A Fundraising Survival Guide

<img src="http://www.virtumundo.com/images/spacer.gif" height=15 width=1> Want to start a startup?

<img src="http://www.virtumundo.com/images/spacer.gif" height=15 width=1> 想要创业吗？

Get funded by Y Combinator .

获得 Y Combinator 的资助。

</td > August 2008 Raising money is the second hardest part of starting a startup.

</td> 2008 年 8 月 筹集资金是创业过程中第二难的部分。

The hardest part is making something people want: most startups that die, die because they didn't do that.

最困难的部分是做出人们想要的东西：大多数失败的初创公司之所以失败，是因为他们没有这样做。

But the second biggest cause of death is probably the difficulty of raising money.

但第二大死因可能是筹集资金的困难。

Fundraising is brutal.

筹款是残酷的。

One reason it's so brutal is simply the brutality of markets.

其如此残酷的原因之一就是市场的残酷。

People who've spent most of their lives in schools or big companies may not have been exposed to that.

在学校或大公司度过了大半生的人可能没有接触过这些。

Professors and bosses usually feel some sense of responsibility toward you; if you make a valiant effort and fail, they'll cut you a break.

教授和老板通常对你有某种责任感；如果你付出了勇敢的努力却失败了，他们就会让你破产。

Markets are less forgiving.

市场不太宽容。

Customers don't care how hard you worked, only whether you solved

客户不在乎你有多努力，只在乎你是否解决了问题

their problems.

他们的问题。

Investors evaluate startups the way customers evaluate products, not the way bosses evaluate employees.

投资者以客户评估产品的方式评估初创公司，而不是老板评估员工的方式。

If you're making a valiant effort and failing, maybe they'll invest in your next startup, but not this one.

如果你做出了勇敢的努力却失败了，也许他们会投资你的下一家初创公司，但不会投资这家。

But raising money from investors is harder than selling to customers, because there are so few of them.

但从投资者那里筹集资金比向客户销售产品更困难，因为这样的投资者太少了。

There's nothing like an efficient market.

没有什么比有效市场更好的了。

You're unlikely to have more

你不太可能拥有更多

than 10 who are interested; it's difficult to talk to more.

超过 10 名有兴趣的人；很难与更多人交谈。

So the randomness of any one investor's behavior can really affect you.

因此，任何一位投资者行为的随机性都会真正影响到你。

Problem number 3: investors are very random.

问题三：投资者非常随机。

All investors, including us, are by ordinary standards incompetent.

按照一般标准，包括我们在内的所有投资者都是无能的。

We constantly have to make decisions about things we don't understand, and more often than not we're wrong.

我们经常需要对我们不理解的事情做出决定，而且我们常常是错误的。

And yet a lot is at stake.

然而，很多事情都岌岌可危。

The amounts invested by different types

不同类型投资金额

of investors vary from five thousand dollars to fifty million, but the amount usually seems large for whatever type of investor it is.

投资者的数量从五千美元到五千万美元不等，但对于任何类型的投资者来说，金额通常看起来都很大。

Investment decisions are big decisions.

投资决策是重大决策。

That combination—making big decisions about things they don't understand—tends to make investors very skittish.

这种结合——对他们不理解的事情做出重大决定——往往会让投资者非常不安。

VCs are notorious for leading founders on.

风险投资公司因领先的创始人而臭名昭著。

Some of the more unscrupulous do it deliberately.

有些不择手段的人是故意的。

But even the most well-intentioned investors can

但即使是最善意的投资者也能

behave in a way that would seem crazy in everyday life.

行为方式在日常生活中看起来很疯狂。

One day they're full of enthusiasm and seem ready to write you a check on the spot; the next they won't return your phone calls.

有一天，他们满怀热情，似乎准备当场给你开一张支票；接下来他们就不会回你的电话了。

They're not playing games with you.

他们不是在跟你玩游戏。

They just can't make up their minds.

他们就是拿不定主意。

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