How to Raise Funds for Program without Existing User Base

[riverofwind]

Hi I have created a data backup / file folder sync program. I put 10 years of IT experience into the program to make it the ultimate program of its kind; I know exactly what I want in such a program.

The program is almost complete, it just needs two or so months of work to complete. I need to renew my Qt subscription (a tool for making the program) to continue programming for $948 for another year. Once I complete the program I plan on submitting to a first page Google review site and get a permanent link on the site for $5000 (guaranteed traffic!). And of course it would be nice to be paid for the remaining work to be done.

Is it possible for me to raise funding maybe from some angel investors even though I have no revenue to back me up yet and have no existing user base? If so what is a good angel investor platform to use? If not what do I need to do to secure some funding? Anything else to know that is relevant?

Thanks!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[alexkuzmov]

Hi I have created a data backup / file folder sync program. I put 10 years of IT experience into the program to make it the ultimate program of its kind; I know exactly what I want in such a program.

The program is almost complete, it just needs two or so months of work to complete. I need to renew my Qt subscription (a tool for making the program) to continue programming for $948 for another year. Once I complete the program I plan on submitting to a first page Google review site and get a permanent link on the site for $5000 (guaranteed traffic!). And of course it would be nice to be paid for the remaining work to be done.

Is it possible for me to raise funding maybe from some angel investors even though I have no revenue to back me up yet and have no existing user base? If so what is a good angel investor platform to use? If not what do I need to do to secure some funding? Anything else to know that is relevant?

Thanks!

Its a tricky question.
First of, how do you know people will use what you`ve coded?

 

[riverofwind]

Its a tricky question.
First of, how do you know people will use what you`ve coded?

Don't know for sure but I'm optimistic with my baby I did rewrite the approach to file history and packed all the features of a more expensive program into my program for 1/2-1/3 the price. There are other lesser reasons as well...

 

[alexkuzmov]

Don't know for sure but I'm optimistic with my baby I did rewrite the approach to file history and packed all the features of a more expensive program into my program for 1/2-1/3 the price. There are other lesser reasons as well...

Investing aside, you need to prove your idea for your own sake.
Maybe you need the money, but you need to know what the market thinks more than that.
Focus on making a sale or getting people to use it.
All else comes after.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[riverofwind]

Investing aside, you need to prove your idea for your own sake.
Maybe you need the money, but you need to know what the market thinks more than that.
Focus on making a sale or getting people to use it.
All else comes after.

Thanks Alex. Problem is it's a data backup program so I don't think anybody would trust it without a solid review on a review site or something comparable; nobody wants to risk their data using an unknown program. I tried a round of Facebook ads and got nowhere. A tricky situation all around. My website is very amateurish. I've seen similar classes of products make it big i.e. nirsoft, karen's power tools, faststone etc I have no idea how they managed to break into the scene in the first place though.

 

[alexkuzmov]

Thanks Alex. Problem is it's a data backup program so I don't think anybody would trust it without a solid review on a review site or something comparable; nobody wants to risk their data using an unknown program. I tried a round of Facebook ads and got nowhere. A tricky situation all around. My website is very amateurish. I've seen similar classes of products make it big i.e. nirsoft, karen's power tools, faststone etc I have no idea how they managed to break into the scene in the first place though.

To be honest I didnt know there was even a market for data backup services.
My best guess is to start from: "Who is your client?"
Is it a regular person?
A business offering website hosting?
A business which handles large volumes of data each day?
Photographers?
Not sure if this helps.