Venture capital isn’t a business model

Plenty of companies have gotten lots of attention for attracting millions of investor dollars and even more users that aren’t paying. But here’s a secret that may be reassuring to anyone starting a company: To build a successful business, you don’t need either group.

That’s one takeaway from the Tomorrow Toolkit, a 20,000 word, 20-chapter ebook Technical.ly published with support from Comcast NBCUniversal. The recently updated ebook offers best practices from startup leaders in cities around the country on starting and scaling a young company in today’s highly collaborative startup environment.

Taking outside capital to fuel fast growth is a major, even celebrated, part of what we at Technical.ly see as the life cycle of growing startups today. But for an entrepreneur, that investment round often means giving up ownership and suddenly higher expectations. Capital is just one of the factors in the push and pull between figuring out a business model and fueling growth.

The ebook dives into this and other major parts of growing a company. Here are a few other lessons that stand out that you should take on yourself:

• Taking outside investment isn’t the only way to put money into a growing business, says Delaware Technology Park’s Mike Bowman. There are plenty of other options explained in this chapter.
• Building a business on revenue of paying customers is a time-proven, if less glamorous, strategy. Digital Marketing Strategist Len Markidan explains how to get money from the start.
• Even if you decide to take venture capital, many investors want to see signs of interest from customers or revenue, said Niles Heron of Michigan Funders.

Think of it this way: For those who take investment dollars, it’s just a down payment to go prove that their business works.