuinely know better. You might also have some genuine disdain for those who still maintain the romantic view.

Two Types of Entrepreneurs

To those who are teachable about this sort of thing: it’s not romantic. Building a startup from the dust on the table is the hardest thing you will ever do. That said, there are two types of entrepreneurs:

Bootstrapped
Funded

The bootstrapped entrepreneur spends his or her own money and resources to build the business. They either can’t raise money (for many reasons, not all of them negative) or have simply chosen not to raise investment funding. These entrepreneurs, whether they make it or not, have chosen to self-fund. These entrepreneurs have to starve in order to make it or fail and move on to something else.
Two Encounters with Funded Entrepreneurs
The funded entrepreneur is exactly that: funded. Here’s where my two recent experiences come in. First, after eating at a local Atlanta restaurant, I dig out my valet parking stub to hand…