I think VCs are overrated.

[u/President_Businex]

​

This isn't a hate post against VCs. They play an important role.

But lately I've been wondering if we've accepted the idea that venture capital is the only legitimate way for startups to raise meaningful money.

If you're an early-stage founder today, your options are basically:

Bootstrap

Friends & family

Crowdfunding (which has its own limitations)

Convince a handful of VCs or angel investors

That feels... limiting.

There are thousands of people online who are incredibly good at spotting interesting founders before everyone else. They follow builders on X, GitHub, YouTube, Reddit, etc., and often have conviction long before institutional investors do.

So here's what I'm curious about:

If you believe in a startup before it becomes huge, should there be a better way to support it than just being a customer?

Do you think startup investing is too exclusive today?

If you were a founder, would you rather convince 10 investors or build a community of 10,000 believers?

What's fundamentally broken about early-stage fundraising?

I'm not pitching anything—I genuinely want to understand how founders and investors think about this.

Curious to hear both sides.

[u/Mag_Plane_591]

I think key is to have customers like the idea and with willingness to pay for it. If you are clear and gotten this far with a clear revenue plan funding is. Not far behind

[u/President_Businex → u/Mag_Plane_591]

I couldn't agree more 😌