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“More money, more success” has long been the founder's driving force fundraising strategies. But a paradoxical truth is emerging: sometimes, less money can lead to better, more sustainable businesses.
When VCs infuse startups with significant capital early on, it's usually accompanied by a large valuation. It creates tremendous pressure. As a founder, I've experienced the challenge of raising a large round and then dealing with the expectations that come with it.
Now, as an investor, I'm focused on fostering a startup environment with little less noise. I want the companies I invest in to focus on solving meaningful problems, rather than being constantly distracted by the lure of the next big thing.
Investing less money in promising startups may seem like a counterintuitive approach, but it forces us to rethink the role of venture capital in nurturing successful companies.
Related: I was a founder before I became an investor – here's how it shaped my investment strategy
Downsides of overfunding
In 2021, $345 billion in capital investment were made in the US, but that number dropped to $170.6 billion in 2023, leading to extensive layoffs across the technology industry.
The reasons for the downtown were driven by broader economic concerns after the pandemic and an industry-wide realization that capital was being spread too freely at valuations that companies could not justify. Startups were raising large rounds at high valuations, often before proving there was any real demand for their product. While access to capital is essential for growth, excess funding can be detrimental to early-stage startups. Overfunded companies often scale too quickly, hire aggressively, and expand into new markets before establishing product-market fit.
Abundant resources can lead to wasteful spending: excessive benefits, lavish marketing and lack of focus on key business objectives. Success in the early stages of a business often requires a survival mindset, which is easier to cultivate when funds are scarce. In my last venture, my company was behind in delivering our product to a Fortune 500 customer. We were eight months away from shipping our product. The delays were affecting our ability to learn and demonstrate progress. We didn't have the runway to support another few months without any product on the market. So my team and I got together and finished building the hardware ourselves. We got our hands dirty because we couldn't afford to wait. We found a way to ship a small batch of product in four months.
Saving time gave us the opportunity to improve our product and develop valuable relationships with other customers. The resulting lessons helped us raise our next round. If we had waited, we risked losing new customers and proving that our product worked well enough before we needed to raise funds again.
When every dollar counts, you're more likely to do whatever it takes to survive.
How capital constraints drive innovation
In addition to forcing a survival mentality, limited resources can be a catalyst for innovation in a new company. Startups with less cash in the bank should focus on their most critical goals, driving strategic decision-making and encouraging people to solve problems on the cheap.
There will always be downward pressure on a business market for smaller, faster and cheaper products.
With fewer resources, startups are often more customer focusedprioritizing feedback from existing customers over extensive marketing efforts. This approach can lead to a better product-market fit earlier in the company's life cycle. Startups that operate under these constraints often maintain leaner, more efficient operations, avoiding the pitfalls of overstaffing and subsequent layoffs.
Many companies with lower VC investment have operated this way and been extremely successful. Mailchimp was funded by bootstrap until its $12 billion acquisition by Intuit in 2021. They grew organically by focusing on customer needs and reinvesting profits. Atlassian only raised $210 million before going public with a valuation of $4.4 billion, proving that capital efficiency can lead to significant returns. And in front of 7.5 billion dollars acquisition by MicrosoftGitHub raised just $350 million, maintaining a lean performance while becoming the world's leading software development platform.
Related: 3 reasons why lack of funding can become your startups secret weapon
The long-term impact of capital efficiency
Capital efficiency doesn't just benefit individual startups; it has far-reaching implications for the entire startup ecosystem. When startups learn to do more with lessthey contribute to a culture of sustainability and resilience within the technology industry. This shift from growth at all costs to more measured and thoughtful expansion can lead to healthier competition, where companies are judged on their actual progress rather than inflated valuations.
Capital-strapped startups are also better positioned to weather economic downturns, reducing the risk of widespread layoffs and shutdowns that could destabilize the industry. This approach also encourages a more even distribution of venture capital, as funds are distributed based on proven momentum rather than speculative advertising, which can lead to more diverse and inclusive investments.
A new model for venture capital
As the industry evolves, I see this approach becoming more common – VCs are starting to tailor funding amounts to a startup's specific needs and growth stage, rather than pushing for larger rounds. More VCs are offering practical functionality instructionhelping startups make the most of their limited resources and supporting them through longer growth cycles rather than pushing for quick exits.
The venture capital paradox challenges us to reexamine the relationship between funding and success. By doing more with less, we can create a more sustainable startup ecosystem. As we move forward, both founders and investors must strike the right balance between growth and efficiency, ensuring that future startups are built on solid foundations and not just hype and excessive capital.