For those of us who have never raised capital or built a startup before, there's a commonly-held myth that startups get funded with great ideas.

If the idea is so wonderful, an anxious investor will jump at the idea to get rich with an early investment. It must be true — we saw it on Shark Tank!

The truth is, startups get funded at all different stages, from the initial idea all the way up through proven traction. The problem is that the uninitiated don't quite understand what the difference is.

What if we had the idea 9 seconds ago?

If the idea is just that — an idea — and there's no other development or traction to the business, the only likely funding sources are going to be our credit cards and perhaps an incredibly supportive relative....