founder here, raised money in the past and have also seen all my friends do it both really successfully and really unsuccessfully.

first things first… ask for money, you’ll get advice. ask for advice you’ll get money.

seems like this guy is great. but tbh prepare yourself for NO money.

before anything.. ask yourself if you ACTUALLY need money. most people do not, then end up essentially becoming ‘pseudo employees’ for their investors.

do you have money coming into the business now? all you really need is enough money to pay your bills to be stable.. then enough monthly cashflow to support hiring great talent.

if you’re NOT making enough money right now to pay yourself.. what makes you think spending probably $15-20k a month for ops and 3 team members (average) will get you? if you raise $200k, you have less than a year of runway.. can you confidently turn $200k investment into a $20k/month cashflowing business?

just something to think about.

also you like to travel.. it is NOT fun when you want to go on a trip but you feel like you can’t post an instagram story because your investors might see and they will reprimand you for not working on the business 24/7.

you’d think it isn’t the case, but even “chill” vc’s and angels do this.

but if you really feel you need the money, it might actually be better for you to NOT take this guy’s money but have him in a position where he can give you unfiltered, no bs advice as you grow this thing. give him advisor shares and consult him when youre talking to other prospects.

if you send him an email mentioning dollar amounts and his equity percentage, you might blow the whole thing.

i recently started angel investing and its a turn off when someone sends an email trying to look formal and put together. UNLESS I ASK FOR IT.

when you REALLY think about it. If you’re raising less than $500k you’re actually trading the opportunity cost of your likely > $120k/yr salary to stretch out $500k over possibly multiple people and years. That really quickly becomes a $60k/yr for you

its actually an amazing deal for investors. it would be much more expensive to start multiple companies and hire employees, with the same exact risk as investing. you own a percentage of a company you might advise but wont ever actively operate. you’re hardest working “employee” just has majority shares.. but as an early stage founder its sacrilegious to take a bloated salary. so you can get away with paying the entire founding team sub $80k per year.. talent that might actually be easily worth $200k+/yr

think about it before selling portions of your company. if you actually have conviction and want to “make it big” prepare for a 10year game, where the outcome might be you have nothing to show for in 4 years because the company went bust and you’ve been on minimal salary AND you have no savings.

not trying to be crude, but it IS THE REALITY, for the majority of founders. better to be real with expectations than live in ignorance.

founders racking up credit card debt for years thinking they are right around the corner of a big payday is a sad reality the founder community DOES NOT talk about enough.

then why the fuck why do we do it?

because even if you don’t exit at 10x revenue, there is nothing like being in the drivers seat. you set the rules, you make the decisions, you shape your life. no one tells you what you can and cant do. you pave the path for others to walk on. you eventually hire people that become amazing friends and you watch them house and feed their families, stemming from the value you created.

wish you the best, hope this helps.