Startup companies are usually funded by a bank load or private investors, or a combination of both. Starting a company is always (almost) a substantial risk, since it has to involve someones money. Usually that means that remortgaging your house or something like that is the only way to go to secure funding without having anything to show for it. So your options are quite clear; find someone who wants to invest enough money for a small team to complete the demo, or get a loan.

Oh, and you really shouldn't need 20-30 people to create a working demo, 4-5 should be enough for that. Saying you need 20-30 people makes me think you don't really know what you're doing, that you only have an extremely grand view of your end product, and believe it will take 200-300 people to finish the game.
Seriously, if the game is THAT BIG, put the design document back in your filing cabinet and make something smaller, and much cheaper, because NO publisher will ever invest that amount of money in a game produced by someone noone's ever heard of.

Quote:Original post by __ODIN__
- To find a PUBLISHER you'll need to have a DEMO and a DEVELOPMENT TEAM. The demo is to PROVE the abilities of the development team, and show that most of the technology and design risks of what you propose has been fixed

That is correct. However, what is more important is a track record. Publishers are very simple minded, when it comes to this point. Most will not publish your game, no matter how good (you think) it is, if you do not have a solid track record. What is more important for them is to see that you have experience in the biz and that your are able to develop under the limitations of a given timeline and that you do not waste their money just by 'trying things out'.

I know it is stupid and I now that a good game deserves to be published, but it is nearly impossible if you do not have a solid track record. Believe me, I've seen many good games going down this way.

However, this is not meant to discourage you. It is up to you to find that one company that will publish your game, even without the track record. Many startup companies do not have a track record and only a few of them get their games published. It's usually because the members of that company do all have experience in the biz, because they worked for another developer, for example.

And by the way, I always see more experience people on this board discouraging less experienced people when it comes to startups and pitches. Usually those, people are correct by saying that your chances are low, because in fact they are very low. However, I do not think it's up to them to judge if your game deserves to be published or not. What I like in this thread is, that you are at least given some valuable information. I've also seen people suggesting to not even try it in other threads - that's bullshit. Most of today's big companies first failed to have their games published. Take id Software for example or Crytek.
It's important for you not to give up. If you believe in your concept you should always keep on trying. Refine your game design, listen closely to what you are told during the pitches and even if a company denies to publish your game take their statements as valuable information and try to improve your game design and project concept. Be prepared for the question of your track record, because I can tell you with a 100% certainty that this question will be asked...

Good luck!