Or alternately: the best way to raise is to develop your product/business. While "if you build it they will come" does not work well for (most) products, I have seen it sort of work for investors. If you have traction and something people want, it's not hard to get a meeting. Investors are also more interested if you don't absolutely need them. "I could bootstrap but I would like to accelerate" is a much more compelling pitch than "I have nothing, give me some money please." Put yourself in the investor's shoes-- who would you rather invest in?
From what I've seen, the only people who raise money on ideas are people with a string of past successes, killer top-tier credentials, or connections not obvious to an outsider (e.g. rich family). I call people who can raise on vapor like this "juiced." For the rest of us, you must have something much more substantial or you won't get in the door.
One thing that's neat about raising with something already there is that it's actually very meritocratic. You can be an unemployed bum who hasn't showered in a week, but if your "traction" graph goes nicely upward and to the right when plotted on a log scale, you can probably get a term sheet from someone. Growth trumps credentials any day.
From what I've seen, the only people who raise money on ideas are people with a string of past successes, killer top-tier credentials, or connections not obvious to an outsider (e.g. rich family). I call people who can raise on vapor like this "juiced." For the rest of us, you must have something much more substantial or you won't get in the door.
One thing that's neat about raising with something already there is that it's actually very meritocratic. You can be an unemployed bum who hasn't showered in a week, but if your "traction" graph goes nicely upward and to the right when plotted on a log scale, you can probably get a term sheet from someone. Growth trumps credentials any day.