What Does Your Brain on Funding Look Like?

November 26, 2007 by Ben Yoskovitz 27 Comments

This is your brain.

an egg

This is your brain while you’re trying to get funding.

fried egg

squeezed egg

This is your brain immediately after you get funding.

party egg

relaxing egg

And this is your brain almost immediately after that.

race car egg

fiery egg

So What’s It All Mean?

Raising money is hard. If you’re a first-time entrepreneur trying to raise venture capital or angel financing, you’ll end up learning a lot on the fly. You’ll spend a lot of time educating yourself on the different ways to raise money. Read a lot. Then read some more. Find mentors and people who have done it before to help.
Raising money is a pressure-cooker. There’s a lot of pressure on the shoulders of entrepreneurs raising money. It’s not a pleasant feeling. And it can be discouraging to pitch people over and over only to have them reject you again and again. But when someone does show interest, it feels great.
When you close a round of financing it feels great. There’s no doubt about it; when you succeed at raising money, deep down inside you celebrate that victory. And it is a victory. For all the companies that raise money there are thousands more that never make it.
Shortly after closing a round of financing, you feel a momentary sense of relief. The picture above of the egg on a beach chair isn’t there to suggest that you take the money and go on vacation! It’s a representation of the relief you feel immediately after raising money. There’s a sense of clarity, a washing out of the brain, at which point you say to yourself, “Ah ha! I can finally focus on my product, building this business and implementing my plan!” Um…
The feelings of euphoria and relief don’t last long. What you’ll realize shortly after you get the money is how it instantly accelerates everything. For starters, you’ll probably throw most of your plan out the window. Time pressure will really sink in which leads to increased spending. Well, at least you have some money now! Closing on a round of financing is more like the firing of a starter pistol than anything (or a start cannon if they had such a thing) — it’s a signal to go even faster than you were before.
And then your head explodes.

I’m not anti-raising venture capital. Far from it. And if you really want to experience the “startup life” then raising money is a big part of that. So is the accompanying acceleration and craziness. It’s part of the package. That’s what startup entrepreneurs live for; the lunacy of it all is one of the major reasons we get into the game. You might not realize just how crazy it is though, until you’ve raised money and you’re trying to clone yourself while running a marathon sprint through the desert with no water or clothes on. Sounds like fun, eh?

Download Music

Yes, you go through all these stages of lunacy and comes the day that you are off and running. Brother, your troubles start almost immediately. The blokes who funded you want in, want you to sell out and become their employee or expect you to buy them off and so on and so forth. You must prepare all these unsuspecting entrepreneurs about some of these post operational madness too!
Download Music

Yes, you go through all these stages of lunacy and comes the day that you are off and running. Brother, your troubles start almost immediately. The blokes who funded you want in, want you to sell out and become their employee or expect you to buy them off and so on and so forth. You must prepare all these unsuspecting entrepreneurs about some of these post operational madness too!
David Finch

Ben, right on! Gutting through the rejection after one pitch after another, always shows you something new about yourself, your product and others.

Great post!!
David Finch

Ben, right on! Gutting through the rejection after one pitch after another, always shows you something new about yourself, your product and others.

Great post!!
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Des Walsh

Ben
I get it, as far as you’ve gone. What would make it more interesting for me is some first person narrative. I *think* this is from your experience, but for someone who has had no contact with you previously this (concepts, text, not so much the eggstremely cute grapheggs)could have come from notes from a seminar. Do you have a personal story you want to share? Now? Later?
Des Walsh

Ben
I get it, as far as you've gone. What would make it more interesting for me is some first person narrative. I *think* this is from your experience, but for someone who has had no contact with you previously this (concepts, text, not so much the eggstremely cute grapheggs)could have come from notes from a seminar. Do you have a personal story you want to share? Now? Later?
Ben Yoskovitz

@Des: Thanks for the comment. Certainly the eggs didn’t come from a seminar! Although that would make for one interesting seminar.

As much as it would be interesting to describe things from a 1st person context with specific stories, it’s not really possible. I do end the post on a personal note, which hopefully makes it clear that much / all of this is my own thoughts from my own experience.
Ben Yoskovitz

@Des: Thanks for the comment. Certainly the eggs didn't come from a seminar! Although that would make for one interesting seminar.

As much as it would be interesting to describe things from a 1st person context with specific stories, it's not really possible. I do end the post on a personal note, which hopefully makes it clear that much / all of this is my own thoughts from my own experience.
Peter

Very funny. You a Bill Hicks fan?
Peter

Very funny. You a Bill Hicks fan?
Advice Network

You have summarized in a few quick photos, why I am bootstrapping my company.

There is a missing photo, and it’s titled “this is your brain, if you got funding, and the company is doing well” and it’s a picture of a hard boiled egg, and someone (not you) is scooping out the best part with a spoon.
Advice Network

You have summarized in a few quick photos, why I am bootstrapping my company.

There is a missing photo, and it's titled “this is your brain, if you got funding, and the company is doing well” and it's a picture of a hard boiled egg, and someone (not you) is scooping out the best part with a spoon.
LPS

Interesting photographs. Raising money is like a pressure cooker with your brain in it.
LPS

Interesting photographs. Raising money is like a pressure cooker with your brain in it.
Becky McCray

Love the graphics, Ben!

“And then your head explodes.” Love it!!
Becky McCray

Love the graphics, Ben!

“And then your head explodes.” Love it!!
Viv

Certainly gives new meaning to the term”egghead” or “ego”
Viv

Certainly gives new meaning to the term”egghead” or “ego”
Raza Imam

Bootstrappers are smart. We are creators, innovators, and differentiators.

Sure, bootstrapping isn’t realistic for every business. In fact many need to raise outside funding. Bootstrappers are the Navy SEALs being dropped in hostile territory with little more than a knife and a gun. It’s life or death. Funded companies are the Air Force dropping bombs from 30,000 feet in the sky.

Innovative companies will tell you your best work comes when you have few resources.

Raza Imam
http://www.BoycottSoftwareSweatshops.com
Raza Imam

Bootstrappers are smart. We are creators, innovators, and differentiators.

Sure, bootstrapping isn't realistic for every business. In fact many need to raise outside funding. Bootstrappers are the Navy SEALs being dropped in hostile territory with little more than a knife and a gun. It's life or death. Funded companies are the Air Force dropping bombs from 30,000 feet in the sky.

Innovative companies will tell you your best work comes when you have few resources.

Raza Imam
http://www.BoycottSoftwareSweatshops.com
Ben Yoskovitz

Raza – there’s no question that “creativity loves constraints” but used properly funding can be of huge value. The problem with getting funding is that it makes it a lot easier to spend money. It’s tougher to stay constrained and be more strategic. But it’s not impossible.

And one of the biggest challenges of bootstrapping is being perpetually under-capitalized. So there are pros and cons all around. At the end of the day it’s not as much an issue of funding vs. bootstrapping, it’s about successful execution. If you can’t execute effectively you’re in big trouble no matter what.
Ben Yoskovitz

Raza – there's no question that “creativity loves constraints” but used properly funding can be of huge value. The problem with getting funding is that it makes it a lot easier to spend money. It's tougher to stay constrained and be more strategic. But it's not impossible.

And one of the biggest challenges of bootstrapping is being perpetually under-capitalized. So there are pros and cons all around. At the end of the day it's not as much an issue of funding vs. bootstrapping, it's about successful execution. If you can't execute effectively you're in big trouble no matter what.
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What Does Your Brain on Funding Look Like?

This is your brain.

This is your brain while you’re trying to get funding.

This is your brain immediately after you get funding.

And this is your brain almost immediately after that.

So What’s It All Mean?

Ben Yoskovitz

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