Find Investors or Web Developers First?

[Michael C]

I have been developing a business plan for a start-up and am now ready to take the next step in making this a reality. I have already validated the market and determined that there is a need.

It would be a completely online business and unfortunately I had no prior web development knowledge. Since that really bugs me and I feel it's the most valuable skill for me to acquire, I've been taking crash courses in HTML, CSS, and Java, so I at least have an understanding of the basics. However, in order to learn and build this site myself would take much too long, so I know I need a professional developer on my team.

With limited capital, what's better:

Find investors or web developers first?

Finding investors first means hiring more talented web developers but may prolong the process.
Finding developers first may reduce quality since they would be lower-paid but would have something tangible to acquire investors.

 

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[BigBrianC]

Hire a developer to build a MVP. Then build from there

 

[tafy]

Nobody will invest in you, you have to invest in yourself first.

Build what you can then seek funding

 

[BigBrianC]

Also whats stopping you from building the MVP yourself, then getting either a good investor or web designer/dev to fall in love with it and sign on? It'd take too long and it'd be too tough?

 

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[DaRK9]

At least do this.

http://www.invisionapp.com/

 

[Michael C]

Also whats stopping you from building the MVP yourself, then getting either a good investor or web designer/dev to fall in love with it and sign on? It'd take too long and it'd be too tough?

That was my initial motivation to start learning programming, thinking I could create the site myself. But the site would be very complex and I've realized as a rookie it would take a significant amount of time due to the learning curve.

 

[BigBrianC]

PM me and I can give you some specific advice to get you started if you're interested. It's probably not "too complex" for you, you just don't have the experience to understand how to tackle it.

 

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[Digamma]

Also whats stopping you from building the MVP yourself, then getting either a good investor or web designer/dev to fall in love with it and sign on? It'd take too long and it'd be too tough?

Honestly, I'm a software engineer and still I would not develop the product myself. I would architect it, review the code and keep hands on the core features, yes - so that I can fix bugs or add urgent features fast. Do it all? Not if I can help it. That's a slippery slope - developing a whole product means you have no time to do the rest of the work.
The development you can outsource. What you cannot outsource is the entrepreneurship part. Like this decision.

OP, it depends on what you are trying to achieve. On the size of your market. On how complex an mvp would be.
You can bootstrap a mobile app. You can't bootstrap Tesla Motors.
Maybe a technical co-founder would be the way to go for you. Ultimately, any way can work, and any way can fail. It's your job to make hard decisions.

PM me and I can give you some specific advice to get you started if you're interested. It's probably not "too complex" for you, you just don't have the experience to understand how to tackle it.

That's exactly what "too complex" means, unfortunately.

 

[BigBrianC]

I'm not suggesting he do the whole thing himself, rather just build a MVP to attract interest of a web dev or investor to hire a web dev, rather than pitch them on an idea and email list gathered.

 

[Michael C]

Honestly, I'm a software engineer and still I would not develop the product myself. I would architect it, review the code and keep hands on the core features, yes - so that I can fix bugs or add urgent features fast. Do it all? Not if I can help it. That's a slippery slope - developing a whole product means you have no time to do the rest of the work.
The development you can outsource. What you cannot outsource is the entrepreneurship part. Like this decision.

OP, it depends on what you are trying to achieve. On the size of your market. On how complex an mvp would be.
You can bootstrap a mobile app. You can't bootstrap Tesla Motors.
Maybe a technical co-founder would be the way to go for you. Ultimately, any way can work, and any way can fail. It's your job to make hard decisions.
That's exactly what "too complex" means, unfortunately.

I've considered finding a technical co-founder due to limited capital. But I believe that in the long-term, giving up as little equity as possible would be the smartest move, even if it means paying more upfront to develop. This is why I was wondering whether I should seek investors first. I am willing to pay straight out of pocket since I believe in the concept and the risk/reward is very favorable. I just don't think I can afford to pay full-rate for very long, so I guess that's where I leverage a MVP to get funding?

 

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[tafy]

This is why I was wondering whether I should seek investors first. I am willing to pay straight out of pocket since I believe in the concept and the risk/reward is very favorable. I just don't think I can afford to pay full-rate for very long, so I guess that's where I leverage a MVP to get funding?

I will say it again... Nobody is giving you any money, unless its your family, friends and rich uncles.

So get your own money and your family money and build the product to atleast mvp or better, and do as much as you can and get some early customers. Then others may be interested.

If you cant raise money from your own family then you got no chance with other people