Fred Wilson: The Less Money You Raise, The More Successful Your Startup Will Be

Alex Davies / Business Insider

Running out of money is one sure way to kill a startup. But Union Square Ventures' Fred Wilson suggests raising too much can also kill startups too.

He's been in the venture game for multiple decades with a portfolio consisting of Tumblr, Foursquare, Kickstarter and Etsy. He has come to this conclusion:

"The fact is that the amount of money startups raise in their seed and Series A rounds is inversely correlated with success. Yes, I mean that. Less money raised leads to more success. That is the data I stare at all the time."

Wilson advises startups to operate as lean as possible (Tumblr went two years before hiring a third employee, he points out). Also, don't worry about how long the money you have will last. If you build something great, the money will follow.

"Getting somewhere fast is the game [startups] should be playing," Wilson writes. "f you can get the plane to take off, the length of the runway matters less. If you can't, there is no runway long enough for you."

Head over to AVC for the full post.