Fetchnotes raises money to run its servers for 4 months by singing karaoke

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/06/02/fetchnotes-raises-enough-money-to-run-its-servers-for-4-months-by-singing-karaoke/

by jeffepp • 14 years ago

32 7 14 years ago

thenextweb.com

Alex39173• 14 years ago

Fetchnotes is great, if you don't already use it then I'd highly recommend it. It's essentially a note taking app designed for really short notes, like writing down what food items you liked at a restaurant. And it does this in a way that supports hash tags, searching, and replication across all your devices.

alexschiff3• 14 years ago

Thanks for your support Alex!

Alex39173• 14 years ago

No problem. Have you guys considered adding a search by date added feature? I'm not sure how often I'd use it, but it just feels like something is missing without it, kind of like if Google didn't have the I'm Feeling Lucky button. (Though I definitely would use it at least once in a while, because sometimes it's nice just to go through the archives of your lifestream to be reminded of stuff that you've completely forgotten about otherwise.)

rexreed• 14 years ago

There's a lot to be said about companies with great visions, good execution, and practical business models, but still have trouble getting funding. While it's true that customers are the best way to fund a company, and why look to external capital if you can get that, it's also true that funding helps you make investments in talent, resources, and reach that could help you reach goals faster or "bigger".

Companies like these have a heck of a time raising capital from the "traditional" funding available for startups - angels and VCs. I can speak to that first hand. It's so infuriating to see companies that haven't yet proven themselves to be businesses raising hordes of capital and getting loads of attention while the more "boring" ones have to bootstrap and scrape their way. Much of this is because the boring types are not in markets where there is significant froth. Perhaps this makes traditional VCs uninterested because of the low multiples. Or perhaps it's because the perception is that if you have a rational business model, then you should just execute on it - why need capital at all?

While I can see plenty of practical reasons why VC and angel investors are reluctant to invest in boring businesses that can bootstrap, sometimes it takes a long time for companies to bootstrap to a point where the founders can pay themselves, let alone scale. Many times external investment is used not just to add new people and resources, but also pay the founders. While being hungry is good from an entrepreneurial perspective, starving for too long can make people desperate and chase cash at the expense of the company vision.

I say all this because it's troublesome that companies have to resort to karaoke as a way to fund basic operational expenses. That is, unless the startup founders truly like it and it's a corporate culture sort of thing, in which case, more power to you! But often times it's not out of pleasure, but rather, necessity. I keep thinking about the AirBnB fellow who had to sell cereal to keep the company afloat. And only once he "de-risked" his company substantially, he was able to seek funding, now at a healthy valuation.

What are the funding options for those of us with boring businesses that nonetheless want to scale to significant size? Is it all bootstrap, karaoke, and cereal (and maybe Kickstarter, altho it seems they reject these sorts of businesses as well), or is there another good option?

Fetchnotes raises money to run its servers for 4 months by singing karaoke

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