I am DYING to SPILL THE BEANS about how my fundraising process is going but I shall refrain, AS HARD AS IT MAY BE. OUCH! Some things I can talk about openly on the site, and some things I cannot, but suffice it to say that this whole process has been totally SURREAL.

Never thought I'd get to this stage and so QUICKLY, but someone put it nicely when she said, "Your massive rehaul... your new screen shots, all the changes you made over the holidays, and your financials... has really paid off."

And it really has.

Nelson and I only finished the financials last week, yet the commitments are coming in, faster than I could have ever expected. I'm almost halfway there!

KNOCK ON WOOD!

I beg all of you reading this journal entry today to please please please... KNOCK ON EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF WOOD YOU SEE AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO DO THE SAME!

Knock yourself --> OUT!

I'm knocking myself out!

You knock yourself out too!

Get everyone you know to knock themselves out!

So here are the latest updates to my financing strategy:

Initially, Nelson and I set up two sets of numbers, one set assuming I'd take out a loan to cover all initial start-up costs, and the other, assuming I raised all of it via equity financing. The expenses for the former were slashed to the bare minimum, the latter left with a bit more cushion.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to lean towards hitting up those senior executive acquaintances, because I wasn't 100% comfortable with taking money from friends. But, after the FIFTH friend who looked at this said,

"Christine darling, why are you turning to other people instead of us, your own friends, if we want to invest in this too?! Let us invest in smaller increments! We're all mature adults! And plus, it's FUN!"

Well... it definitely is fun! =)

Sometimes I can't tell if they get excited because I'm so excited -- I GLOW like a PREGNANT WOMAN whenever I talk about it... errr... well I guess in a way I am sorta trying to give birth to SOMETHING, lol! -- or if it's because they really see the potential that I see. Guess it doesn't matter, eh? I was hesitant to go down this road, but after a bit of encouragement, I finally agreed to it.

Afterall... my friends aren't stupid.

And since it looks like it will be my friends helping me out, I'm upping the equity to a higher % than what Nelson and I had initially calculated to be a reasonable share of the company. Why not? It's the least I can do.

Note: In light of how easy it would be for competitors to move into this space, I've opted not to share my plan with anyone electronically, except for the financials to those who have committed to investing. This space is too small for more than one player, and the only advantage I have is being first-to-market, and having a great brand name. Thus, all presentations have to be done in person.

This limits my access to other friends outside of Taiwan who I'm fairly certain would want to dump a couple of grand into this, but it's a restriction that I accept. I'll cross it only if I absolutely have to or else borrow whatever I can't raise locally.

I am that certain of its success.

Today's objectives:

1. Update the NDA from last year
2. Update the financials based on recent input
3. Add two screen shots of subject matters that apparently
    make people go "Ding!" whenever I mention them
4. Set up two more appointments in search of more investors

It's not a terribly sexy business -- and I hope I'm not setting up my readers for a huge disappointment -- but it's a cool idea. Way cool.

I love it!


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