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The lessons I got out of this
- Time is also an asset/resource and must be managed
- Decide on a business concept, write out the basics, then go shopping for a good team who'll do the planning for you.
- Talk is cheap. A lot of people talk, but it's the ones who'll back up their talk with their wallets that need to be focused on. Many people like a good business idea and would like to invest. Don't mistake this for people who will invest.
- Dealing with professional investors might be hard, but it's far better. They'll find flaws in your plan, which is like free advice which will pay you millions, and they'll be efficient with time. They can make a decision based on business thinking, not emotion.
- Secure your own financial situation before attempting anything like this. My idiocy jeopardised the entire business. I now had to spend capital I was to use to open the business, and it severely limited the time frame to open it.
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I like those points. You could have forward sold the promise of salary to people. Using the agreement as a backing. But I know exactly what you are talking about in almost all of the points above.
Talk is cheap? Yes, indeed. This goes with customers too and proving the concept. Unless the customer signs the agreement or actually pay you money, they are not proving your concept. So many people have presented deals for me to invest in and almost 90% of them has not proven the concept at all. Almost all of them say "I think people will buy" or "I have this and this many people who say they will buy when we have the business up and running". No good, a joke.
Institutional investors. They are tuff to deal with, but as you say: They see the faults and downfalls. Good walls to bounce your ideas against (even in times when you want to strangle them...
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The last point is also important. The first rule in start-up business is: "Don't spend money until you make them". Test small and if it works on that level you might have something to build something on. Use the revenue from the first customers to fund the rest (for marketing etc).