Too late lol ... SN wouldn't be where it is today without all the investors helping me. They've given me tons of great ideas and helped with so much.
I've tried bootstrapping, and its painful and lonely because you're the only one with skin in the game. Mad props to people who do it though.
Investors are not your friends, no matter what they tell you. Their advice and encouragement come at a steep price. You now work for them.
Come on, man. You are very close to having a business that will run itself, while you are sitting on a beach drinking Margaritas. Self-sovereignty!
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I disagree. Friends/partners/whatever. It's humans helping humans. Even if they're only helping for returns, they're helping me do something I can't do on my own and I want them to get returns. Something that I hope benefits us all.
I'm done building things alone.
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I sure hope you are right. My experience is that outside investors bring with them a whole new level of stress. If what you want are collaborators, how about bringing in a technical partner? Someone who will actually work side by side with you, every day. Give them some ownership instead of a VC.
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Have you ever worked directly with investors? Perhaps you got a bad experience.
A lot of investors are very helpful and provide great mentorship. Interests are generally aligned and allow early platforms (which challenge incumbents) to survive
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I'll have both investors and collaborators. It's not black and white, and imo shouldn't be for me/sn.
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