Angel (VC?) Investing Approach

Any recommendations or thoughts for how to approach raising this capital?

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So, most (all?) VC incubators are for companies that have at least sort of started. Pretty much all VC investment is for companies that are at least off the mat. Generally speaking, angel investors are putting in a few hundred thousand to get a company off the ground and then VC investors are coming in at a Series A level to boost the company.

I’ve been working on a business concept now for 10 years and it’s (finally!) ready for launch given the state of technology (it was basically sci-fi in 2011 and is now close to a reality). However, to even get off the mat, I need at least $3 million (and maybe as much as $10 million on the high end). I’m in that weird region where I need angel investment with VC capital. The business does have probably that 90x return potential that VCs love, but no existing business at all.  

For many of you, you can throw around your Ivy League pedigree and leverage that network. I don’t have that. I actually have a pretty good network of wealthy friends/acquaintances who have engaged in angel investing before, but at the level of $50-100,000. It’s just not enough (if I convinced the 5 closest rich people to me to put in $200,000 each it wouldn’t come close to being enough).

Any recommendations or thoughts for how to approach something like this? My initial reaction was to build a fancy website and to pretend like the company was up and running and go the VC route, but that feels unethical (is it?) and also that any intelligent VC would realize that the company is just a website.

5 Comments
 

m_1

I've been working on a business concept now for 10 years and it's (finally!) ready for launch given the state of technology (it was basically sci-fi in 2011 and is now close to a reality).

Yeah, don't mention this lol

Well, the technology didn't exist yet for the product. The product is something out of science fiction. (Well, like Black Mirror science fiction--that is, not far-out, but near-term sci-fi).

 
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