Not everyone is in startup projects or has friends who are stepping into the world of entrepreneurship, and our main source of understanding the trends in the business industry is the media, of course. From what we have seen in the last few years, information sources are telling myriads of success stories, sharing exciting interviews with startup founders, and so on. Although this is encouraging for others, it does not reflect reality, as numbers show.

Our data from 2023 tells us that total investments fell to $285 billion, which is still a significant amount but represents a year-over-year drop from 2022 of 38%. Now, about a 40% drop in 12 months is a lot. Does this mean that gathering startup capital has become more difficult because investors have lost interest in completely new projects? Not exactly, because there are other underlying factors such as economic changes, higher interest rates, etc.

While markets always change, people who walk toward their dream projects still need to move forward and look for alternative funding solutions. Here are the main principles that could be applied in such strategies to avoid the fear of uncertainty and keep finances manageable.

The Adaptability of Alternative Funding Strategies

Whether a startup is raising money from crowdfunding, revenue-based financing, or venture debt, certain universal principles can guide a smart funding strategy, which makes it highly adaptable and favored by business people.

One illuminating analogy comes from the world of poker called bankroll management. In poker, professionals abide by strict rules to ensure they “never risk more money than they can afford to lose”. They recognize that variance (luck and fluctuation) is inevitable, so they size their bets to withstand losing streaks. A common rule of thumb in poker bankroll management tactics and strategies is to never have more than about 5% of one’s bankroll in play at any time – this ensures you can weather bad nights and keep playing in the long run.

Applying this particular poker principle into entrepreneurship would mean more than a general knowledge about how to deal with finances. Poker has always been considered a game of strategic thinkers, and people have established smart tactics over those tables for decades, and many of them are ready learning materials for business people too.

Regarding bankroll management, startups can apply this principle by calibrating how they deploy their capital. Rather than pouring an entire funding round into one bold expansion gamble, savvy founders allocate funds in phases and reserves. For example, a founder who crowdfunded $500,000 might budget only a small portion for an unproven marketing campaign (analogous to a single “buy-in” in poker), while keeping substantial reserves to iterate or pivot based on results. This approach guards against the “variance” of the startup world, including unexpected shifts in market, product hiccups, or slower growth than anticipated.

The Power of Community Capital

One of the most prominent alternative funding trends is the rise of crowdfunding as a mainstream option for startups. Through platforms that enable dozens or even thousands of individuals to invest small amounts, founders are raising significant capital without traditional gatekeepers. Global equity crowdfunding is still relatively small in scale (about $1.6 billion in 2024) but it’s growing rapidly and is projected to reach over $5 billion by 2033.

In the United States, where laws like the JOBS Act have opened crowdfunding to the public, companies raised $343.6 million via retail investors in 2024 under Regulation CF (which allows crowdfunding up to $5M per year).

That said, crowdfunding is no easy money, as it requires effort and strategy. The average success rate for crowdfunding campaigns hovers around 22–24%, indicating that the majority of campaigns fail to reach their targets. Successful campaigns usually need strong storytelling, a compelling pitch, and proactive marketing to rally supporters early (data shows campaigns that hit ~30% of their goal in the first week are far more likely to succeed).

Revenue-Based Financing and Debt

In Revenue-Based Financing, an investor provides In Revenue-Based Financing, an investor gives money to a business upfront, and in return, the business pays back a percentage of its future income until a set amount is fully repaid. So, it’s a hybrid of a loan and an investment – providing capital without diluting equity, while tying repayments to the startup’s performance.

This alignment can be attractive: if the business grows quickly, the investor gets paid back faster (with a capped return), but if revenue is slow or seasonal, the payments flex accordingly, preventing the crushing burden of fixed debt installments. RBF has become particularly popular with SaaS companies and e-commerce startups that have predictable recurring revenues (ARR or MRR), as it allows them to leverage those cash flows for growth capital upfront.

The market for revenue-based financing has exploded alongside this appeal. Globally, the RBF market grew from roughly $3.38 billion in 2023 to $5.78 billion in 2024 (an impressive jump, right?)  and is projected to reach about $41.8 billion by 2028 if current trends continue which reflects how quickly both startups and funders are embracing the model.

What’s Next for Entrepreneurs?

The more you read about alternative funding solutions, the more you understand that there is value for every startup. The key aspect, in comparison with investments, is that entrepreneurs gain a lot of independence along with financial means. It doesn’t only refer to keeping more equity in their company, but also more control in times of uncertainty, and the principles of crowdfunding are valuable in this regard.

Without a doubt, the final verdict belongs to entrepreneurs themselves and their strategic vision. Being smart enough to find alternative solutions and to know how to apply flexible principles – from strategic casino games to academic theory – can only be beneficial for a business, especially in our days when economic shifts happen overnight, and stocks rise high and drop to the lowest within hours.