Protect & Leverage Your Intellectual Property

First, Get Customers

Get customers first. If you can find customers, you're going to find investment.

So many times, I talk with start-up founders, and they're like, "If could only get the money, if I could get 10 million dollars, I could build this thing and we could go get our customers."

In every pitch contest that you ever go to, if you ask any judge or anyone that does any judging, "Why did you pick the winner?" It's always "They had an existing customer base. They have already proven it was..."

So if you can go out and take your concept, and get customers around it, people willing to pay money for the idea that you have, you are far more likely to attract investment. You are far more likely to be able to grow your idea. You are far more likely to make it successful.