Working with Investors
8 Tips on How Much Money to Ask for from Investors
Startups ask me “How much money should I ask for?” The simple answer is the absolute minimum amount you need to make your plan work.
Why Not to Take Your Small Business Public
When in need of cash to fund your business expansion, you might consider initiating contact with an investment bank to discuss your options for an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
How to Inject Cash into Your Business
When you need a cash injection to grow your business, your two main options are equity financing and debt financing. In this two-part series, I’ll cover the pros and cons of each.
10 Entrepreneur Milestones That Make Funding Easy
Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have been working 20 hours a day, and spent your last dollar, but have no results to show, investors will be sympathetic, but will probably tell you that your dream doesn’t have wheels. Traction means forward progress.
Shortcuts to Entrepreneur Funding Are Usually Scams
Some aspiring entrepreneurs are so desperate for funding, or naïve, that they ignore the obvious signs of scams and rip-offs on the Internet, praying for a windfall. One would think that with all the sad stories and tools published over the past twenty years, this problem would be behind us.
6 Mistakes That Kill Kickstarter Campaigns, and How to Avoid Them
Kickstarter is filled with overnight success stories—from Pebble to Ouya—who turned brilliant ideas into millions of dollars and national exposure. It’s easy to attribute their success to amazing products, the rise of crowdfunding, and a magic dose of virality.
Learn from the 5 Core Principles of Angel Investors
If your startup is looking for an Angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of Angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? In reality, hitting large numbers of Angels in multiple locations with a generic pitch is one of the least productive approaches.
10 Reasons Why IPO Is No Longer a Good Startup Exit
In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of someday taking their startup public, and making it a multi-national powerhouse. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is at an all-time low, and most entrepreneurs avoid this option like the plague, knowing the process is painful, and public company executives are seen as greedy sharks.
10 Tips for Building the Most Scalable Startup
Investors will tell you that they love to put money into startups that are scalable, and ready to scale. But what does that really mean? Simply stated, it means that your business has the potential to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost.
10 Ways to Attract the Right Kind of Investors
When you’re initially starting up your company, any investment can feel like a welcome investment. The reality is that not all money is created equal. There are investors you want to attract and others you don’t.