Startup Professionals Musings

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Will Your Startup Get Venture Capital or IPO in 2013?

Startup Professionals Musings

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. For the full year 2012, venture-backed initial public offerings raised $21.5

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10 Business Model Components Required In Every Plan

Startup Professionals Musings

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. The most common failures are solutions looking for a problem, lack of a defined market, or an inadequate revenue model.

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10 Keys To Surviving Startup Cash Flow Requirements

Startup Professionals Musings

According to a well-researched Motly Fool report, the challenge is very real, since around half of all businesses fail in the first five years. The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development.

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5 Steps To Finding The Best Investor For Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels.

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10 Financing Alternatives For Your Next New Venture

Startup Professionals Musings

According to a well-researched Motly Fool report, the challenge is very real, since around half of all businesses fail in the first five years. The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development.

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6 Realistic Tactics For Funding Charitable Businesses

Startup Professionals Musings

Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process. You still start the process with a business plan, but then you look for a philanthropist rather than an investor.

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7 Indications Of Your Ability To Get Business Results

Startup Professionals Musings

Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. As with most business and personal interactions, first impressions tend to become lasting ones. A proven business model, ready to scale, is particularly attractive.