Start-Up Funding (Under $20,000)

[George Bowser, Jr.]

This may seem like an odd question, as most start-up funding goes from $100,000 and above, but if you know of any funding opportunities for providing funding for start-ups for under $20,000, then forward me in the right direction.
No credit cards or home equity available, and my family members will not fund anything unless they can see the $signs immediately.

[Jason Wishard]

I would have to say that Y! Combinator is the only thing I can think of in the sense of small capital. Most of the times, with capital requirements that small, you should think about finding an angel investor. Have any rich uncle's? Outside of that, early stage funding is tightening up these days. With the current economic climate, most VC firms are shoring up solid and more stable ideas at this point, not small or early stage ones. Do not be discouraged. I'm in the middle of a start-up and we are bootstrapping it. This is the best climate to start a business, but getting money is tight right now. The folks over at Amplifier Networks have some great resources. Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Jason

[George Bowser, Jr.]

Jason,
Thanks for your help. I will look into the two mentioned organizations you mentioned.

Thanks,

George

[Jason Wishard]

Sure thing! Also check out LaunchBox Digital: http://www.launchboxdigital.com/

Thanks,
Jason

[Martin Ringlein]

What would you do with less than $20,000 realistically? You can't really support a full-time salary for an employee or do any 'serious' marketing. It seems to be like the only thing to accomplish with under $20k would be service oriented; design and development.

If that is the case, my recommendation is find a small local design and/or dev shop and do an equity deal. It can be a great situation; the agency gets to work at cost and you generally get faster more quality service as the agency is personally invested.

I've seen it done a few times in the past.

[George Bowser, Jr.]

Martin, the $20,000 is the cost to design the website. The website incorporates certain features and technologies which will make it self-revenue generating.
Also, from an advertising perspective, I can handle that initially alone. I have other features that I will add in the future which is when I will add employees, and/or when the site gets at least 50,000 visitors/month.
These agencies you are speaking of, do you have any specific names, whether in the D.C. area (Northern, VA) or in Hampton Roads area? Any information is helpful and thanks for your response.

George

[Martin Ringlein]

My company does this a few times a year with interesting start-ups. Unfortunately, because the deals are primarily equity based it is hard to take on too many opportunities; regardless of how exciting.

I suggest reaching out to a couple independent freelancers; perhaps here or at some of the refresh-dc events. If on a budget, don't sacrifice on quality; just have a little more of a flexible schedule and perhaps invest personally time in building your own team of independent freelancers that can work together for an equity deal.

[Couch Tycoon]

there actually is a startup funding site where you can raise 20k for your startup. our couchtycoon.net website launched just a couple of weeks ago..