I am from a 3rd world country but with a proven business track record… In a country where the average person earns about $250 a month and about $400-$600 a month on the higher side, I’ve managed to turn $300 into $150,000+ in cash over the course of about 4-5 years so this wouldn’t be my first time in a business venture. Now, I’m about to venture off into a business that I’ve been thinking about for 10+ years and I’m about to do it on my own. Within the confines of my country, I estimate I can make just about $7-8000 a month net on the lower side with this business (the operating cost for this would be next to nothing as it doesn’t require any staff, any brick and mortar location - maybe a domain hosting costs, and advertisement cost which is very cheap here so that’s about it); The goal however is to take this worldwide (it’s a digital service that works worldwide) and this however will require a certain amount of operating cost and initial investment. I know the rational thing to do is to prove the model here and then look for an investor which makes it easier to approach the investor so that’s exactly what I’ll do, but what I don’t know how to do is FIND an investor preferably in the US in the AI field. Any advice?
Bootstrap it. It will take longer but you won’t have to give up any control to investors. You seem like you’re in a great position. I’d bootstrap the entire thing until I got big enough that someone wanted to buy me out. And I’d let them.
I have to agree with this. It sounds like you’re well positioned to just bootstrap it.
Yes, as hard as it sounds (and is) you should bootstrap. There is always a way. Find it. It will take longer, and feel harder, but if you’ve been thinking about it for 10 years, whats another 1-2 years extra. Your future self will thank you.
One more thing- You should question your assumption that what works in your home country will scale globally. Western economies and mindests are very different from 3rd world countries. Consider this.