Almost all entrepreneurs from startup companies enter the funding process woefully ignorant and then they blacklist themselves from ever receiving funding by broadcasting their ignorance throughout the internet instead of learning what they should be doing if they are interested in receiving funding. Funding sources call this the “I am stupid and I am right” mind set. Then, other ignorant people add comments, it becomes the blind leading the blind, and all of you blacklist yourselves because funding sources see these comments during a due diligence process then decline your projects for investment because they have no desire to be business partners with the ignorant and unprofessional, I see this frequently.
My numerous funding sources fund projects worldwide within any industry that is legal within any country, for startup and existing companies, daily. Many of them have changed their corporate philosophy and now refuse to fund ALL startup companies because there is a phrase used in the funding industry called “time wasters” for applicants who are ignorant, deaf, dumb & blind, who enter the funding process unprepared, do not listen to direct feedback from brokers & funding sources about what to do to receive funding, and then when their projects are declined, they blame everyone but themselves and go back onto the internet and waste everyone else’s time, which infuriates the funding industry. As a result, investors talk to each other and as professional courtesy, they warn each other about “time wasters” so other investors do not waste their time, the applicants become blacklisted by the funding industry.
If you have been on the internet for more than thirty days and no funding source has spoken to you, asked you to sign a contract, and started the due diligence process to verify the accuracy and honesty of you, your company, and all submitted paperwork, GET OFF THE INTERNET, analyze the mistakes you have made, and STOP WASTING EVERYONE’S TIME. Investors are typically parts of many investor groups and when an applicant is declined, or found out to be a liar, unprofessional, or a time waster, that information is shared with other investors as professional courtesy and you become blacklisted, one of the reasons less than 1 % of all startup companies EVER receive funding. Investors also know how long you have been seeking funding and know that if you have been seeking longer than thirty days that you have made numerous mistakes and are difficult to work with which is why no funding source has started the due diligence process to potentially fund your project.
Too many applicants think the process consists of announcing you need money and waiting for someone to hand it to you, no questions asked. This is not charity; you are expected to be able to explain how an investor will have a profitable investment, and how an investor will be repaid for any debt you incur. If your proposal is to only repay a percentage of future profits, stop wasting everyone’s time on the internet. Existing companies will be asked to provide audited financial statements, startup companies will be asked for notarized bank statements to verify assets. All applicants will be asked to provide cash and noncash collateral, if you expect an investor to provide 100 % investment and assume 100 % of the financial risk, stop wasting everyone’s time on the internet. If you are a startup company who thinks an investor will give you money in exchange for equity only when your company does not have established revenue and profit stop wasting everyone’s time on the internet.
The internet is loaded with start up applicants who do not know the facts who broadcast their ignorance throughout the internet. Here are facts from thousands of investment companies. 75 % of start up companies are out of business within 2 years or less, if you go out of business, investors lose their money and are obviously not repaid for the money they lent to you. Also, you, as the applicant are going to lose all cash and non cash collateral that you had if you are going out of business and declaring bankruptcy. All start up applicants are high risk projects which is why investment companies perform thorough due diligence, they do not want to lose their money and yours. Also, historical data confirms that AT LEAST 50 to 75 percent of applicants, and this is a higher percentage with start up (pre revenue) applicants, are caught committing fraud during the application process, banks and investment companies know this and are immediately skeptical of ALL start up applicants until the due diligence process ends and confirms that you are not a liar and a fraud, because unfortunately historical data proves that the majority of start up applicants are proven to be liars and frauds, which is why most banks and investment companies, as corporate policy, refuse to look at or underwrite transactions for start up applicants.
Investors ask start up applicants to provide notarized bank statements to verify that you know how to manage your own cash flow before you are trusted with an investment company's cash, also to verify cash assets because many start up applicants are caught committing fraudulent applications, then attempt to go back on the internet looking for P.T. Barnum's "sucker born every minute" to fund their investment opportunities. Investors frequently ask start up companies to have "skin in the game" similar to the mortgage industry, where you are asked to fund part of your project, and an investor will fund the remainder. For example, if you are seeking 1 million USD, an investor may fund most of it if you fund the rest because it reduces an investor's perceived risk, and reduces the odds that you walk away from your company with an investor's money. Investors also think, why should they fund 100% of your project if you have so little faith in your own investment opportunity that you are unwilling to put any of your own cash into your investment opportunity, it screams to investors that you do not have any faith in your own investment opportunity, so why should anyone else ? The mortgage industry works the same way, and if you do not understand this basic concept, get off the internet and stop wasting everyone's time, you will never receive funding.
Here's another fact from thousands of investment companies. 90 % of entrepreneurs seeking funding NEVER receive it because they enter the process unprepared, do not listen to feedback from brokers and investment companies, never adjust after receiving feedback, to make their companies more attractive to investment companies, spend more than 30 days on the internet seeking funding which screams to investors that you are making one mistake after another, not listening or learning, and therefore have become entrepreneurs who are not profitable investment opportunities, then some of these entrepreneurs post negative and ignorant comments online which permanently blacklists them from ever receiving funding by the investment industry.
Do not seek funding until your company is legally registered, you have a completed business plan & completed draw down schedule for the exact amount of cash you are seeking, otherwise investors will gauge that you are not ready to receive funding. Investment companies have business licenses that LEGALLY only allow them to lend money to legally registered, licensed companies, your startup company MUST be legally licensed otherwise legally, investors are legally prohibited from lending money to you according to the laws of their business licenses.
Also, go to a bank, and apply for a loan first before going onto the internet, and learn the process. You will need to pay fees, you will need to legally be a company, have all financial statements, budgets, business plans, corporate biographies, etc. ready before applying. There is a reason entrepreneurs are on the internet seeking funding, banks have already declined them for funding because they are deemed high risk investments. Any applicant who claims to be a no risk or low risk investment on the internet is seen as naïve and a liar by investors, and you will not be taken seriously.
Furthermore, investors do VERY THOROUGH due diligence before deciding whether to invest in a project, and ALL applicants go through due diligence at their own expense because some applicants lie and submit fraudulent applications that become declined. If you ever have made ignorant or negative comments on the internet, PLEASE DO NOT APPLY because you will be declined for funding. Investors have ZERO INTEREST in being business partners with anyone who is ignorant or unprofessional and they will find your internet comments during the due diligence process, so please think very carefully before you make internet comments, they will come back to haunt you, I see it occur frequently. Applicants who think that companies are fraudulent because they charge due diligence or any other fee are ignorant and time wasters, funding sources know that many applicants are liars who submit fraudulent applications and they will not spend their own money to perform due diligence only to find out the applicant is a liar, fraud and time waster. Also funding sources hire attorneys to create contracts, accountants to verify financial statements, budgets, and other financial documents, and industry consultants who are experts in your industry to help verify if a project is an intelligent investment, these consultants charge money for their time, and funding sources pass those costs to the applicant because they are tired of eating that cost only to find out the applicant was a liar, fraud and time waster.
If you want to make an unprofessional first impression with investors and assure that your chances of receiving money are zero, send an email from your cell phone. You would not apply for a job by sending a brief message from a cell phone to a hiring company and expect to receive an interview or a job offer, why would you contact investors, and expect to receive money ? Brief cell phone emails are too vague, unprofessional, and more often than not contain spelling and grammatical errors which destroy your chances as a job applicant and an applicant seeking funding because the first impression you give investors are that you are illiterate and unprofessional. And the email signature of sent from my (name of cell phone provider) cell phone destroys your credibility as a professional. If you cannot show respect for the investment process by sitting down in front of a computer and creating a professional looking email, do not bother wasting your time, your chances of receiving money are zero.
Another error applicants make within introductory emails is accusing investors of being fraudulent when they know nothing about the investors, their companies, and their years in business, quantity of verifiable funded transactions, and the fact that the investment industry is heavily regulated, and that investment companies and banks have to renew their business licenses annually after meeting strict criteria. Then, ignorant applicants mysteriously wonder why they are on the internet for months and years without any investor wanting to do business with them or offering to give money to them, by this point you’re already blacklisted and your chances of receiving money are zero. Go to your local bank, ask to talk to the manager, mention you are seeking money for your business, and before the bank asks you many qualifying questions to establish your chances of receiving money, refuse to answer the bank’s questions, accuse everyone associated with the bank of being fraudulent, and demand to see a list of recipients of the bank’s loans, along with the recipients’ contact information, because you want to interview them and ask questions about the bank’s credibility, then count how many seconds you remain in the bank until you are forcibly removed by the bank’s security. Sadly, there are applicants that are so ignorant that they do this daily and are stunned when no one wants to do business with them. You do not “bite the hand that feeds you” by insulting investors and then expecting them to want to give money to you. Banks and investment companies, daily, are overwhelmed with a volume of applicants seeking funding, they do not have the time to talk to every applicant nor the money to fund every project, the immediate moment an applicant shows unprofessional behavior, you are declined and your money goes to a different applicant who is professional.
Learn from this advice because I have direct feedback from funding sources that some have left the industry because they are tired of wasting their time with the numerous liars, frauds and time wasters applying for funding, and many have switched corporate philosophy and no longer fund startup companies because of the ignorance, lack of professionalism, and rampant unprepared volume of applicants who waste everyone’s time and then broadcast their ignorance throughout the internet after their projects are declined for funding, or after they are caught lying during the due diligence process.
Ask anyone who funds projects for a living to verify that less than 1 % of ALL startup companies ever receive funding, and that almost all applications from startup entrepreneurs are a waste of time because of ignorance and a lack of preparation. Learn from this and be prepared before you seek funding. You make ONE first impression; make it a first impression that is not wasting everyone’s time.
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