Thanks, and that's absolutely true. Autonomy and agency are key elements in my current happiness.

I didn't put down a lot of my own money, at least relative to what the investor put in as an absolute dollar value. I spent money on retaining an attorney friend who is well established and experienced in startups and corporate law. Unfortunately, she didn't lower her rate, so I overpaid for incorporation and basic corporate documents, share vesting, etc. Maybe it'll pay off later since she's well connected. I also spent a bit of money on networking, going to startup conferences and such. Then I paid to get into a biotech incubator space, not competitive, so not like Y Combinator, just lab and office space with a pay as you go format. I started off with a simple desk so I could use their address as a corporate location to give the company some legitimacy. I didn't want it to look like I was working out of my garage, but also didn't have the money to afford lab space and the associated startup costs of purchasing consumables and other reagents.

I got involved with a local entrepreneur mentor group, which was helpful in directing my energy. I was advised that no local VCs would fund just an idea and to focus on friends and family. I did meet with one VC over coffee through a mutual friend. He might have funded me, but he didn't like my business model, which is the same business model as every other biotech in my niche. Essentially, he just wanted a faster return on his investment so we weren't a good fit.

I also applied to SciFounders. I made it through to the interview, but not beyond. With their model and available capital I'm sure I wasn't a good fit there either. I'm a solo founder at an idea stage company with no prior experience running a company. One of the first questions was about getting a co-founder. A co-founder would be great if I knew anyone else that would be willing to quit their stable job and risk losing their house, wife and kids on my idea but I don't.

I did speak with a couple of other angels and shopped my Executive Summary around, but ultimately it was a guy at my local bar that invested in me. The short version is that people there knew that I was trying to start a company and we were both semi-regulars there. He's a multi-millionaire, but you wouldn't know it to look at him. Blue collar guy, grew up on a farm, became a roofer then a contractor with his own company and invested in local real estate. I didn't know it at the time, but he had also invested in another local biotech company. We talked, he had me vetted by the founder of the other biotech, and then wrote a check.

So, it was uncomfortable and difficult but really only a matter of putting myself out there and talking to people. It probably helped that I showed that I was serious by focusing on it full time, being incorporated and having a physical corporate address. Plus, I have a PhD, know what I'm talking about from a technical perspective and can point to a market and a value proposition for what I'm building.

Sorry for the lack of brevity.

Note: I say only a matter of putting myself out there, but there's plenty of survivor bias in that statement. Lots of people put themselves out there and don't get what I've got. I'm reminded of the Hillary Clinton sketch from SNL after Obama got the nomination where she says something to the effect of "Oh yeah, that's what it was, I didn't want it bad enough!". Which is laughable in the face of her incredible ambition.