Building a startup is hard, and it’s tempting to think that throwing money at the problems you’re facing will make them go away.
Lots of hard earned wisdom says that won’t work.
Plenty of failed unicorns had tons of money that didn’t fix fatally flawed business models.
Money alone can’t fix a marketing plan that spends more on customer acquisition than those customers are worth.
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Hiring more software developers to fix problems almost always leads to more problems, not fewer. Government projects all too often fall into this fatal throwing money spiral.
Let’s get this idea out of your head. I’m going to share this throwing money gif and ask: are you as wealthy as Leonardo Dicaprio that you can throw money away?
Of course not. Having so much money that you can afford to just throw it at problems is a fantasy. Here’s another throwing money gif that is all about the fantasy.
Remember: only if you’re Kim Kardashian can you afford to be throwing money away.
OK, so it’s a fun fantasy I have to admit. That’s likely an attraction for Silicon Valley bro’s working at companies that have raised hundreds of millions of dollars.
But if you’ve read this far, it’s likely you’re not a Silicon Vally bro. So you’re undoubtedly open to a more sober approach to using money to actually solve problems.
Throwing Money Is Not An Option
And unless you’re in one of the major tech centers, it’s unlikely you’ll have the opportunity to be throwing money at problems. Because funders will want a well thought out plan before they write a check. And the check won’t be huge. And they’ll be monitoring your progress in actually solving the business problems with their money.
But it’s fun to think about throwing money!