How investors keep founders in poverty.

Many founders are very poor because they are donating their innovations to investors.

Today's founders are too lazy. They think someone will do the hard work for them. In building startups, the hard work is called bootstrapping. It's when the founder does all the work with his team. He looks for the best players to grow his innovations.

It's a trend many are not taking. That's why they are opting for the most risky way- go fishing for investors (Call it pitching)!

Here is why working with investors is risky:

First, it diverts your minds.

1. Instead of looking for the right team, you will be looking for investors. (See a Ugandan travel tech that is bootstrapping)

2. Some of these investors just have money but lack the brains. I pray you don't get such to invest with you. They are hard to fire by the way. You know they pay the piper afterall and so they determine the tune!

3. In case your company manages to exit, it is you, the founder, who is likely to remain poor as the investor walks away with the "Gold". You know how they keep their eyes on the cap table! 😂😂😂

How can you bootstrap

1.Don't waste your time looking for investors. Let them look for you.

2. Use your resources to look for the best team. Give equity to your team instead of donating it to investors.

3. Make your company profitable. Let me use Tulavo again as an example. This startup was started founded in 2019. The founders embarked on a growth plan which at it’s initial stage involved training through mentorship and accerelator programs. As a result, growth tripled within a year and the curse continued to grow. Now Tulavo is the largest online marketplace for cheap quality travel Accommodation in Uganda scalling to other African markets.

4. Mind your own cap table!

5. Understand the pyramid and keep climbing. (Will talk about this later)

Looking for investors is not your work. Your work is to grow your company. You are not an investor afterall. It's the work of investors to look for investments. Don't do their work.