On fundraising: Don't settle for any investor

Aloqa CEO Sanjeev Agrawal shares his lessons about raising capital, the right team, and goals

In this segment of Lessons for entrepreneurs,  Sanjeev Agrawal, CEO of Aloqa and formerly head of Google's product marketing, shares his experience as an entrepreneur and his advice to fellow innovators. Aloqa is a mobile services company that recommends Facebook friends around you and things to do. It recently raised $1.5 million in venture funding from Wellington Partners and angel investors.  

On fundraising, Sanjeev says to raise money from "people you want to work with." Indeed, money can certainly change relationships from amicable to acrimonious. Essentially, your investors and board can be really helpful, or be a thorn on your side, he explained. 

As for his general advice about entrepreneurship, he provides three.

Firstly, don’t solve an easy problem. Pick something hard that you’re passionate about. Build a product that will change the world.

Secondly, work with really smart people. "We have a hiring process which is extremely rigorous," he said. "A-plus people hire A-plus people. If you don’t hire A-plus people, it’s a slippery slope... don’t settle for anyone less than the people you want."

Thirdly, listen to your customers and users, and know when to listen to them. When you’re in the process of creating something that doesn't exist, it’s unclear whether people would or could visualize the product to provide any real significant feedback. For instance, Henry Ford didn't ask people driving horse-driven buggies what they wanted to ride. He had to build his product first. But once a product is built, then go out to the market and ask customers for top 10 changes and improvements.