创业者内部网络是一个在线社区，美国创业领域最有思想、最具影响力的商界人士在此回答关于创业与职业的问题。今天我们的问题是：“你希望在创业之前对哪件事有所了解？”以下为SheWorx公司联合创始人丽莎·王的回答。

融资最大的误区在于，一个好想法理应并且能够获得投资。事实上，有想法的人大有人在，但如果没有合适的度量指标、适合的团队和正确的市场，一个执行不力的想法获得投资的几率将大大降低。

将投资想象成一个光谱。在这个光谱的一端是你的家人。不论你出售的是什么产品，他们都会给你投资，对他们来说，唯一重要的是你和你的想法。很可惜，这并非投资者的想法。在另外一端，假设你是一家在纽约证券交易所上市的公司，几乎没有人真正知道你，股东们只关心你的季度财务业绩。

这个图谱两端的区别是，一方看中的是公司的可量化指标，而另一方则单纯因为你本人而给你投资。那么，如何确保首次投资者会议获得实质性成功呢？

尽早开始小规模的试验

在公司发展初期，你并没有融资所需的度量指标。因此，你需要想方设法收集数据。这些测试可以非常简单，比如集合一群朋友，衡量他愿意为你的产品或服务付费的意愿，或者开发一个登录页面，查看是否有人愿意注册你公司的邮件列表。测试要尽量模拟现实，并且要包含与潜在客户的真实对话。测试的目标是让你在投资者会议上可以说：“我对这100个人的需求非常清楚，我知道他们是谁，下面是我学到的四件事，这是结果。”

你需要一款真实的产品，但在那之前，假装自己能够成功

真的可以不花费任何代价，便能证明你的点子会有人买账吗？当然可以。在购鞋网站Zappos发展初期，创始人到当地的鞋店，与店主讨价还价，拍摄店内鞋子的照片。他把照片发布到这家网站上，并承诺如果网上有人对产品感兴趣，他就会回来购买。果不其然，很快便有了订单，创始人频繁到鞋店买鞋。很快他开始给鞋子打上Zappos的标签，甚至将鞋子卖到了国外市场。这则故事有何寓意？他不仅没有店铺，而且在开始销售的时候根本没有库存。他没有承担任何库存风险，便证明了市场中的需求。

你能否打造出你出售的商品？如果不能，最好考虑其他的想法

思考你们公司的DNA。对于公司从事的行业，你是否真的拥有深厚的专长？正如全世界最成功的餐厅都由厨师运营一样，最成功的科技公司的经营者必须对技术有透彻的理解。最重要的是，你要对做某件事情非常痴迷，并具备相关知识、根深蒂固的肌肉记忆和专门技能。一家餐厅的DNA在于以厨师为中心，而一家移动初创公司的DNA则是以技术为中心。如果你无法创建你销售的商品，你便无法参与竞争。

“但我是一位非技术类创始人，并有一位兼职CTO”

一个非常危险的信号是，首席技术官（CTO）承诺只要公司获得投资便会来公司上任。超过75%的情况下，CTO并未兑现承诺。如果一个人创建了你销售的商品，却不愿做出承诺，这意味着你遇到了问题。如果一个人对你公司的未来至关重要，同时其他公司对这个人也有较高的需求，要获得他们的承诺并非易事。有什么解决办法？请参考上文。

寻找你能够成功的市场

对于你的努力，有多少人需要它？与传统观点不同，你不需要追求最大的市场。你需要寻找能让你取得成功的第一个市场。首先选择一个较小的细分市场，你需要详细了解这个市场的客户需求，同时你也要有更长远的目标，瞄准更大的潜在市场。记住：“有100个爱你的人，好过1000个喜欢你的人。”

拿出可以量化的证据——不论天使投资者，还是风险投资者，都希望看到这样的证据

越来越多的天使投资人像风险投资人一样，要求看到同样的证据。作为一家公司，你必须提供足够多的证据，证明你的产品/服务拥有可重复的市场需求。充足的证据有哪些？在消费者市场，高参与度、高客户保留率和低客户流失率便是充足的证据。在企业软件领域，你需要许多证据。例如，有四五家坚定的大型测试客户正在使用你的软件，并将其整合到他们的工作流程当中，这便是不小的成绩，足以让你得到一次跟进会议的机会。

寻找热情的投资推荐人

如果你刚刚开始，可以去AngelList网站，搜索竞争对手，创建一份他们的投资者清单。如果这些投资者投资了竞争对手，他们有可能更容易了解你的业务。询问其他创始人，搜索你的LinkedIn，确保找到可以将自己介绍给投资者的人脉关系。你的人脉非常重要。AlphaPrime Ventures创始人、NYC Seed执行董事欧文·戴维斯承认，在他所投资的50笔交易中，没有一笔来自冷冰冰的电子邮件。记住，人脉非常重要。

了解你要交谈的对象，寻找兴趣共同点

有些投资者喜欢投资类似的公司，所以不论你的数据有多了不起，他们可能对你所在的领域根本没有兴趣。正如投资者会审查你的公司和管理团队一样，你也要保证投资者对你所在的领域真正感兴趣，并拥有相关的专业知识。例如，Union Square Ventures公司的理念是，他们只投资有较大用户网络的公司。因此，他们对较大的市场和社区平台更感兴趣，例如SkillShare、Kickstarter、Foursquare和Soundcloud等，对于同样出色但没有同等规模潜力的企业软件初创公司，他们却毫无兴趣。

最后，不论你在西海岸还是东海岸，也不论市场上是否存在“投资资金紧缩”的留言。要知道，过去五年成立了数十家新公司和天使投资机构，资金不会马上消失。作为创业者，你的任务不会改变：在你的专业领域内寻找机会，验证目标市场，展示证据，组建一支可以建立和执行的超高效团队。（财富中文网）

注：本文作者丽莎·王是SheWorx公司联合创始人。该公司集合了一些有抱负的女性创业者和变革者，旨在重新定义领导力。她是曾入选美国名人堂的体操运动员，曾担任对冲基金分析师和顾问，帮助企业管理人员实现向创业者的转变。丽莎毕业于耶鲁大学。

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

The Entrepreneur Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “What’s something you wish you knew before starting your business?” is written by Lisa Wang, cofounder of SheWorx.

The biggest myth of fundraising is that a great idea should and will be funded. The truth is, millions of people have ideas, and an idea executed incorrectly without the right metrics, the right team, or the right market has a significantly lower chance of receiving funding.

Think of investing as a spectrum. On one end of the spectrum is your family. These are the people who will give you money regardless of what you’re selling, and the only things that matter are you and your idea. Unfortunately, that’s not how investors think. On the total opposite end of the spectrum, imagine you’re a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, the number of people who truly know you are close to zero, and the only things shareholders care about are your quarterly financials.

The difference between these two ends of the spectrum is the quantifiable metrics of your business vs. the idea of simply investing in you for the sake of being you. So what can you do to ensure a successful, substantive first investor meeting?

Start running small experiments as early as possible

In the early stages of your business, you won’t have the necessary metrics to fundraise, so you need to start collecting data in any way possible. These tests may be as simple as gathering a group of friends and gauging their willingness to pay for your product or service, or setting up a landing page to see if people sign up for your company’s mailing list. Make your tests simulate reality as closely as possible and include real conversations with potential customers. Your goal is to step into an investor meeting and be able to say, “I know exactly what these 100 people need, I know who they are, here are the top four things I’ve learned, and here is the result.”

You need a real product, but until then, fake it till you make it

Is it really possible to take nothing and prove out demand for your idea? Absolutely. In the early days of Zappos, the founder went into a local shoe store and bargained with the shoe owner to take pictures of the store’s shoes. He put the pictures on his website and promised to come back and buy them if people expressed interest online. Sure enough, orders started coming in and the founder kept coming back to buy the shoes. Soon, he started slapping on Zappos labels and shipping out the purchases. Moral of the story? Not only did he not have a store, he didn’t have any shoes when he started selling. He managed to validate demand in his market with almost no inventory risk.

Can you build what you sell? If you can’t, you better be thinking of something else

Think about the DNA of your company. Do you truly have deep domain expertise in what your company is building? Just as the most successful restaurants in the world are run by chefs, the most successful tech companies must be run by people who understand the technology inside and out. Why? It’s the obsession, the knowledge, the ingrained muscle memory, and the know-how to do something. A restaurant’s DNA is chef-centric, and a mobile startup is tech-centric. If you can’t build what you sell, you can’t be in the game.

“But I’m a non-technical founder with a part-time CTO”

A big red flag is a CTO who promises to come on once your company is funded. Over 75% of the time, the CTO never comes on. If the person who is building what you’re selling is unwilling to commit, then you have a problem. Getting commitment from someone who is critical to the future of your business and in high demand by others is not easy. The solution? See above.

Go after a market you’ll have success in

How many people need what you have? Contrary to popular perception, you don’t need to go after the biggest market. You need to go after the first market where you’ll have success. Start in a smaller niche market where you can understand the ins and outs of what customers want and need, but with a view toward the potential of a larger market in the longer term. Just remember, “It’s better to have 100 people love you than 1,000 people kind of like you.”

Show quantifiable proof points—both angels and VCs want to see this

Angel investors are increasingly looking for the same proof points that VCs require. As a business, you need to show enough proof points that you can demonstrate there is a repeatable need for your product/service in the market. What qualifies as enough proof? In a consumer business, it’s about showing high engagement, high retention, and low churn. In enterprise software, you may just need a few proof points. For example, having four to five committed large beta customers who are using your software and integrating it into their workflow is no small feat, and may be more than enough to get you a follow-up meeting.

Find a warm introduction to the investor

If you are just starting out, go on AngelList, search for your competitors, and create an organized list of their investors. If they put money into your competitors, then they likely will have an easy time understanding your business. Ask other founders, scour your LinkedIn, and make sure you can find a connection to introduce you to the investor. It’s all about your network. Owen Davis, founder of AlphaPrime Ventures and managing director of NYC Seed, acknowledged that of the 50 deals he has invested in, not a single one stemmed from a cold email. Remember, it’s all about your network.

Be aware of who you’re talking to, and make sure your interests are aligned

Certain investors like to invest in the same set of things, so no matter how impressive your data is, they could simply not be interested in your domain. Just as investors are vetting out your company and your team, it is your job to make sure the person who is giving you money actually has an interest and expertise in this area of investment. For example, Union Square Ventures’ thesis is that they only invest in companies with a large network of users. As a result, they are more attracted to large marketplaces and community platforms like SkillShare, Kickstarter, Foursquare, and Soundcloud, rather than enterprise software startups that may be equally impressive, but do not have the same potential for scale.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether you’re on the West Coast or East Coast, nor does it matter that there might be speculation about a “funding crunch.” There are dozens of new firms and angel groups that have formed over the last five years, and the money isn’t disappearing anytime soon. What you do as an entrepreneur doesn’t change: Find an opportunity within your area of expertise, validate your target market, show your proof points, and find a super effective team that can build and execute.

Lisa Wang is the cofounder of SheWorx, a collective of ambitious female entrepreneurs and changemakers redefining a new wave of leadership. She is a U.S. Hall of Fame gymnast, former hedge fund analyst, and consultant helping people in corporate roles transition into entrepreneurship. Lisa is a graduate of Yale University.