Odds of Finding Sponsor/Investor for New Website

Unless you can get seed money from the 3 F's (Family, Friends, Fools) Chances are non-existent, unless you are able to prove user traction and retention. No one in his right mind will open his wallet for an idea. They want to see the idea take life and how the market reacts to it - and they want this proof to be financed by someone other than them.

Your challenge is double. You want to attract both investors AND advertisers. The good news is that the solution to both cases is with good user traction. Advertisers will no bother with your site unless it has good traffic. Sponsors/Investors will not bother with it unless you have a proven track record of good user traction and retention, and even then, most will walk away as you mouth the words: "My revenue comes from ads".

IF you believe in your idea, develop it, publish it any way you can and get good user traction. Without it, you'll be invisible to investors/advertisers. Also, it might be prudent to try and explore the possibility of revenue that doesn't come from ads.

Good luck.

It's a nice site. At first glance, it's very like many Microsoft MVPs' blogs, and those are generally characterised as modest direct income earners, that primarily pay their way by consulting engagements generated.

But I think your aspirations are to be more of a magazine-style community site - asking for contributions from others. That's a steep hill to climb: there are plenty of high reputation sites and journals out there, and early growth doesn't guarantee you'll push past your rivals.

Whatever the site is, and wherever it's headed, you already know the two salient facts, that both point the same way:

First, it's pretty easy to obtain relevant ads from existing networks to place on your site, and you need high visitor volumes for that to add up to significant income.

Second, until you've got high visitor volumes, you'll find it hard to negotiate directly with advertisers or interest prospective investors.

High growth is exciting, and it is already multiplying the value of your site. But for advertisers and investors alike, it's all about volume achieved and sustained.

Fantastic vision for your site. I found it easy to navigate and I knew what you were up to quickly! That is always nice.

I wanted to add to the wonderful answers above -- boy I am using lots of up arrows today -- with a thought for you to consider.

The customer is the person who pays the bills. If the site revenue model is to generate revenue through advertisers then advertisers are the customer. They are the ones that pay the bill. So what are the advertisers buying? They are not buying your website -- or it's content. They are buying the profile of your sites visitors and users multiplied by the likelihood they are to click the advertising and become customers of theirs.

Your content? That is the bait. That is how you produce the product. The product is the user group.

So who IS your user group? What is their profile? How do you know? Can you prove it? I am sure you can.

Now -- who wants that product? What is the UVP of your product? What is your sales process to go out and get the advertising/sponsorships that will make the site a viable venture to make your day job.

Just a slightly different way to think about the growth cycle.