Oh, I know. When you started the business, you took investments from friends and family in small amounts just to get you started. Of course, that worked at the time. But… Enter the need for larger investments When you seek professional investors, whether organized angels or venture capitalists, one of the early questions you are asked […]
Investors
Would You Sign a Personal Guarantee if You Have Investors?
It’s a fact of life that a banker, lender or lessor will ask for a personal guarantee from the founder or entrepreneur most every time. But what if you’ve diluted your interest from 100% to something less than 50%? Should your investors expect you to carry 100% of the risk? The short answer is “yes.” […]
Oh, Go Ahead and Ask for a $5 Million Investment in Your Startup
I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business. Four reasons you should reconsider. First, few startups can use that much money today with all the virtual services available and increasingly inexpensive methods of development, prototyping and marketing. Second, almost […]
Is It the Jockey or the Horse?
Early stage investors have been arguing over this for years. Do they bet on the entrepreneur (jockey) or the business idea and plan (the horse)? This is serious stuff. If you are looking for money, this question will certainly come up in one form or another when you approach professional or organized angel or VC […]
Is It the Jockey or the Horse?
Early stage investors have been arguing over this for years. Do they bet on the entrepreneur (jockey) or the business idea and plan (the horse)? This is serious stuff. If you are looking for money, this question will certainly come up in one form or another when you approach professional or organized angel or VC […]
Investors, Your Board, and You: Who Controls Strategy?
You’re building a company from your vision and a passion, and lots of people are going to tell you that you have this or that wrong, and that it just won’t work. Business plans rarely survive market contact The truth is that very, very few early business plans survive in a form completely recognizable when looking […]
7 Pitfalls to Watch Out for When Funding Your Small Business
Remember that you’re going to make mistakes while running your business. It’s okay to make a few mistakes. But most financial mistakes are the results of lack of financial knowledge or poor planning. Here are the most common pitfalls to avoid when securing funding for your small business. Choosing the Wrong Business Partner Not choosing […]
Take Advantage of the Good Times to Build Stakeholder Loyalty
Loyalty is a hard-earned commodity. There are several times when stakeholder loyalty is tested to the limit. For employees, a late or missed payroll is the ultimate test of corporate loyalty, divorced even from an employee’s ability to make do without a paycheck. For investors, a subsequent down round at a lower valuation than the […]
6 Guidelines for Proper Responses to Investor Queries
Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” Those who respond with one of the wrong answers, such as “I want […]
The 3 Phases of a Tech Startup
Most tech startups go through three phases: 3Fs, Seed and VC/Scale. Understanding these stages, and the objectives for each, is an important factor in strategy development and decision making. Not understanding the stage you’re currently in is one of the most common reason tech startups fail to move forward, or worse, fail. The Three Phases: […]
