I was all for bootstrapping until I raised 500k

(Picture above shows Putra, who is CEO of LandX, and I incorporating the company in Jakarta)

I am bad at fund-raising. A backchannel source told me that I am uninvestable because I look like a person who will rip my investors off.

Then I raised half a million dollars for NuMoney, which is now LandX, and LandX is doing phenomenally well, mostly because we had cash in the bank. Success begets success, and cash is the seed of success. I intend to raise 10M more for LandX.

But it wasn't always like that. I used to think the talent was all I need. However, after a few spectacular failures (Kloudsec, SilvrBullet, Javelin Browser), I figured it was mostly luck and plenty of perseverance that leads to success.

My point is, don't be young Steven. I got rejected a few times, got butthurt and decided that I will build a great business without help externally. I'm wrong because I will always need help externally even if it does not involve fund-raising. Be it sales, or hiring, or a simple favor to ask from a friend, I will always need help. So to get good at business, I will have to learn how to ask for money.

If anyone is serious about building a business, like I am, then he/she must learn how to fund-raise. I will figure out how to fund-raise better. If you are an entrepreneur, you should too.

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