Inc.

Here’s a Crazy Idea for Startups: Profits

A renegade VC firm has a new approach to funding. You want its money? First demonstrate that you can earn some.

Bryce Roberts was tired of hearing the same pitch over and over again: An entrepreneur would come calling with a bold idea and empty pockets, ready to build the future but for the lack of $2 million and a business model. The money, hopefully, would come from Roberts—he was a venture capitalist, after all, one who had long specialized in seed-stage companies. The business model would follow.

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