創業離不開朋友,家人和傻瓜大綱
Most entrepreneurs have learned that it's almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than angel investors or professional venture capitalists. In fact, most investors "require" that you already have some investment from friends and family before they will even step up to the plate.
大多數創業者都明白，比起獲得天使投資人或專業風險資本家的投資，從熟人那裏獲得資金幾乎總要更快更容易一些。事實上，大多數投資者都“要求”在他們着手研究相關項目之前，創業者已經從他的親朋好友那裏獲得了一些投資資金。
You see, investors invest in people, before they invest in ideas or products. Since they don't know you (yet), their first integrity check on you as a person is whether your friends and family believe in you strongly enough to give you seed money for your new idea. If they won't do it, they why would I as stranger invest in you?
衆所周知，投資者首先投資的是人，接下來纔是創意或產品。因爲投資者還不瞭解創業者，所以他們首先要對創業者的人品審查一番，看看他的親朋好友是否對他有足夠的信任，願意給他啓動新創意的種子資金。如果連親朋好友都不願意掏錢，對創業者一無所知的投資者憑什麼要向其投資呢？
Friends and family will likely not expect the same level of sophistication on the business model and financials as a professional investor, but they do expect to see certain things. Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools:
朋友和家人可能不會像專業投資者那樣，要求創業者出具複雜的商業模式和財務信息，但他們的確希望看到確鑿的東西。以下是創業者在求助於朋友、家人，甚或是錢多人傻的笨蛋之前需要認真思考的關鍵環節：
1. Don't be afraid to ask, carefully. If you set around quietly waiting for someone you know to offer you money to fund a startup, you will probably have a long wait. On the other hand, if you open every conversation with "I need money," you won't have any friends or any money. Practice your "elevator pitch," and end it by asking for the order.
1. 不要怕開口，言辭需謹慎。如果一位創業者安安穩穩地等待某位熟人爲他提供初創企業的啓動資金，他或許得熬上相當長一段時間。另一方面，假如創業者逢人就說：“我需要錢，”他恐怕連一個朋友都交不上，更別說籌措到資金了。創業者需要好好練習一下“電梯間演講”，把要錢的話放到最後來說。
2. Be upbeat and respectful. Nothing kills everyone's optimism and desire to help quicker than a negative or arrogant attitude. If they are going to put cash into your company, chances are that they will expect to spend a fair amount of time together, either helping you or certainly discussing progress. Nobody likes a downer.
2.生氣勃勃，畢恭畢敬。沒有什麼比消極傲慢的態度更能扼殺大夥的信心和提攜的意願。如果大夥打算把錢投入創業者的公司，他們很可能期望跟創業者呆上足夠長的時間，要麼爲他出謀劃策，要麼討論公司的進展。沒有人喜歡垂頭喪氣的傢伙。
3. Be passionate about the idea. Friends and family will quickly detect your level of sincerity and thought behind the idea. You need to convince them that you have been working on this vision for a long time, and have done the "due diligence" on all the potential knockoffs. Daydreams and "the idea of the moment" won't get much respect.
3.對創業點子充滿激情。朋友和家人很快就能察覺創業者對於創意的真摯程度和思考深度。創業者需要讓他們相信自己致力於這個願景已經有相當長的一段時間，並且對於所有潛在的風險都進行了“盡職調查”。白日夢和“靈光一現”不會得到太大的尊重。
4. Demonstrate progress and your own "skin in the game." Saying that you need money to start is not nearly as convincing as saying that you have built a prototype on your own dime, but need more to roll it out. We all know people who can talk a good game, but never get around to building anything.
4.展示進步和創業者“自身的資金投入”。與其說自己需要啓動資金，不如說自己已經自籌資金建立了一個樣板，但還需要資金將其推向市場，後者更有說服力。我們都見過這樣的人，他們說得天花亂墜，但從未付諸於行動。5. Ask for the minimum rather than the maximum. We would all love to have a million dollars of funding to "do it right" and build the company of our dreams. But your chances are minimal of finding someone who will give you that much to start. Set some milestones for three or four months out, and show what you can do, then ask for more.
5.融資按部就班，不求一蹴而就。我們都想獲得一百萬美元的融資，“一步到位”地建造自己夢想的公司。但創業者幾乎不可能找到一位願意出這麼多錢作爲啓動資金的人。以三四個月爲期設置一些里程碑，展示取得的成果，然後再要求進一步的投資。
6. Communicate the risks, and write down the agreement. Be honest with naive family members and friends about the inherent risks of a startup — at least 70% fail in the first five years. Don't take money from family or friends who can't afford to lose it. Think hard about the consequences of a possible startup failure and the loss of their funding.
6. 告知風險，立字爲據。一定要向天真的親朋好友們坦率的說明創業的固有風險——至少有70%的初創企業可能會在開張前5年倒閉！不要從無力承受損失的家人或朋友那裏拿錢。務必要仔細想想創業一旦失敗，資金投入損失殆盡的後果。
7. Show some incremental value along the way. Look for ways to get some traction with a minimal product, while you are still developing the main event. In high technology, this is called "release early and iterate," which allows you to make corrections as you go, as well as adjust for the market changes. It also shows progress to early backers.
7.一步一步地顯示遞增的價值。創業者依然在開發核心產品的時候，需要設法用外圍產品獲得市場的某種認同。在高科技領域，這叫做“儘早推出，查漏補缺（release early and iterate）”，這種方式可以讓創業者一邊開發產品，一邊根據市場變化對其進行修正，這樣做還可以讓早期的支持者看到企業的進步。
8. Network to build investor relationships before you ask for money. Having a real project, rather than just an idea, is a strong positive when networking for angels or VCs. Now you really have something to discuss, and real credibility as an entrepreneur. Build the friendship first, ask for advice on a real project, then maybe money later.
8.融資未動，人脈先行。結交天使投資人或風險資本家，建立人脈的時候，掌握一個實實在在的項目（而不僅僅是一個想法）可以帶來非常積極的效果。因爲，這樣才能切實擁有可資討論的東西，也才能算得上是名符其實的創業者。先跟投資人建立友誼，就手頭真是的項目想他們徵求意見，接下來或許就可以開口要錢了。
Overall, don't think of friends and family funding only as a last resort. There are massive advantages, like sharing profits with friends and family, as well as the strategic credibility than can be gained from funding from someone you know, rather than from a professional investor.
總體而言，不要僅僅只把家人和朋友僅僅視爲最後的資金渠道。從熟人（而不是一位職業投資者）那裏獲得創業資金可以帶來巨大的好處。它不僅可以讓親朋好友分享利潤，還能爲創業者積累起具有戰略性意義的信譽度。
I hope all of these points seem like common sense to you, and you wouldn't think of handling it any other way. Yet, I'm continually amazed at how often I am approached as a professional investor by strangers asking for a million dollars to fund an idea, without hitting even one of the above points.
我希望以上這些對有志創業的人來說都已經是常識，除此之外，別無他法。然而，作爲一位專業投資人，我經常碰到一些陌生人，上述幾點他們連一項都沒有做到，就來向我申請高達100萬美元的創業資金。這種事總是讓我驚訝不已。
We can all recount horror stories of families and friendships torn apart by money lost on someone else's speculative dream. In these cases both the entrepreneur and the funding partner are the fools. Don't be one.
我們都聽說過這樣的悲劇，一些人因爲別人的發財夢而蒙受經濟損失，最終撕裂了親情和友情。在這些故事中，充當傻瓜的不僅是創業者，還包括他們的融資夥伴。但願你不是!
