Spent a morning last week speaking at a "How To Raise Capital" VC conference for entrepreneurs, and while waiting my turn, caught the keynote of Dr. Richard Bruno of MSBi Capital and BeyondIf.
Now I've been to a quadrillion of these things, and the majority of the presentations are so stultifying that I stab my sensitive areas with a fork to avoid lapsing into a fatal coma. But Dr. Bruno, while methodic, pulled no punches when he explained who invests and when, and tossed this grenade into the audience:
As a start-up, when risk is highest, there are only three people who will invest in your business. I call them The Three Fs:
Friends, Family...
and Fools
Pow! indeed! Well done, Dr. Bruno. And thanks to entrepreneurs who aren't scared off by this, there are plenty of rich fools who walk amongst us today.