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A Valid Business Model Requires Real Customer Sales

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This rather crude expression weighs heavily on the mind of all good startup founders, no matter how confident they appear. The real milestone, proving the business model, is that first product sold for full price to a total stranger, leaving him happy. Your revenue model has to make sense.

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Startup Due Diligence Is Not a Mysterious Black Art

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For no good reason, this process seems shrouded in mystery, when in fact it is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Remember that up to this point, the investor has primarily seen and talked to the founder and CEO, and studied written documents.

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Sprint Like An Egyptian: A Tech Entrepreneurship Revolution in Alexandria

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One commonly used approach is to identify widely felt “pain points” in the target market; build a workable solution to address them using particularly effective or efficient means; and if the business model pencils out, work like crazy to execute, execute, execute.

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Forget Presidential Politics: Here’s How We Create Jobs — And How You Can Help

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Nevertheless, there are literally thousands of other examples scattered around the country, each of which grew from a founder or two with an idea to a successful growth company employing scores, hundreds or even thousands of skilled employees, with the attendant benefits to the local and national economy.

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What do investors consider the most important aspect of a potential deal?

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Team, Business Model, Traction, Customer Acquisition, Scalability, Defensibiity, Capital Efficiency, Churn, Time to Breakeven, Exit Strategy. Integrity, Passion, Startup Experience, Domain Expertise, Functional Skills, Leadership, Commitment, Vision, Pragmatism, Flexibility, Personality. Characteristics of the Venture.

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How Do You Select A Revenue Model For Your Startup?

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This model was popular back in the heyday of dot.coms , when investors were buying followers, but is not so common today. It definitely requires founders with deep pockets and investors willing to take a huge leap of faith. Your business model interacts closely with your marketing model, but don’t get them confused.

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Intellectual Property for Startups in the Real World

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I’d like to take a step back and discuss the significance of IP as a component of the overall value that founders intend to create as they grow the company. Most investors will assume that if the business plan is solid and a large market opportunity exists, there will be vigorous competition from other players.