An Open Letter to Founders Raising Capital for the First Time

Hundreds of pitches later, I have some tough news for you.

Back in October I wrote an article (more of a rant than an article tbh) about Quibi raising $1.8B in capital and then shutting down — it really struck a chord with people.

As a result, I’ve received hundreds of messages and emails from early-stage founders who are looking to raise capital and get their shot at startup success. It was clear many founders resonated with my frustration at the way capital is currently distributed.

I feel their hustle, passion, and sometimes anger at all the headlines about others raising XX million dollars for some weird or silly idea that doesn’t seem to make any sense. And they are right to feel this way.

But here is where you start to hate me.

I didn’t want to write this article.

All the messages I received were incredibly gracious. They talked about how my article encouraged and reinvigorated them.

These are my people. I was a bootstrapped entrepreneur the majority of my life and I know how hard it can be before you find success.