Chronicles Of A 50+ Entrepreneur: A Different Kind Of Investor

In the previous articles in this series I write about my experiences as a 50+ entrepreneur and advocate for boomer workers.

To say that we haven’t fit into a traditional venture fundraising silo is an understatement.

We’ve been content to spend this first year understanding the audience that we’re targeting. It’s indulgent and not part of the hyper-growth syndrome, at least not yet. I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past to understand product-market fit only to be completely wrong. It doesn’t need to be an expensive undertaking and you can get closer by simple interviews and outreach.

Talking to your audience in every way you can is the only way to know what is a fit. To know what the need and addressable market is, you have to be out there.

We think we know who the market is (for now) and we are now publishing and selling around this information. In fact, we’re going to turn that understanding into a product. A research paper we’ll put out next year about understanding the 50+ market. Very meta, eh?

While conducting the research, we’ve managed to stay standing by investing our own money and taking a small friends and family round. It’s a challenging approach, but there is plenty of evidence that companies are better off going this way in the early days and for as long as they can.

As we go out more publicly in this next year, we are ahead of the game having the research in our back pocket. We think this will resonate with partners, sponsors, and investors.

Don’t get me wrong, we need to finish out our friends and family round and prepare for an angel round next year. There are tradeoffs to operating on such a slim budget. I keep having all of the conversations from every introduction I get. If we’re not right for an investor today, we may be in the future and they will already know what we’re doing.

When a partner recently made an introduction to a family-based investor we of course took the call. They have successfully built a company and sold it and have made small investments in our space.

I had to think twice when they said that they weren’t interested in a “passive investment”. They have a plan for a company but they are also looking to potentially join with an existing company and have an active role. I wasn’t expecting that.

I am confident in my role as CEO of the company at this stage. I think the company needs my energy and earnestness to make our name in the world. I don’t think that I need to be in that management role forever. There are many who are more qualified than me that could take over as we grow in those high-level dealings. I don’t need to own that if they align with our general sensibilities and guiding principles.

I let the investor know that.

We will continue talking with this group. And, as always, by talking (or writing) about what we’re doing it opens new insights into our work.

Previous articles in the series:

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

More From Forbes

Chronicles Of A 50+ Entrepreneur: A Different Kind Of Investor