Startups Anonymous Est. 2013 · Read-only archive
Questions

How do I go about finding/letting potential investors know about my Billion Dollar website idea?

In particular, how do i get someone interested, without giving away the farm? NDA’s don’t seem to be worth that much, though you need one to start with. Seems like it would be pretty easy to just take my website idea and replicate it worldwide very easily, given the right funding. But…if I am first to market and have the domain(s) acquired in each market area there is a never before tapped market with huge sums to be made 24/7/365.

And…I’d really prefer to deal with Sand Hill Road types as opposed to funding out of Charlotte, Chicago, Boston, etc.

11 answers from the community

AAnonymous· Mar 22, 2015

Why do you need investors? Why can't you just build the website and pocket one billion yourself?

AAnonymous· Mar 23, 2015

Why don't you file for a patent and then spill the beans? Then when they realize what an awesome idea it is to pay you. Bazillion bugs for the patent.

AAnonymous· Mar 23, 2015

So many wantrepreneurs.

AAnonymous· Mar 23, 2015

+1

AAnonymous· Mar 24, 2015

++1

AAnonymous· Mar 27, 2015

++1

Being scared of sharing your idea just raises huge red flags.

If you cant execute like a ninja its worth nothing....and it's really fucking hard to execute well.

AAnonymous· Mar 23, 2015

The best way to do this is to physically go to Sand Hill Road. Most VCs have open office hours in which they prioritize out of town visitors in the hopes that they can find the next unicorn. Just give them a call and find out what they offer and make sure you tell them that you've got a huge idea brewing. That usually gets them excited.

AAnonymous· Mar 23, 2015

There is no such thing as a billion dollar domain name.

There can be billion dollar companies built, but it is the aggregation of users to a domain name which creates the billion dollar company, not a billion users magically flocking to a domain name. That's why we have billion dollar companies called Uber, Yahoo, Google, etc and not Love.com or Work.com or 1A.com or whatever.

As for seeking funding vs. protecting your idea: you cannot do both. Whatever legal documents you sign - even if they're bulletproof (which none of them are), you don't have the money to prosecute lawsuits. If you did, you wouldn't be seeking funding.

As for the Sand Hill - VCs of all stripes, in all regions, look for large investments. They don't do seed level - it is both too small and too risky. Do you have a believable plan to take millions to build to the billions? Do you have the pedigree that they would assign any credibility to you whatsoever? Do you have a team that only drives to work because walking on water is too tiring?

If you don't have all of that - and I do mean ALL - don't even bother.

AAnonymous· Mar 24, 2015

You need to build the da*m concept and start experimenting. You have no idea, people will even like your idea. Get back with us in about 2 months ( ? )

AAnonymous· Mar 24, 2015

To whichever fake entrepreneur is dispensing advice such as Sand Hill VCs don't do seed rounds, please know what you're talking about before polluting the minds of others who have no idea what they're doing. Seed investing amongst VCs is all the rage these days and many Sand Hill VCs find placing relatively small bets on a larger set of companies to be a worthwhile endeavor especially because it gets these VCs the right to invest in the next round should the company gain traction. Money is plentiful these days at the early stages if you have the pedigree, track record, connections, or concept that piques interest.

AAnonymous· Mar 24, 2015

If you have the pedigree and track record - raising millions is hardly a normal seed round. Unfortunately, there aren't many people with that compared to the ones who don't - and for the ones who don't, Sand Hill is a waste of time.