I do not have the skills or expertise (or money) to make a real functional prototype of my product so would it help if I made a model of it demonstrating the features? Would it make is easier to raise VC money? The product is a compact recreational hovering vehicle that uses two small turbojets to achieve lift. In addition to selling this product to the public, we plan to make a spectator sport out of it, think of it like NASCAR but with hover vehicles.
You need some sort of functional prototype (i.e. something that actually, in some way, does what you want it to do). Nobody will invest without one. You said you're too low on funds to have one built, so my best advice would be to spend some time learning the skills needed to build it yourself. You could for instance take free online electronics courses that MIT provides: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-002-circuits-and-electronics-spring-2007/ or buy books, watch youtube videos, etc.
I've built my own hardware prototypes for two of my own startups, and also helped build prototypes for others through Clarity. Let me know if you'd like advice more tailored to your specific idea (e.g. the kinds of microcontrollers and motor controllers that might work, etc.)
best,
Lee
