When is a good time to raise capital?
If a founder has an idea but lacks the technical chops to implement & build, should s/he raise a seed round to get started? Will anyone invest based on the idea alone? Are there any other options?
You should be able to build the smallest piece of your idea to test your market. Say your idea is to build a device that can boil the ocean. Can you build a prototype that can boil a cup of water? Build that first and see if there are any buyers. You want to validate that there is a market out there willing to pay money to solve the problem that your idea solves, and then worry about getting money to scale it.
I always do it when I find the traction to get revenues. That's when I inject capital.