bobbaddeley

Hey, HN. I wanted to show off the hardware startup I've been working on. It's a sensor for ice fishing that alerts you when you've got a strike. This way you can sit in your shack and drink beer without having to constantly check your holes outside.

It uses Bluetooth Low Energy, and we've got apps for iOS and Android.

We started in April and managed to have our product developed and in stores in at least 6 states by October. We're currently manufacturing it ourselves here in Wisconsin.

Well done! That's really impressive work.

He (Zack, the author of the article) is involved in HAXLR8R. He's actually the Program Director. Or I guess you meant the parent comment.

Friends and family is an important one. It's not a lot of money, but investors are a little like sheep, and if you can show that you've been able to convince some investors and are committed enough to beg and borrow from your own family, then they are more likely to be interest.

Getting paying customers is the best way to raise money. No equity given up, proof of your business model, and that looks great to investors later on, too.

Incubator programs aren't all created equal. Do a LOT of work to vet them first. Many will offer a small amount of money, offer very little support during the incubator, have no connections at the end of the incubator, and then dump you with no support after the incubator, but kindly taking a percent of the company. There are some good ones, though.

Angel investors and VC are an option, but those are not easy to get and you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.

The best thing to do is build your product and keep building it, and talk to as many people as you can. Resources will come out of the woodwork slowly, and connections will be made that will lead organically to what you need.

We've tried this. Banks won't loan unless you have prior success in that business. Only a few do Purchase Order financing (where you show them a list of pre-orders that you need money to service) and it's expensive and also requires prior success. All would require a personal guarantee. I had one tell me they wouldn't loan unless I had the amount of the loan in an account at their bank. What's the point of that? Generally speaking, U.S. banks are worthless for startups, unless you want to fund your business with credit cards.