I'm Josh Mujio and this is the pitch.

When a founder first starts looking for money,

they're not knocking on VC's doors right away.

Usually, they start much closer to home with friends and family.

It's the real seed funding a startup gets and it comes at a crucial time

when you're just starting out. Charles, what's the deal with this friends and family thing?

To me, friends and family generally, I think of it, it's like a freedom license.

It means you can go work on your company full-time. That's

investor Charles Hudson. Now we hear about this round a lot on the show. Investors

will casually ask a founder how much for friends and family and they'll say maybe 50k or 100k that early money

It's kind of taken for granted, but what if you don't have access to that kind of wealth, no rich uncle or fancy friends?

On today's episode, two stories from entrepreneurs who've experienced this struggle directly, and it turns out the friends and family

round can have far-reaching consequences for your business and your ability to raise

VC. All that's coming up after the break. This episode of The Pitch is brought to you by American Express Business.

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