u/Brilliant_p4nd4

I know that a large part of distribution in today's digital era comes from social media, but back then when social media didn't exist, what were some of the key tactics people used to grow their business? What were their channels of customer acquisition? Do you think any of those still apply to how we run the businesses today?

Would really love to see some personal anecdotes from the veterans about finding those right customers without the social media/ads fuzz and still making a good profitable business.

P.S: I'm starting a haircare brand, and having a tough time with increasing social media reach i.e. cracking distribution. Quite frustrated with the flatline results so far and I really want to explore other ways people used back then for selling their products, how traditionally "sales" was done. Maybe some old-school way clicks, still?

We are 2 co-founders in the process of launching a D2C personal care startup with a clear differentiator. The product is ready and the initial feedback from pilot users has been positive. All set to launch in the next 2 months. Our social media doesn't really have a lot of traction as of now, but we're trying.

We've been bootstrapping this business from our salaries (Both me and my co-founder are working in Big tech currently). We've been talking to a few founders and recently one of them gave us a funding offer. Now we're stuck - should we really take funding at this point before even launching?

And somehow we're getting spammed by a lot of VCs for intro calls because they think we're raising.

Both of us think we're not ready to handle the VC pressure and lose control of the autonomy that we have right now, but we really want to leave our jobs as well at the same time (which VC money will help us leave). We don't believe in the concept of "Go big or go home" because we want to build a niche but sustainable and profitable 100 cr brand that people are loyal to. But we don't have a lot of money to experiment with as well and the research shows that this industry is brutal. We don't need the VC as a third co-founder because how will that be even different from our Big tech managers anyway!

So we're stuck in this dilemma - should we raise funds, or just remain bootstrapped and see how the product is doing?

Need serious advice from founders who've taken VC money and those who are bootstrapped - which one is better for our situation?

Recently I've been researching a lot about scalp and hair science. Can someone help me understand if what I see on the scalp is actually mineral buildup or dandruff? What is the way to identify it by just looking?