Raising fund...

Arsu,

Congratulation on getting started. As an Outsource CFO, this is a question I address a lot for my clients.

The best way would be to break the funding approach up into three steps 1) how much do you need 2) credibility of your business plans/projections and 3) who are the best candidates.

Now, keep in mind, I generally recommend people to not address these in any particular order. But it does help to put a pin in each one as you go.

1) Generally it's difficult to know how much you really need when you start a business. The mistakes many entrepreneurs make is they are under-capitalized. It's a painful mistake to make (trust me, I made it)

2) Credibility of your business plans/projections - you can strengthen this by having a well-known accountant or attorney review your business plans and financial projections. This will show due diligence and it's not just your word saying "it will work" but an outside third-party saying the same thing. Not to mention, if you take it to a third-party, they might tell you that you're asking for too little which would solve #1

3) These candidates are the hardest to come by, but they can be found if you know where to look. Most cities will have some kind of investor's pitching contest that you can enroll in. I always find those to be a waste of time. Rather, I went straight to the accountants, product reps, bankers, wealth management, and merger & acquisition guys and just asked - "Do you know anybody wanting to invest in something new?"

I hope this helps!