Welcome to the Struggle: An Idea is Validated
After an uneventful college graduation in May, followed by a humid summer of frantic searching, self-evaluation and panicking, the loose ends of uncertainty slowly came together. The ideas which I have pushed to the brim of my creative capacity have reached a minor level of financial validation.
Last Wednesday, I packed up a single suitcase filled with only my basic clothing and necessities, stuffed my laptop and some books into my black backpack, and boarded a crowded plane flying cross-country to California. Except this time, I wasn’t traveling for a conference, meeting or a restful vacation.
The announcement, and reason for my extended stay on the west coast, is that I received a term sheet from an early-stage Bay Area seed investor for my company. I flew out to meet them, and eagerly signed the next day.
This means that I closed seed funding for my venture, started less than a year ago while I was in school, in the midst of economic turmoil. Excuse the braggadocio, but this is probably the most exciting and fulfilling business-related achievement of my short career. The reason is, I suppose, is because it came from the brain power of a small and nimble team with little very resources besides our own intellectual capital.
After telling a mentor of mine via email about the funding, who also happens to be a venture capitalist, he dryly, but memorably, responded with a single poignant sentence:
“Welcome to the struggle.”
And, to think I was already there…
Ah, and what they say about money…the root of all evil! Bullshit. Sometimes, it just has to happen for you to believe it. But, a little bit of money, assuming you personally earned it, can prove that someone else sees economic wealth in your idea. So yes, it’s a struggle, and one I anticipated, but it’s gradually fulfilling as well.
The funding was going to happen or it wasn’t, either through investors, customers or neither. It happened with investors. The end of my summer was approaching quickly, and I was faced with a decision to evaluate other opportunities or stick with my own venture. Although I haven’t hit a home run just yet, I’ve bought myself more time to do things my way.
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