[BuuQu9hu]

> 18 months... Certainly not enough time to find product market fit in many cases if you start out with only a vague idea.

I don't understand how "only a vague idea" is able to raise millions of dollars in the first place. Can you elaborate or give an example?

[extragood]

It's almost entirely down to the pedigree of the people asking for money. And pedigree boils down to education and/or previous wins.

It's been one of the most basic tenants at ycombinator from the early days:

> In fact, we're so sure the founders are more important than the initial idea that we're going to try something new this funding cycle. We're going to let people apply with no idea at all. If you want, you can answer the question on the application form that asks what you're going to do with "We have no idea." If you seem really good we'll accept you anyway.

http://www.paulgraham.com/notnot.html

I worked with a recent (at the time) Stanford grad who had applied and been selected for one of the early ycombinator cohorts. Paul didn't like his group's idea, and told them to walk around the block and come up with something better and then pitch it to him. The pervading philosophy for many investors is that the idea is less important than the team, at least in the initial investment.