This is not a sob story, or a woe be me account. Also I am not a sociologist or an anthropological expert. I have a start up Machine Dalal, for which I am trying to raise funds and along the way sharing my observations.
These are lessons on fundraising and could be of particular importance to set of people who are simply not born in the right place or did not make best use of the opportunities presented to them or found their mojo at later stage of life or factors that I am not aware of, but you may relate to.
Fundraising is a two-way street. As much as a startup would like to get funded and achieve its potential, the VCs are also looking for deals, as they also want that sweet-sweet growth It is their job as much as a fiduciary duty to find those deals. So, you are not exactly begging. It is more akin to finding a date on Tinder, as a guy. Statistically speaking at least. You still must do the work, but once you are noticed but the probability increases manifold.
In case of Machine Dalal, this is well defined case of missed network opportunity, as we are
Outside of Region
We are in the Chandigarh area. Which is not Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai, and most definitely not San Francisco, London, or New York. Majority of deals happen there.
The only benefit of being from the Punjab is that if we landed anywhere else in the world, we would enjoy the fabled hospitality of the Punjabis.2
Outside of Connection
We are not from IVY Leagues or the Elite Institutions, so that network is missing. But that is also the reason we did Machine Dalal. They would never have seen the market opportunity like we did.
Outside of Color (or Country of Origin)
Well, I am not sure if that makes sense here as the brown people do get sufficient funding. Though only when they are connected 1 and 2. I do not have well researched numbers so I cannot make this claim, but the idea was that if you were an American or European citizen, you would have an easier chance of getting funded, even when you were outside of connections and region.
But we have this going on for us,
- Strong Team
- Technology
- Industry
- Business Model
- Timing
- Luck
These are the topics I would discuss in my next post, where we would talk about Growth, Revenue and how the process of fundraising takes a serious toll on your business. Additionally, we would also talk about the expenses involved during the course of it.
Good Luck, Good Night and may the road rise up to meet you.
