Bryan makes a good point that denying someone a risky investment opportunity probably will not protect that individual, given all of the alternatives out there.

When I wrote,

I think we need fewer fund-raising start-ups and more start-ups where the entrepreneur figures out something to sell that will bring money into the company early on.

I was not thinking in terms of protecting low-net-worth investors.

The main message of these posts is to entrepreneurs. Are there businesses that need upfront capital? Yes, but they are not good role models for the typical entrepreneur.

Amar Bhide has found that most successful entrepreneurs do face-to-face selling. I’ve met with dozens of entrepreneurs over the past decade, and I never encountered one who I thought should have focused less on selling and more on raising money. Frequently, I see the reverse.

UPDATE: Jeff Cornwall reports on a study showing that over 70 percent of start-ups are self-funded.