I'm an ex govt systems engineer and been running my own biz for two years, I've recently acquired a just out of seed funding but pre-profit tech startup I am very passionate about and am in an incubator and able to segue into an acceletor if the next few months go well. I am a solo founder doing both the tech and executive roles. I do however have some support staff in my main business of design and marketing to help with that work if my time is taken up with higher duties. I have two pathways; incubator then accelerator which takes some equity but offers capital and focuses on intense growth and finding investors, but I'd have to full time this venture. Go back to an old job with an 80k per annum salary, and with my low expenses I could essentially bootstrap and hire some freelance help where needed without diluting equity. But this means back to the grind of soul destroying office life while maintaining two businesses in my free time. Has anyone been in this position? Part of me doesn't want to give up my current freedom for a salary but another part of me doesn't want to give up equity in a venture yet to profit significantly. I could comfortably live off 30k and freelance odd jobs and put 50k into the business which is about what I'd get from the accelerator if I succeeded. The downsides of working is also less networking opportunities in the local startup space and less time to focus but easier focus because I'm financially set up better than I am now. Anyone else a solo founder and had this conundrum?
if you can survive off 30K and work the startup full time do this.
What industry is the starup? Do you need to be quick to market or can you take your time and do things right? I'd bootstrap for as long as you can, until you have a clear product market fit and know what you'll spend your funding on and the results of that.
I am also a start-up solo founder and I have thought a lot about this. It's difficult to have an opinion without knowing the specifics of your business. I suggest to read the book The Founder's Dilemma. It will help you make the best decision and avoid the dangers of raising money. Good luck!
Thankyou for your recommendation! I will definitely check it out
You're welcome