Guy Kawasaki Quotes

I hear so many startups talking about how they can raise VC instead of questioning whether they need it in the first place.

A savvy entrepreneur will not always look for investment money, first.

With tech startups, it's all loose-goosie. You raise money as you go, often from friends, family and investors.

I don't understand why young entrepreneurs feel this pressure to take venture capital or go public. Don't get me wrong: Public companies are A-OK with me. I just think there is another way. Staying private is a lot more sane.

It was a struggle financing CNN, but I did it without ever asking the government for a nickel.

One thing I'm so grateful for is sidestepping the usual venture capital, private equity route. My friends who have gone that way are many times beholden to their boards of directors, to 'sell' ideas to a team.

Startups are constantly raising money, sometimes before they have even hired a lawyer.

I would say raising capital is one of the weakest things for most entrepreneurs.

Financing is always the hard part, especially if you don't have friends or family to back you, which was my case and the case for most designers.

It can be difficult to find investment for a new business, particularly one which is highly innovative or breaks new ground.

It is very hip to be an angel investor now. There used to be a dozen, two dozen guys at these demo days writing checks. Now there are hundreds.

I've been investing in and funding myself since day one.

When I'm raising money, this fundraising, I'm thinking about the next fundraising. I'm thinking how I'm set up for it.

Only morons start a business on a loan?

Generally, you want to raise capital either when you have to or when it's really easy. If the company desperately needs money, and they can't figure out any other way, then they need to raise money. Or if someone's offering you easy money on good terms, you should take it because you can use it for good things.

We don't manage money for anyone else. We bear responsibility only for our own risks.

If you're a teenager in Palo Alto launching an app, you know from the outset how you plan to finance your business.

If you don't have savings, and your co-founders are as poor as you are, and if Mom and Dad won't loan you money, then your best bet is to find people that know you - your friends. If they, too, won't help, then you're stuck seeking out angel investors.

I think this is also a great time to invest in private equity, helping companies grow from the ground up.

Sometimes people think Y Combinator has big ideas about themes. But really, we just fund the best startups.

I started LearnVest with a tiny savings account where I paid designers, technologists, and even bartered... Because I started with paying for things myself with my own savings, it sharpened my focus of how to spend money.

So many people wait around for funding, and if they're unsuccessful, they don't make the film; if you've got a good idea, that seems so pointless. There's always a way of doing it; you've just got to find it.

I'm used to doing big undertakings with my own money.

I started Shutterstock without any outside funding; I believe in creating a lean startup. By not taking outside investors early, I was forced to use every dollar I had as efficiently as possible. And I was able to keep a large part of the company.

No man has ever paid a single bill in my life - I didn't want it.