Other people's money
Most start ups don't happen using other people's money. Unless they are borrowing from family members. Our users tell us that they get their $$$ from the following places:
- refinance their home
- take out another loan
- borrow from friend or family
- take money out against their health insurance (please don't do this)
- or even sell some of their precious possessions (I had to sell my one Babe Ruth baseball card)
They have to do this because it can be a real challenge to get a loan. Most banks will not lend money until there is some sort of proven track record (ie. two or so years of financial records).
Whatever happened to supporting the good old entrepreneurial spirit of our country.
The Banks may be stingy, but that has brought about a new lending industry called Peer to Peer lending.
This is a place that people can help other people by supporting the good old entrepreneurial spirit of our country.
From the lending side, it lets people build loan profolios without a lot of money. It also allows us to become venture capitalists without large sums of money.
Posted by: Roman Jakubowycz | February 20, 2007 at 06:50 AM
Having been an entrepreneur for the last 6 years and having a very successful track record in both my companies, I can tell you that self employed earning 500k per year is perceived more risky than employed earning 50k a year.
But entrepreneurs remember the companies that rejected them when they were small.
Posted by: Ms Training | March 23, 2007 at 06:13 AM