The "Core First, Horde Later" Strategy: Why 10-20 Investors with Small Checks is the Perfect Start.

Attracting 1000 investors at the start is a large-scale crowdfunding campaign that itself requires enormous resources. For a deep-tech project like ours, such an approach at the very early stage can be excessive. Our financial strategy is phased, and the initial stage looks even more focused and efficient.

Phase One: Building the Core (10-20 Investors)

This stage is not about quantity, but about quality and expediency. 10-20 investors with checks that are "small" for them, but collectively covering the round's requirement, is the ideal startup formula. Here's why:

    Maximum Manageability and Focus. Communication with 10-20 investors is efficient. The founder can personally communicate with each one, answer questions in detail, and keep them updated. This allows for maintaining focus on product development, rather than on endless pitching and administration.

    Preservation of all the benefits of the "non-whale" model.

        Protection from control: With 20 investors, none of whom holds a blocking stake, the founder and team retain full strategic control.

        Risk diversification: Losing one investor out of 20 will not be fatal for funding.

        Creating a loyal core: These 10-20 people will become that very initial "council of wise men" – loyal advocates whose support and connections can be leveraged precisely and effectively.

    Realistic Feasibility. Finding 20 like-minded individuals who believe in the mission is a difficult but solvable task. Finding 1000 such people at the pre-seed stage is almost impossible without a finished product and a big name.

Phase Two: The Strategy of Controlled Crowdfunding

And this is where we come to the most powerful tool, which will be the logical continuation of our strategy after forming the core – crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding is not just about raising money. It is a strategic move that solves several critical tasks at once:

    Marketing and Product Validation. A successful crowdfunding campaign is a loud marketing move that proves market demand. Thousands of people voting for your product with their money is stronger than any analyst's report. It's a powerful signal for large funds and partners in subsequent rounds.

    Mass Community Building from the Start. Every backer is not just an investor. They are a future loyal user, content creator, or brand ambassador. By launching crowdfunding, we immediately acquire not a few dozen investors, but thousands of committed fans who are emotionally and financially invested in the platform's success.

    Strengthening the Philosophy of Openness and Popular Support. For a project that declares principles of openness and fairness, there is no better way to confirm these words than to literally allow the community to become co-owners of this philosophy. It proves that we don't just talk about "community," but actually let it build the project with us.

    Financial Independence and Negotiating Power. Successful crowdfunding provides serious cash without requiring equity. This is not just money for development, but also a strengthening of negotiating positions with venture funds in the future. We will be able to dictate terms from a position of strength, saying: "Our product and our community have already proven their value. We need you not as a source of money, but as a strategic partner."

Conclusion: A Phased Path to the Strongest Ecosystem

Our financial strategy is built logically and wisely:

    Phase 1: The Core. 10-20 trusted, loyal investors who provide the project with start-up capital and intellectual support, without hindering development according to the vision.

    Phase 2: The Horde. Strategic crowdfunding that brings not only money but also thousands of supporters, invaluable PR, and ironclad product validation, taking the project to a new level.

This is the path that allows us to preserve the project's soul, control its destiny, and build around it the most important thing – a living, devoted, and powerful community. We start with a narrow circle of like-minded people in order to then appeal to the whole world.