Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

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. Everyone must be part of the sales process. Marty Zwilling

Business Model 273

Business Model Customer Angel Investor Bootstrapping 273

YoungUpstarts

MAY 30, 2016

Image credit: Bootstrapping from Shutterstock. Looking at the startup scene through the lens of TechCrunch or VentureBeat, one may not be faulted for assuming that securing VC capital is the default way to raise a business. Either way, you are not alone if you are bootstrapping your business.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Germany United States France 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

SoCal CTO

APRIL 23, 2010

I’ve come to realize that I have lots of posts around startup software development scattered around in different posts. How to Work With a Contract Web Developer How To Bootstrap Your Startup Thought it would be good to capture them in one spot and also include links to related posts from other sources.

CTO Hire 219

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles Developer 219

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

For a nonprofit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for nonprofits as for-profits.

Equity 235

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

For a nonprofit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for nonprofits as for-profits.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

While funding is necessary for almost all businesses, seeking it out yourself isn’t necessarily the right path for everyone. Instead, knowing how to bootstrap your startup might be a better option. How to Bootstrap Your Startup. When you bootstrap your startup, you retain full control of the new business.

Bootstrapping 145

Bootstrapping Startup Cofounder Angel Investor 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2014

In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to an authoritative survey of new startups. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 276

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 276

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” Funding process.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2018

Innovative products and business models are the foundations of a promising startup. From jewelry to dog food to SaaS (software as a service) products, startups are popping up in virtually every field around the world, despite the risks. Creating a scalable business model.

SBA 84

SBA Angel Investor Technical Review Startup 84

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

In general, this won’t happen for a new startup unless you have a good credit history, or existing assets that you are willing to put at-risk for collateral. In the US, you may find that the Small Business Administration (SBA) can get you infusions of cash without normal backup requirements. Trade equity or services for startup help.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

To refresh your memory, angel investors are typically high net worth individuals, accredited by the SEC and willing to invest their own money in a high-potential startup for a share of the ownership. In the real world, most angels are regular business people like you and me. Crowdfunding is not the best platform here.

Non-disclosure Agreement 299

Non-disclosure Agreement Angel Investor Bootstrapping SEC 299

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 2, 2019

In fact, remote work is on the rise – especially in the form of virtual assistants – and it’s one of the primary reasons why more small businesses are opting to outsource work. is the single biggest outsourcing country globally. According to an ATKearney report, outsourcing will see an increase in higher-level jobs in the future.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Due Diligence Technical Support Bootstrapping 147

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. business model entrepreneur investors startup viable'

Business Model 120

Business Model Angel Investor Startup Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

They know from forums such as Shark Tank on TV that asking for either too much or too little will derail credibility in the eyes of the investor, and leave the entrepreneur with no money and a struggling startup. Be prepared to explain your business model. Can you justify your use of funds to this investor? Marty Zwilling.

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

For a non-profit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for non-profits as for-profits. That’s a higher calling.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

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 339

Bootstrapping Business Model Social Media Partner 339

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Capital investments are like gasoline on a startup business’s metaphorical fire. They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. If you’re like most startup CEOs, your startup has been your personal fiefdom and baby.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

But have you ever had the opportunity to pick the brains of founders who created amazingly successful startups and companies like Envato , Backblaze , Simple , or Treehouse ? Starting a startup isn’t easy and there will always be people who tell you that something is impossible. Gleb Budman , CEO of Backblaze. Nothing is impossible.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Founder Startup Bootstrapping 164

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2022

For example, I know of a startup whose investors said they rejected them due to a lack of five-year monthly financial projections. But the same group had invested in multiple startups that had only one year of monthly and two additional years of annual projections. They want your business to be able to scale up.

Venture Capital 146

Venture Capital Intellectual Property Angel Investor Bootstrapping 146

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

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. Everyone must be part of the sales process. Marty Zwilling.

Business Model 414

Business Model Angel Investor Bootstrapping Revenue 414

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 13, 2015

Often your best estimate of any metric or market behavior or business model component is at best accurate within a power of ten, for example “expected conversion rate between 0.5% Let’s run an example, taken from real numbers from a startup I recently spoke with. Bigger markets make things easier.

Business Model 120

Business Model Affiliate Startup Bootstrapping 120

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

During today's roundtable, we had four Microsoft BizSpark Startup India Challenge grant finalists present. Freshdesk First, Girish Mathrubootham from Chennai, India, pitched Freshdesk , a SaaS company that provides small and medium businesses with on-demand customer support software that offers multi-channel social support.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

Gust

DECEMBER 7, 2014

In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to an authoritative survey of new startups. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 191

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 191

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 9, 2015

While most of the startup blogs and magazines focus on the VC fundings and their million dollar valuations, the truth is that a whopping majority of entrepreneurship stories are never shared. These are the little known bootstrapped start-ups that continue to operate through debt and personal savings. Not necessarily.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Cloud Finance eCommerce 100

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

JANUARY 4, 2016

Starting a new business on a limited budget without investor involvement is called bootstrapping, and it’s the only way to go if you don’t want to spend months on the investment pitch preparation and delivery circuit. Stick to a business domain you know and love. Choose a business model to optimize your revenue flow and timing.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Social Media Equity eCommerce 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

They know from forums such as Shark Tank on TV that asking for either too much or too little will derail credibility in the eyes of the investor, and leave the entrepreneur with no money and a struggling startup. Be prepared to explain your business model. Can you justify your use of funds to this investor? Marty Zwilling.

Preferred Stock 304

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 304

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 10, 2010

A sizable percentage of Capital Factory startup submissions take the form of the "marketplace." In fact, 3 of the 10 selected companies from the past two years has followed this business model. If you're bootstrapping and your value proposition includes the words "anything" or "anyone," you're probably reaching too far.

Business Model 310

Business Model Finder SEO Bootstrapping 310