I am the single developer of a note-taking app. I've reached a point where the app needs a team and some funding to move forward. I would like to apply for seed-investment, but given the fact that investors like to see (among other things) traction, some customer base, etc - I know that chances are slim for me to get any investment. Did my homework and I am able to articulate the key differentiators properly.<p>Right now I cannot get any traction with the current state of the app (not consumer-ready). So I am stuck in this loop... I am reluctant to apply for seed investment as a single developer - as I know that this does not look good to investors. All I have is a website, screenshots, a blog, a demo and a deck.<p>I know that's not enough, but I also know that this has some potential. How do you break this loop?
Because, as you say it yourself - there is a million note-taking apps out there. Your "differentiator" feature isn't that big of a deal. The UI is ugly-ish. Honestly, if I was an interested investor and you pitched me this I'd be out of that meeting faster than you can say elevator pitch.<p>It's not a niche, you've got competition that raised a ton of money and is dominating the market and the competition is showing wounds that point at the market being not just saturated but not profitable as much as some investors thought. Don't waste your talents on this.
what exactly do you need seed money for? what’s its purpose? Is it to keep you eating so that you can finish building the app?<p>IMO you need proof that people actually want this thing.<p>I wouldn’t write another line of app code.<p>put up marketing material and get your market to sign up to be notified for when it comes out.<p>Treat those sign ups as validation of demand. It won’t be as good validation as actual payment, which would validate the business prospect... but those RSVP numbers will indicate that this is something probably worth investing your time in (and other people’s money in). and you can get your beta users from that list.
Looking at the app/block/deck in question, it feels like it is still somewhat unfocused. You compare it to your competitor and it comes off as "like them, just better". Obtaining 1-2 alpha users could help refine how you would present and target specific differentiating factors. Since I'm not very familiar with the space, feel free to take this with a large grain of salt.
> How do you break this loop?<p>Crowded market, half-baked product, no sales? Honest answer is stop here, learn from your own post-mortem, add this project to your portfolio and move on. Next time you will do better.
Probably not what you want to hear but, the next step is that you continue iterating to test to see if you can get traction.<p>If you can’t convince people to use the product it might mean that it is not something people want. Try treating your product like a science experiment. Your idea and execution is a hypothesis for what you think people want.<p>If you’re an engineer then the above doesn’t cost any money and hence doesn’t require investors. If not you have to get good at convincing people to work with you.