Don't Try This At Home!

[Deleted50669]

All,

I recently encountered a hiccup in my product development process: lack of funding!

It's a common challenge when bootstrapping product development (that is, not seeking outside investment). Nonetheless, it can cause delays when the cash gets tight, particularly when some of the elements being developed are outsourced (which is my case).

So, how am I dealing with this?

By taking a dangerous gamble.

I just liquidated my 401K from my last employer as a means to fund the rest of the outsourced work.

Risky? Yes.
Ill-advised? Uh huh.
Scary? Yup.

However, what scares me more is not being able to make progress. The faster this little piggy gets to market, the faster this little piggy can assess and adjust. So I am accepting the long-term risk for potential short-term gain.

Progress can't happen if we don't take chances on ourselves, whether it be time, money, or otherwise. I am learning to increase my risk tolerance as time goes, and this is an intense exercise in betting on myself. If I end up living in a wheel-barrel 30 years from now, I can live in my wheel-barrel with dignity.

- Cheers

 

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[Kid]

Could you find some investor to offload need for cash? It seems that you have more to show then when you started (i assume).

Having own cash to invest might also show to investor that you are serious and take risk with him (like "i have idea, give me money" vs "i have idea and invest own cash into it".