Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Build a prototype product.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Here is where projections of cost, pricing, volumes and cash flow are critical.

Preferred Stock 304

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 304

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2018

Investors in particular want to fund only scalable or ready to scale businesses. Your business model must show the potential to increase the revenue with minimal expenditure in the coming months or years. This means being able to increase profits without increasing costs at an equal (or higher) rate. Angel investors.

SBA 84

SBA Angel Investor Technical Review Startup 84

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. It is going to cost a lot of money just to get the initial batch of products to test the market and would definitely require external funding. Equity investors.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2012

ABC Shark Tank Angels via Elite Daily. Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Build an investor presentation and summary. Like the business plan, a financial model is required as much for your own use as to impress Angel investors.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 179

Up and Running

JANUARY 2, 2013

I know what it’s like to pitch to investors – both angels and venture capitalists. I’ve raised close to $1 million from angel investors for my previous technology start-ups. Sometimes you only get 10 minutes to pitch your business opportunity to the investors (or less in some cases).

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Due Diligence 164

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Here is where projections of cost, pricing, volumes and cash flow are critical.

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

It won’t work, it costs time and money, and hurts your credibility when you need them later. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). They are not trying to make money, but simply to recoup their costs over time.

Incubator 236

Incubator Exit Strategy Institutional Investors Angel Investor 236

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2014

Projecting the financials should be the last step of your business plan preparation, since it assumes you already know the opportunity size, customer buying habits, pricing, costs, and competition. Here are some basic “rules of thumb” that every Angel or venture capital equity investor uses, to help you anticipate their reactions.

Liquidity Event 249

Liquidity Event Equity Venture Capital Merger 249

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

As an occasional angel investor, I always ask for a business pitch to get me in the mood. I’m a technologist, so I always love to learn about the product, but every investor needs to make sure you have a business, as well as a product. Business model showing costs, pricing, and margins.

Product 145

Product Intellectual Property Liquidity Event Exit Strategy 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

I’ll skip the basics here, and highlight only key elements that investors focus on: Define the problem. Explain in terms your mother could understand, and quantify the “cost-of-pain” in dollars or time. Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.”

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2013

Projecting the financials should be the last step of your business plan preparation, since it assumes you already know the opportunity size, customer buying habits, pricing, costs, and competition. Here are some basic “rules of thumb” that every Angel or venture capital equity investor uses, to help you anticipate their reactions.

Liquidity Event 243

Liquidity Event Startup Equity Venture Capital 243

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2013

It won’t work, it costs time and money, and hurts your credibility when you need them later. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). They are not trying to make money, but simply to recoup their costs over time.

Incubator 256

Incubator Entrepreneur Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 256

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

I’ll skip the basics here, and highlight only key elements that investors focus on: Define the problem. Explain in terms your mother could understand, and quantify the “cost-of-pain” in dollars or time. Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.”

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

It won’t work, it costs time and money, and hurts your credibility when you need them later. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). They are not trying to make money, but simply to recoup their costs over time.

Incubator 120

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2012

It won’t work, it costs time and money, and hurts your credibility for when you need them later. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). They are not trying to make money, but simply to recoup their costs over time.

Incubator 237

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 237

Gust

AUGUST 10, 2014

Projecting the financials should be the last step of your business plan preparation, since it assumes you already know the opportunity size, customer buying habits, pricing, costs, and competition. Here are some basic rules of thumb that every Angel or venture capital equity investor uses, to help you anticipate their reactions.

Liquidity Event 176

Liquidity Event Equity Venture Capital Merger 176

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

I’ve pitched in taxi cabs, I’ve pitched on street corners, in board rooms, on stage in front of 400 angel investors. The opportunity when I got to pitch on stage in front of 400 angel investors was for the largest angel investor conference in the Pacific northwest called Angel Oregon, and we competed with 60 other companies.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence Exit Strategy 60

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

The approach I recommend is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Explain in analogies your mother could understand, and quantify the “cost-of-pain” in dollars or time. Exit strategy.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2011

It won’t work, it costs time and money, and hurts your credibility for when you need them later. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). They are not trying to make money, but simply to recoup their costs over time.

Incubator 230

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 230

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

I’ll skip the basics here, and highlight only key elements that investors focus on: Define the problem. Explain in terms your mother could understand, and quantify the “cost-of-pain” in dollars or time. Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.”

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

I’ll skip the basics here, and highlight only key elements that investors focus on: Define the problem. Explain in terms your mother could understand, and quantify the “cost-of-pain” in dollars or time. Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.”

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2015

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Here is where projections of cost, pricing, volumes and cash flow are critical.

Preferred Stock 120

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 120

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Investors are also mining for leads such sources as: – product crowdfunding sites ( Indiegogo *); – tech communities ( Producthunt ); – angel group platforms ( Gust ); – expert networks (e.g., – angel investor networks ( AngelList , FundersClub , OurCrowd , Republic *, SeedInvest ). .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Up and Running

MAY 22, 2018

An MVP or a minimum viable product is a scaled-down, cheaper (cost-wise) version of your full product. You’ll have to actually demonstrate that you’re generating revenue and increasing your client base. Your MVP’s success will be a key component of your investor pitch deck. Expenses that were surpassed by revenue.

Exit Strategy 90

Exit Strategy Angel Investor Search Elevator Pitch 90

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

If your friends or family happen to be rich, the line blurs betweenthem and angel investors. At Viaweb we got our first $10,000 ofseed money from our friend Julian, but he was sufficiently richthat its hard to say whether he should be classified as a friendor angel. There never has to be atime when you have no revenues.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Gust

DECEMBER 23, 2011

Similarly, start calling VCs if your customer acquisition costs can only be recaptured over a substantial period of time. So: think deeply about the nature of your competitive advantage, your basic revenue vs. expense model, and whether the perception of a well-funded venture is important or not.

Intellectual Property 127

Intellectual Property Balance Sheet Dilution Bootstrapping 127

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

I have come to believe during my time as an operator, entrepreneur and investor that the balance of these skills is so important to the long-term health of a business that if balance is not achieved early then the impact later can be profound - sometimes terminal. Investors do what their money back. They are many more examples.

Technical Review 51

Technical Review Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 51