Let’s start with the advantages of having a ton of resources at your disposal. Wouldn’t it be great to have a cool office, a secretary, the best equipment available and a salary to keep you going? Think of how you could get things done. Sweet, huh?
Maybe, but that luxury comes with a price in the entrepreneurial world. Salaried, well-funded blokes and dames aren’t forced to bootstrap. That means they aren’t forced to build a very efficient business. They tend to keep everything close to the vest and rarely seek valuable collaborators that can further a businesses efficiencies and add value through their unique perspectives. And with a desperation-mitigating salary, they tend to leave work earlier and lunch longer.
Another issue is focus. Broke blokes and dames can’t afford to lose it. They don’t chase after anything outside of greatest potential. They can’t afford to.
I’m reminded of my geology teacher/ successful oil man professor who told his students that if they want a good job, go for the master’s in geology degree. Downside to that, he added, was that the employer would pay them just enough to avoid risk. Start working with a BS in geology and you’ll be happy to, maybe even forced to seek revenue anywhere you can. His most successful students did just that.
Having said that, money is needed at some point. But dough seems to follow the aggressive, lean, well organized, well-networked businesses. If you need $3 million to market your business, make sure your business can get it and demonstrate that it has the organization to spend it wisely, effectively. The broke entrepreneur is great at building this type of fundable business. Demonstrating this ability is part of the lean startup DNA.
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