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Starting Up? You Need These >>>
IDEAS & ADVICE
If this is your first rodeo...err Startup...your head is probably already spinning and your brain is about to explode! If you feel a little bit or a lot "overwhelmed", welcome to the human race.
These feelings are 100% normal. Are you a non-technical founder who has a great business idea and quite a bit of commercial experience?
People just like you often benefit from ad hoc mentorship or what is sometimes known as Incubation.
Click the icon above to be re-directed to the Mentorship section.
STRATEGIES & SYSTEMS
On the other hand, if this is not your first rodeo...err Startup...you probably need to tap into different resources.
For example, you might have already completed your POC (proof of concept) and MVP (minimal viable product), ie., the pre-revenue or early revenue stage.
In that case, you could definitely benefit from acceleration culminating in a strategic fundraising campaign to secure the runway needed to grow.
Click the icon above to be re-directed to the Acceleration section.
FUNDRAISING
I'd love a dollar for every time during 30 years that business owners contacted me about their "great/new product/service".
I can't help Startups at the idea stage raise capital. They need to invest it themselves or convince family and close friends to invest in them.
I work with Startups that have proven they have a sustainable product-market fit.
Click the icon above to be re-directed to the Fundraising section.
Ideation
Maybe you have a great business idea, or maybe you have opportunities and don't quite know how to identify, scope out, and quantify what the business model is. Our work with Business Model Canvas and other brainstorming tools will help.
Founder / Team Compatibility Check
Trusting your "gut" is okay when the downside of getting it wrong is not huge. Choosing your co-founders based on the fact that you know them, instead of working out whether their strengths complement your weaknesses, and hence make the Founding Team stronger, is not a good idea. We use a software program to analyze Founders and the analysis can be surprising and sometimes avoid baking in a critical flaw.
Accounting, Legal, Tax & Structure
We don't pretend to do the work of Accountants, Attorneys, Tax Advisors, or Incorporation Agents...but we sure do know the right ones to use in just about every country that you can think of. Many a good idea and great team never made it to market, because the founders thought they could save a few bucks and take care of these issues later.
Operations
First-time founders sometimes struggle with suddenly having to make management decisions on a daily basis. It can often help to have an impartial set of eyes and ears to either consult with or bring in from time to time to help establish policies and procedures and set up a template of how the organization could be run in the first couple of years.
Networking
You are always stronger when you connect with people who have walked the path you are on. Our network of service providers, other mentors, and former and existing founders, along with knowledge of things like founder discounts for all manner of software and services that are useful to early-stage companies, has saved many of our clients thousands of dollars and a lot of wasted time.
Proof of Concept (POC)
You don't have a business unless you identify a market segment that is willing to pay for your product or service. Not people who you think need your product. Needs and wants are two completely different animals.
Minimal Viable Product (MVP)
Once you have completed your POC you need to create a working model of your solution. If you're running a SaaS business model, for example, you need to build a prototype of your App.
Lead Generation
Freemium user acquisition stats won't get you funded these days. Investors want to see paying customers. We've developed some interesting strategies to get paying customers to try products and services that still in BETA testing.
Media and Marketing
If one of the Founding Team is not an accomplished growth hacker and digital marketing wizard, or even if they are, you might need help preparing and implementing a coordinated media campaign to build up social proof as you enter into the Fundraising campaign.
Advanced Growth Hacking
Taking the SaaS business model, for example, an investor will want to see that you've had month-over-month (MOM) growth of 20%+ for at least the last four months when you approach them to poll their interest in making an investment.
Pitch Deck Design
Your Pitch Deck is the first document most potential investors see. It's usually also the last. Get it wrong and that investor won't take your call or want your updates. See it from their viewpoint. Venture Capital investors (VCs) wade through a few thousand pitch decks a year. They might end up investing in less than one percent of all the startups that send them their deck. You need to give them your information in the format that they expect and let the numbers and opportunity speak for themselves.
Build Your Traction Story
As mentioned above, an Angel or VC investor will likely want to see that you've had month-over-month (MOM) growth of 20%+ for at least the last four months when you approach them to poll their interest in making an investment. If you don't have that, don't start fundraising. Focus on fixing the problem.
Create Your Fundraising Plan
Yes, you need an actual fundraising plan. Fundraising is not unlike sales. To secure an annual sales target, you need daily, weekly, and monthly plans and targets. Fundraising is the same.
Build Your 300 Investor List
It may be 200, 250, or 300. It won't be any less than 150. That's how many qualified investors you need on your investor list at the start, if, when the dust settles at the end of the fundraising round, you want to be oversubscribed and have secured 100% of your runway needs for the next 12-18 months.
Pre-Fundraising Outreach to Create FOMO and Oversubscribe Your Offer
You never just pick up the phone and start calling investors from a database or excel list that someone got hold of. That's the surest way I know to ruin your chance of using FOMO to get people to invest. You first ask for advice. Ask a hypothetical question about whether an opportunity like yours first into their portfolio plans, and if so, how much they normally invest (i.e. their ticket size).
Open the Fundraising, Set the Closing Date, Pitch - Secure Funds and Close The Round
After your soft opening has indicated that you have more potential investors showing a genuine interest than you need, you open the round and set a closing date for around 3 weeks time. FOMO is used to create a bidding war. Follow up is used on all the people on your list who said they were interested and you explain that the opportunity is being offered on a first-come-first-served basis. Closing the round happens as soon as you have achieved your target and the money is in the bank.
