Fundraising will take care of itself

Focus on making your business successful and investors will seek you out

I love Jon Westenberg’s article “Winning will take care of itself” as it sums up my feelings about startup fundraising perfectly.

So often founders get seduced by the notion that they need investment capital to build a successful business.

In reality, if you are doing all the things you can do without capital and are proving that there is a clear and present opportunity, the capital will find you.

Not having the option to take investment is a blessing. It’s liberating not to have to chase after investors, not to have to feed the ego’s desire for validation, and not to have to answer to investors who may not add value or be aligned with your values or goals.

Not having capital is a forcing function to make you more creative, and focuses you on building a real business.

Build your business, forget about investment. Then tell your story — why you are so passionate about what you’ve built — to anyone who will listen. You will attract some people with money looking for opportunities. They will ask you if they can invest.

Winning will take care of itself.