Need investments…here’s a different type

Just happened to come across a company called Prototypeinvest . Their website says that they can be considered as a venture capital firm ,but with a difference. The capital input here is in terms software , web applications and guidance instead of capital . And in return they will pick up some equity. They will build prototypes which you can use improve your pitch to potential investors.This is indeed something very interesting .

Assume that I have a great, terrific idea in mind ( I said assume !), for a web application.Now I have started working on this. My B-plan ,the financials are almost done and I also have a nice and crisp powerpoint ready. Now the question arises , do I need some kind of proto now or it can wait. A lot of people will say a definite yes to it, a proto with the powerpoint will make an better and a complete pitch. And at the same time , it will help me visualize things better. I might go back to my Bplan and tweak a few things here and there. Now comes the cost of development of the prototype .

Since I don’t know anything about web development , I will have to look for an external aid. Either I have it done by paying someone or go to prototypeinvest. The first the thing is confidentiality. I couldn’t find anything on the website of prototypeinvest how they are going to take care of that.If I am choosing an external vendor to develop a proto for me I will doubly check for confidentiality and most probably draw up a legal document.

And second part is the equity sharing. I am somehow not very comfortable with this . I would go to them only if I am totally cash strapped. I don’t think a prototype development would require a lot of investment , but what maybe of interest can be what value add they can do beyond proto development.

Their site says ” We build amazing custom prototypes and can help you pitch investors (generally within our extensive network)” . If they can do it effectively then it really makes an interesting case. And if they are doing a complete product development ,it still makes it better. There is no mention of any success stories on the site , but I would eager to know more about this. In fact I was discussing with a friend today on what VC’s look for in a founding team. We all know about the merits of a team with complementary skill sets, but building a team is easier said than done. But in ventures where technology may only be of minor importance , I would rather go to a prototypeinvest then to look for a techie who is willing to undertake entrepreneurship journey. It would be interesting to follow this and see how the concept fares. Do I see some local guys jumping into this soon ?

bad post for a bad site

Came across a site called induspreneur.com today. Someone had put it up for review on linkedin.

To start off induspreneur introduces itself as “Induspreneur is the first complete social networking platform for meeting Indian Entrepreneurs online. Although one of the key USP for Induspreneur.com is to help entrepreneurs connect with other Indian Entrepreneurs to build next killer app which will make world a better place, Induspreneur.com strives to be more than regular social networking and want to provide people involved in start up eco-system all the information they need to succeed in their goals.”

Well isn’t it a little too sugary syrupy introduction. “next killer app” to make the world better ??? Whats the plan guys . They may have their hearts in the right place but the execution is appalling . The UI seems to be lacking in all aspects. I don’t know if they were in a hurry to go live with whatever their graphics folks could turn out. And the more you start browsing through the site , the more annoying it becomes. Why am I anyway reviewing this site ….forget it . However I noticed something on linkedin. There is one response ( the last one )is where one person has spent quite an effort giving some tips on what these folks should do to improve the site. An tremendous effort , I really wonder from where did he muster so much of patience to do this. Now the induspreneur folks should go back and at least implement what the gentleman has suggested . Hope it will look better