Is success in tech really all about how much VC funding you can get?

Just a few years ago, I was an entrepreneurial sponge. I just couldn't get enough Fast Company or Inc. Magazine. I'd read every issue cover-to-cover squeezing out all the inspiration I could from the stories of "successful" entrepreneurs. As my determination and knowledge grew, I migrated to Mashable and ReadWriteWeb for my fix and followed bloggers like Robert Scoble. The startup scene looked so romantic from the outside. But, it was the business side that left the biggest impression on me as an entrepreneur.

I still read Scoble, who recently posted, "Is the Tech Press Needed Anymore," which got me thinking about this very post. After a couple years of being a new business in the tech space, I've gained some insight that I thought I would share with those of you that might be looking to follow a similar path. This is not to discredit the efforts of hundreds of entrepreneurs who build companies to sell. Those entrepreneurs have battles of their own. It's those very battles that today, we choose not to fight.

Tech Savvy
Last year, I was honored to be invited to present in the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW in Austin. We were among five companies in the Social Media Business category. I pitched for two minutes to a group of three judges. No problem for a speaker and former news anchor, right? 

The two minute pitch began with the emcee making a crack about me being from Wyoming, then it proceeded with a line of questioned on a myriad of seemingly trivial things like, "How much did brand X pay you?" Despite my pitch, business model and already thriving business, it didn't amount to much in the judges eyes. I'm a competitive guy, who always wants to win, however, the lesson I learned that week has stuck with me months afterward. Those judges weren't looking for a business, as I understood it, they were looking for something completely different. It didn't matter that PitchEngine was already a real business sustaining an income for numerous families. It didn't matter that we just may have been the only business with actual revenue coming in. To those judges, and most of the tech scene, it matters only who's funding you, how many users you have and how it compares to Groupon (insert next tech flavor of the month).

My Founder Friends
I have several friends who have founded startups which were VC funded. Some of them started as CEOs and exited as "Product Managers," others just turned their back from the very thing that got them up in the morning. When I ask what they'd change, it's essentially always the same answer, "Hold out from taking VC as long as possible."  For some, however, the goal was always to build it and sell it. Which is okay, if you're wired to do that. I also wonder how long the, "I worked at Google" angle will keep VCs funding them. 

Will we ever take the next steps with VCs? It's possible. In fact, we're working with a group that we really like called, Access Venture Partners, in Colorado. They understand our space and have accepted our desire to prove out our model and capabilities.

What started as just me, has grown into many. I'm thankful and fortunate to surround myself with like-minded people who have a similar passion for their jobs and more importantly, their ideals about what success means to them. I didn't create a business to see how much money it could raise. I created to fix some problems people were having in an industry that was as stale as old crackers. Our business model is simple, and so is our path forward. We hear all the time from VCs who call about how hard it's going to be for us and how we NEED money to get where we need to be, but the truth is, in many ways we are where we want to be. We wake up and want to be at work. We decide what the next feature will be, the next hire we'll make and what color the font will be. Plus, I get to challenge the companies that have been here for decades and are satisfied with PR status quo.

Granted, it's not as easy as just adopting the, "Rework" 37signals approach, but there certainly are some parallels. It's pretty simple, to me really: You build a product people will pay for. Then, you've done something.

To the tech press, PitchEngine might not have that consumer sex appeal, but to our users it does. We truly believe our industry needs PitchEngine and we've got big plans for it. Time will tell how much attention we'll get, but at the end of the day, it's not the attention that keeps us driving. 

Thanks to all of you who support and inspire what we do.