I don't think the message is clear in the startup industry (yes, industry). The startup industry gives a lot of noise to inexperienced founders (obviously the great majority) making them think the game is more even.
The corollary are the following questions:
- What a founder without VC connections should do?
- How long will it take?
Even if they have a super product in mind (not a time machine) they will have an annoying experience pitching VCs who doesn't have any idea of what you are talking about.
Fair point. I have noticed a drastic lack of good startup advice outside of the Bay Area and Seattle scene. Both those two have very entrenched entrepreneurship networks so information percolates
> what a founder without VC connections should do
Network, network, network.
Finding a VC is the same process as finding your first customer. Sales is a grind, as is running a company. It acts as a filtering function to find seriousish players.
> How long will it take?
If you raise funding, at least 10-15 years to even get the chance to potentially list or get a high 9 figure low 10 figure acquisition.
This is the most common piece of advice all VCs and Founders give. Even YC has called it out on multiple occasions