Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I challenge them to think beyond what I call linear extensions to a current trend, such as another “easier-to-use” app for smartphones, a new dating site for pets, or another niche social network. These questions should always include the following: How realistic is your business opportunity today?

Intellectual Property 317

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Salary 317

Gust

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Based on the Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom a while back, personal money, or bootstrapping, continues to be the primary startup funding source. Eighty percent of new entrepreneurs use this approach, with only six percent using investor funding. Entrepreneurs need to start small and pivot quickly.

Bootstrapping 191

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 191

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 3, 2022

Helping Entrepreneurs Get To Where They Want To Go Faster written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Elizabeth Gore and Carolyn launched Hello Alice with the goal of helping entrepreneurs thrive with access to funding, resources, mentorship, and more. Marketing Podcast with Carolyn Rodz. We never have.

Entrepreneur 80

Entrepreneur Technical Review Networking Community 80

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. If your financial model projects a negative cash flow in this period of $400,000, you should buffer this amount by 25 percent, and ask for $500,000. Be prepared to explain your business model.

Preferred Stock 304

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 304

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” I always answer that there isn’t any magic, and contrary to the popular myth, nobody is waiting in the wings to throw money at you, just because you have a new and exciting business idea.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

YoungUpstarts

MAY 28, 2014

Fundraising is arguably the most important issue for any entrepreneur. Unless you’re a serial entrepreneur who has started and sold companies in the past. In other words, you have done wonders while “bootstrapping.” by Asif Khan, CEO of Caremerge. Show Capital Efficiency. Enter Competitions and Incubators.

Security 200

Security Incubator Technical Review Bootstrapping 200

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2016

Most first-time entrepreneurs seem to believe the myth that they need a minimum of a half a million dollars to start a business. In reality, over 80 percent of successful new businesses are self-funded for much less -- often as little as $10,000. Stick to a business domain you know and love. It never hurts to ask.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Social Media Equity eCommerce 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2015

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Customer support is more than handling exceptions.

Business Model 120

Business Model Angel Investor Startup Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” I always answer that there isn’t any magic, and contrary to the popular myth, nobody is waiting in the wings to throw money at you, just because you have a new and exciting business idea.

Equity 436

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 436

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

In fact, an entrepreneur friend of mine, who made millions on her marketing expertise, asserted recently that most inventors fail in business because they refuse to believe that any business expertise or experience is worth more than 5 percent in partner equity. Most founders bootstrap product development.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” I always answer that there isn’t any magic, and contrary to the popular myth, nobody is waiting in the wings to throw money at you, just because you have a new and exciting business idea.

Entrepreneur 240

Entrepreneur Equity Small Business Administration SBA 240

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series/ebook, over the years I’ve noticed that I tend to frequently share certain Lucky7 posts with entrepreneurs we’ve backed , team members at data.world, or other startup investors I know. In totality, these posts are at least as long as most business books. business model and team.

Bootstrapping 52

Bootstrapping IPO Business Model Software Review 52

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2021

In my experience as a business advisor and occasional investor, many of you won’t make it that far, succumbing to the high costs of getting those first customers, funding an initial inventory, and building an operational support process. The advisor will give you real credibility. Assess your resource potential before you start.

Dilution 404

Dilution Incubator Bootstrapping Government 404

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

In my experience as an advisor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often encounter the myth that an initial startup requires investors. The reality is that over 80 percent of new businesses will never attract venture capital or Angel funding, according to experts , and there are many good reasons for skipping that painful and distracting process.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Exit Strategy 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. If your financial model projects a negative cash flow in this period of $400,000, you should buffer this amount by 25 percent, and ask for $500,000. Be prepared to explain your business model.

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 29, 2020

In other words, you must start bootstrapping an online startup , because the future of the global business world is online. The companies that have the greatest chance of surviving the global economic shutdown are the ones that have pivoted their business processes from the brick-and-mortar model to an online model.

Bootstrapping 85

Bootstrapping Global Startup Hungary 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

Bootstrapping 101. I moderated a panel discussion last night on one of my favorite topics, bootstrapping, as part of our Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship Eminent Speaker Series at San Jose State. They have a standard presentation on bootstrapping, which they present around the country. ProfessorVC. Steve Bennet.

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” I always answer that there isn’t any magic, and contrary to the popular myth, nobody is waiting in the wings to throw money at you, just because you have a new and exciting business idea.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Small Business Administration 283

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Founders Space was ranked the #1 incubator for overseas startups by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazines. But I, what I wanna do in the a book is tell entrepreneurs, you can't just dive into it.

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

One of the most important decisions a new business owner can make is how they’re going to finance their venture. . Bootstrapping, saving funds over years, borrowing from friends and family, taking out a bank loan and pitching investors are all viable options, but some will work better than others for your specific business. .

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

Well, I have coached early stage entrepreneurs for a couple of years now - diligently, patiently - and have learned a few things. We're trying to bring the lessons we have learned in Silicon Valley to a million entrepreneurs. As you may know, 99% of the entrepreneurs who seek financing, get rejected. Well, I was once an amateur.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Technical Review Startup Early Stage 114

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Though RBI will displace some traditional equity VC, its much bigger impact will be to expand the pool of capital available for early-stage entrepreneurs. . of founders can’t or don’t want to build a business that way.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2014

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Rather than quitting, there are always alternatives, like pivoting the business model or merging with new partners for support.

Startup 275

Startup Bootstrapping Business Model Social Media 275

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2018

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Rather than quitting, there are always alternatives, like pivoting the business model or merging with new partners for support.

Bootstrapping 141

Bootstrapping Business Model Social Media Partner 141

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. In 2019 we partnered with several revenue-based lending providers, effectively creating a marketplace. “. Our wheelhouse is bootstrapped (or lightly capitalized) SMB SaaS. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

A popular myth these days is that successful entrepreneurs must attract investors to get their businesses going, when the reality has been that more than 80 percent of new businesses are started and grown with no outside investment at all. Bootstrapping not only reduces cash needs, but increases commitment.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Cofounder Equity Agile 120

The Entrepreneurial Mind

JANUARY 11, 2011

One of the limitations of Osterwalder's canvas for business modeling is that is can get a bit clumsy for lean start-ups that are bootstrapped. and specifically my type of business - web apps. partners or a customer relationship model. For instance, before.

Business Model 61

Business Model Lean Bootstrapping Web 61

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2013

It’s part three of a series, cross-posted from his own blog , in which he draws on his experience to offer advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in Europe and beyond. So far I have shared with you 9 simple steps to start your own tech business ((don’t miss part 1 , part 2 , and part 3 ). Raise your first round of money, or bootstrap.

Management 120

Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. Unfortunately Tracy would learn first hand not much later that the business model has two components: both buying and selling. But Tracy did what entrepreneurs do. Sam is the managing director of Launchpad LA and we were about to pick our 2012 class of entrepreneurs.

Silicon Valley 363

Silicon Valley Cofounder Entrepreneur Startup 363

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2016

I still hear often the dream of a free service to users, supported by advertising, per the Facebook model. Entrepreneurs don’t realize that Facebook spent over $100 million, before revenues from advertising turned cash positive. Business founders need deep pockets for this model. Anyone can do it.

New York City 158

New York City Kansas Advertising Cash Position 158

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2016

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Rather than quitting, there are always alternatives, like pivoting the business model or merging with new partners for support.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Business Model Social Media Partner 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

  When we talk to entrepreneurs (or explain to others what we do) we often explain this in risk terms. Hiring the right folks with broad experience beyond what is immediately called for is a great idea - if you can find them and if they'll work well with the entrepreneurs.    And then the partners come calling.

Technical Cofounder 68

Technical Cofounder Wisconsin Cofounder IP 68

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2013

When I heard a friend make the statement “Your startup can’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt it as their mantra. Nothing is more discouraging to future entrepreneurs than a failed startup. So you made some bad hiring or partner decisions. Pivoting or dealing a new hand is not quitting.

Turkey 252

Turkey Startup Bootstrapping Differentiation 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2013

Based on the latest Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom, personal money, or bootstrapping, continued to be the primary startup funding in 2012. Eighty percent of new entrepreneurs used this approach, with only six percent using investor funding. Entrepreneurs need to start small and pivot quickly.

Startup 264

Startup Burn Rate Bootstrapping Valuation 264