Don’t Be Fooled by All the Hype for Crowd Funding

The new hot topic for entrepreneurs the last couple of years is crowdfunding, which is anticipated to at least supplement, if not replace, the slow and mysterious process of current Angel and venture capital investors. The problem is that crowdfunding means something different to everyone, and even I have been confused by the different ways the term gets used.
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Freelancers are the New Entrepreneurs for Services

You don’t need to invent an innovative product to be a real entrepreneur. Self-employed services specialists are just as important, and most often operate remotely (from anywhere in the world) in this age of the Internet. Many of these new entrepreneurs were regular employees a few years ago, focused on a skill specialty. They are not the generalists required for new product startups.
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Startups Need to Embrace Zero Paid Media Marketing

The power and influence of paid media advertising, including print ads, TV commercials, radio, and even online digital campaigns is waning, in favor of unpaid earned and owned messaging from your website, social media, key market influencers, and existing customer word-of-mouth. But startups need to remember that even zero paid media doesn’t mean that marketing is free.
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How Can an Entrepreneur Qualify for a Bank Loan?

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. A question I get all the time is, “Can I ever expect any backing from my bank for a great opportunity?”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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