What is the 'great entrepreneurial lie?' That it's all about the money


By: Charlie Brock, ACA Member, Launch Tennessee

Over the last five years as the CEO of Launch Tennessee, too often I’ve seen founders raise angel or seed funding, develop a product line and a small customer-base, but not gain any real traction.  

First, they’re discouraged, and soon they’re out of cash. The worst part? They’ve convinced themselves, and often their board, that if they just raise that next round of funding, life will be good, and the company will be on track for success.

Here’s the reality, entrepreneurs: It’s not all about the money. In fact, that is the great entrepreneurial lie. Building a lasting business and brand is all about the hustle, and if you don’t have what it takes to give it your all, you’re not going to make it.

I began my own entrepreneurial journey at Foxmark Media in 1998, and I’ll be the first to admit that thanks to some personal capital from the sale of a family business along with four generations of family connections with prospective angel investors in the community, I had a leg up. For several years, I was able to bootstrap and take minimal to no salary.

Recognizing the limitations on my personal funding capacity, I got out there and hustled every single day to build a viable business worthy of funding from other people’s pockets.

When I didn’t have enough capital to hire a sales team, I spent nearly all my time making calls and driving to small markets across the region to get my product through the door.

While on the road visiting our properties to gin up sales, I also got to play part-time operations, schlepping light bulbs and 4-by-6 printed ads to change out in our backlit displays.

Many Friday nights I came home to my wife and three young daughters after a week on the road, exhausted and questioning whether this was ever going to work. I considered giving up and going back to the corporate world.

But, we kept working, and revenues continued to increase, eventually reaching $1 million by year four. We raised two rounds of capital during this time. We were then off to the races and experienced exponential growth the next four years before selling the business.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve advised founders on how to build new companies from the ground up. The break-neck speed at which companies launch has left even more founders wrongly seeing capital as a cure-all.

They think they can build a successful company just by getting more follow-on capital and boosting their sales and marketing. While that may be true in some situations, often success comes from founders getting out the door, getting in front of prospective customers and showing that their product is needed in the market.

Build the customer base and the capital will flow much easier and at higher valuations.

If you’re looking to develop and hone all the skills it takes to grow your startup, then I invite you to come to Launch Tennessee’s 36|86 Entrepreneurship Festival, which returns to downtown Nashville, Wednesday and Thursday.

There you can learn more about how to validate your product-market fit, hear about alternative forms of capital and network with fellow founders and business leaders from across the country.

You’ll leave with the tools to build, scale and execute. And, by the way, if you are ready for outside capital, 36|86 is the best opportunity in the Southeast each year, as we’ll have over 150 different investors in attendance from all over the country.

Each of those prospective investors will want to see evidence of your entrepreneur hustle before committing their funds. What do you have to show them?

Charlie Brock is CEO and president of Launch Tennessee.

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