First, no one is forcing anyone to take this money. You should only take the deal if you think it makes your company more valuable.
Anecdotally, I was offered $125k with similar terms from someone after they saw a prototype of a product I'm building. This person isn't a professional investor, doesn't have a network that adds value in this case, and doesn't have any name recognition. It was easy to turn down the money, although I did thank them and offer to reach out to them in a future fundraising round.
YC has an extensive investor database and a ton of name recognition. Every founder I've spoken to or heard from that went into YC says it was 100% the right trade to make.
Some founders have said that the moment they could say YC invested in them, they're hiring problems were dramatically reduced. Others have said they would have given up 7% just for the access to the advice and data they received as part of being in YC, plus the name recognition.
If you've built companies before I'd love to hear your take on fundraising and what you would consider fair.
Anecdotally, I was offered $125k with similar terms from someone after they saw a prototype of a product I'm building. This person isn't a professional investor, doesn't have a network that adds value in this case, and doesn't have any name recognition. It was easy to turn down the money, although I did thank them and offer to reach out to them in a future fundraising round.
YC has an extensive investor database and a ton of name recognition. Every founder I've spoken to or heard from that went into YC says it was 100% the right trade to make.
Some founders have said that the moment they could say YC invested in them, they're hiring problems were dramatically reduced. Others have said they would have given up 7% just for the access to the advice and data they received as part of being in YC, plus the name recognition.
If you've built companies before I'd love to hear your take on fundraising and what you would consider fair.