Which one comes first? Securing a hard Money Lender or the deal

[Sal Messina]

Hi All, 

This is my first post to BP so bare with me. I've been listening for about a year and have read 3 or 4 of the "classic" real estate books. With all of this information I'm still a little fuzy on the timing between finding a deal and securing a hard money lender. Should one come before the other? I personally feel like a relationship should be established before asking random investors for money but that is my initial thought.