Ask HN: How do you raise your first round if you can't afford to demo your idea?

Are you in the industry for your product? Is there anyone in the same industry who knows you and you could convince there is a market for your product? Someone to be your co-founder and help you create your demo?

What about just proving the market exists? Can you get surveys, interviews, testimonials from buyers in the industry that they need this product and would by $X for it? That would go a long way to convincing someone to get you funding to demo.

Can you MVP a simpler version? Something that only costs $50k instead of $150k but proves out 80% of the functionality?

As a founder, you will face this type of problem constantly. You will always be short of time, money or talent (or some combination of all 3) while trying to make your goals. When someone invests in your idea, they are as much investing in you and your ability to navigate these challenges.

Bringing a real MVP to market and making those first few sales is a huge proof of concept for YOU as a Founder. Investors need to see that.

I work at a medical startup that produces hardware and software. I can tell you nothing in medical is easy or inexpensive.

If you are really motivated you can start with simple off the shelf components and show people the vision, get them on board. It doesn't have to look perfect, just be communicative and demonstrable in some form. While I agree in theory with some other comments about getting some high net worth Dr's etc to maybe fund the initial work, this is a lot easier said than done. Hospitals in the U.S. are even harder and generally won't talk to you unless you already have product in hand and can prove you meet their security requirements etc. The U.S. medical market is tough for a multitude of reasons, it is also ripe for innovation, so it is worth it, just not easy.

I will say this too, without something to show/demo in some form (even partial functionality), you will likely not succeed in raising money. It sounds like from your very brief description of yourself you are an "unknown" entity so you will struggle to raise the funds unless you have an amazing network. I am not criticizing you, it is just the way the system works. You can still do it, just expect many "no"'s from people and don't get discouraged, eventually you will find a yes.

Usually, the way to do this is to get a bunch of friends and families and raise a "seed" round that will convert at Series A. It's common to offer seed investors a discount to make it worth their while. I'm interested in investing, let me know what you're doing via private comment

There are lots of niche medical investors, as well as government grants. You can try to pitch to those. They'll also understand and be able to criticize the idea better.

You can sell it to a hospital before you build it. Pitch the product, get feedback, then build. If the problem is big enough, they'll pay you in advance.

I would find a few doctors who want to play investor and pitch the idea to them. If they grok, money may follow to poc.