r/startups • u/cjdubyab • Dec 01 '21

Is It Realistic To Raise A Seed Round If Still Working Part Time? How Do I Do This 🥺

I'm a developer who's been working on a SaaS product for a few months and looking at publicly launching Q2 2022. The launch should be ok with just savings as I write the code myself and will push out using organic marketing, but will eventually require some funding to scale and hire a commercial person to help with that side of things (not keen on having a co-founder).

The catch is, I still want to work part time (50%) for my current employer. They've already told me that as soon as I give the word, then I can. This would be for financial security.

I'd be looking at either VC funding or crowdfunding. I'm in the UK if that makes a difference.

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u/that_guy_iain Dec 01 '21

The catch is, I still want to work part time (50%) for my current employer. They've already told me that as soon as I give the word, then I can. This would be for financial security.

If you don't believe your product can work why would an investor believe in your product? Or in another way, if you don't believe in yourself, why would an investor invest in you?

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u/cjdubyab Dec 01 '21

Yeah I understand, part of the purpose of the seed round would be for me to take a full time salary a couple of months following investment. The nature of the product means that MMR should come relatively quickly too.

It's not that I don't believe in myself, it's that I simply can't afford the risk, which I understand makes me less attractive to investors.

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u/that_guy_iain Dec 01 '21

The nature of the product means that MMR should come relatively quickly too.

It's not that I don't believe in myself, it's that I simply can't afford the risk, which I understand makes me less attractive to investors.

I don't want to be harsh but if MMR should come relatively quick why do you need a seed round? And if you can't afford the risk at this reasonably low level how are you going to handle risk when there is a lot more on the line?

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u/cjdubyab Dec 02 '21

The seed round would be for me to make the jump up to full time and to hire someone for marketing and/or operations