BIO: Tech founder, LinkedIn influencer, Metaverse architect, community builder, advisor and consultant to web3 and blockchain projects, philanthropist, and lover of dogs - it’s LinkedIn’s (beloved) “Crytpo Guy” Cory Warfield!
STORY: Cory spent so much time and emotions trying to raise capital for his company instead of focusing on generating revenue from a product that was already selling.
LEARNING: Focus on producing revenue, and investors will come knocking.
“If you ask for money, you get advice. But if you ask for advice, you get money.”
Cory Warfield
Guest profile
Tech founder, LinkedIn influencer, Metaverse architect, community builder, advisor and consultant to web3 and blockchain projects, philanthropist, and lover of dogs - it’s LinkedIn’s (beloved) “Crytpo Guy” Cory Warfield!
Worst investment ever
Cory’s made his worst investment ever as a first-time founder trying to raise capital. Raising about $800,000 for his company caused the demise of the company. Cory spent so much time and emotion creating pitch decks trying to raise money.
After he raised the capital, the funders came in and hired all sorts of unnecessary staff. They also scrapped Cory’s MVP, which was earning revenue, and instead spent a lot of money launching an inferior product.
Cory believes that had he instead spent that time trying to find ways to increase revenue, the company could have raised that $800,000 quicker. The company would have had enough capital to scale the way he had wanted it to. Now Cory bootstraps every venture he’s part of.
Lessons learned
- The best investment that an early-stage company can get is revenue. When you have customers putting their money into your product, you’ll have enough validation, and investors will throw money at you.
- In addition to revenue, building a community is even more important. And if you offer value to that community, you can monetize it.
Andrew’s takeaways
- Focus on sales and generating profit so that you can bootstrap your start-up instead of just raising capital to run it.
Actionable advice
If you are pursuing investment capital, don’t appease or kiss investors’ butts. Just act like they’re no big deal. Psychologically, it makes them start to bid on you in their own mind. It makes them want that deal.
No.1 goal for the next 12 months
Cory’s goal for the next 12 months is to help as many people as possible get into the metaverse. He wants to help them create their own meta worlds, communities, and other metaverses and environments. He wants to see more people embrace this new world happening in real-time.
Parting words
“If you’re wondering whether or not you should go for it. I think the answer is always very simple: go for it.”
Cory Warfield
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