I had two not so great experience working with investors.

The product is a trucking management system that allows you to dispatch loads to drivers in real time via a web and mobile application. I should mention it’s already built.

One “investor” talked a big game but when it came time to lay out the offer it was more of a joke. $2K/month to modify the app to address an adjacent market space + equity and zero payment for codebase we’d be building off of.

Then two other investors came in and presented too much smoke and mirrors for me honestly. When we chatted I thought they were the investors but apparently they were connected to those high net worth folks, etc. I had already built out the product and was in a position where I wanted someone with investment dollars and insight into the industry to take this product to the next level. They essentially offered to pay me as an employee for my own product with some equity so I didn’t go for that.

Now I want to learn about how to get involved with the right investors or people interested in owning a startup that they can build off of. I think because I’ve been doing things on my own for so long the best option I have is to sell the source code, security keys, deployment info, web and mobile app to someone that has the right vision in trucking or auto transportation, and is also more capable of doing the fund raising necessary for the AI part of the project.

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  • shipandscale@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    What is your current revenue? What is your month over month growth? What does your current cap table look like?

  • E60LNDN@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Have you ever considered trying to enter startup incubators? Or accelerators? The community would be perfect and they will guide you into funding rounds

  • atcg0101@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    You may want to consider

    1. Anchoring your investment terms with a standard SAFE. Design a party round - Determine how much you want to raise and what valuation, 3 tranches that rewards earlier investors with more equity (via a lower valuation cap or a higher discount) meaning you’ll have 3 seperate SAFEs, make sure your SAFEs in aggregate result in the dilution you’re aiming for.

    2. Getting some momentum going via friends be family. You need to show there’s already interest over a short period of time when you start conversations, and you need to signal that that interest is growing each time you have an additional meeting with a potential investor.

    3. Reach out to local angels, rotary clubs, and adjacent businesses. Family offices are also a decent target. At the end of every meeting with a new potential investor ask them if there’s anyone they can introduce you to that might be interested in participating in your raise.

    4. Be prepared to take 3-6 months to close your round and at a more conservative valuation due to existing market conditions and the fact that we’re already at the end of the year and most people are already in a “holiday mindset” work wise.

  • gc1@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Do you have any customers or revenue? The best thing you could do for yourself is to get some, even if only as proof of concept. This would help validate for potential investors that you’ve actually built something people will pay for. It will also help you figure out which of your assumptions are right and what’s missing – in other words to be more specific about what you need money for. You should do all the initial sales yourself (not hire a sales person) for this reason.

    If you get some traction this way, you can either raise money or maybe join an accelerator.

  • meme_throwaway@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I can’t offer anything constructive for your question; but I’d love to hear from you what you’re point of view on that industry. Was Convoy just stupid somehow? Given they’re a brokerage that makes a fee on transactions, I was surprised that they ceased to exist entirely vs. layoffs.

  • yevo_@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I may be interested - I’m in the trucking compliance industry and could potentially be interested.

  • LiekLiterally@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Accelarators might be what you’re looking for. They help (usually) with a bunch of stuff, including introductions to investors for the next phase.

    Accelerators might be what you’re looking for. They help (usually) with a bunch of stuff, including introductions to investors for the next phase.