“At pre-seed and seed, unless you're building something with uniquely defensible tech, forget about it. You just don't need it... in consumer apps the barrier to build is so low you only need maybe 10, 15,000 to really get going.”

Don't raise VC at pre-seed for consumer apps — the build is too cheap

Josh sees too many consumer-app founders raise VC then regret it. The right time for a cash injection is after smart marketing has produced KPIs proving the app converts users into revenue — not before. Bootstrappers keep the upside and can sell at lower valuations while pocketing more.