Funding Strategy Quotes

I have learned, if you give a team a budget, then the team tries to maximise the budget so that they get the same next year.

It's definitely an interesting question: 'Do you need more funding to start a luxury business?' That's something I want to think about a little bit more.

Never base your budget requests on realistic assumptions, as this could lead to a decrease in your funding.

Donald Trump talks about how he's not going to be controlled by the moneyed interests. Do people understand that he's not giving money to his campaign, he's loaning it because he expects to get money back from those same big donors he decries right now? He's planning on running a general election based upon raising money from those very people.

You can go raise the money outside of the industry, and then what you're doing is fighting with your money to get back into the industry, or for them to use your money instead of their own. So, you got to figure out how to do it within the flow of the industry.

The second thing we did was said, OK, we've now identified the risk, but what do you want to do with the money? Because it's not enough to have risk; you've got to have a meaningful use for the money we give you.

As far as funding and building a team, you being romantically involved with your cofounder really shouldn't play a factor in how you run the company and how you create a team or find resources. It's all about the partnership.

The Wellcome Trust will retain a level of financial flexibility which will enable us to react quickly to unexpected developments and new ideas.

I think just calling up a VC and saying 'I want to pitch you' is an enormous waste of time.

We raised $10 million in 2011. Our rule was, we wouldn't accept money from anybody we didn't want to have dinner with.

The right algorithm is to put off seeking funds for as long as physically possible. And in an ideal world, a startup would never have to seek funds at all.

Your campaign shouldn't just die the day you spend your last cent.

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.

Raise as little as you can to get you to something that you can show - plus maybe a quarter or two so you have a little bit of cushion - and then raise some more money. Raise as little - not as much - as you can because that's the most expensive equity you're going to sell.

Most of our funding goes to organizations and is then used to leverage the private sector.

Too many startups get in the habit of continually raising more and more money, which has the deleterious effect of both pushing out profitability and limiting your exit options. The less rounds of capital you need to raise, the more of your company you get to own.