Are entrepreneurs born or taught? I’d say a bit of both. Environmental and genetic influences are so intertwined for most things (diseases, our health, intelligence, etc.) there’s no simple answer. Having said that, when we talk about founders and startups we often think of it as something intrinsic to the people, something inside them, built […]
Paying Yourself is Not a Reason to Raise Early Stage Funding
If you want to earn a market value salary, you need to get a job. Paying yourself isn’t a good enough reason to justify raising early stage funding. I realize that sounds harsh, but it’s not intended to be. Here’s a fairly common scenario for startup founders: Two or three people decide to start a […]
Shrinking the Table – How Investors and Startups Are Getting Closer
Too often, investors and entrepreneurs think of themselves as being, “on opposites sides of the table.” Raising capital is a negotiation that regularly pits investors against entrepreneurs (and vice versa). This adversarial relationship is quite common, and the relationship between investors and entrepreneurs (many people describe it as a marriage) regularly falls apart. Sure, when […]
Raising Financing: Convertible Debt vs. Equity
Seth Levine from Foundry Group touched off a debate on which is the best way to raise startup financing: convertible debt or equity. Paul Graham (intentionally or not) actually started things with a tweet, “Convertible notes have won. Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done […]
Startup Funding Doesn’t Always Create the Right Type of Acceleration
In a recent conversation with a friend (and fellow entrepreneur) we were discussing a couple of his bootstrapped initiatives. He’s struggling with the pace at which things are going, partially because he has to “pay the bills” through consulting. That time away from his startup and startup projects is hugely distracting. I know the feeling, […]
It Doesn’t Matter How Much Money You’re Raising, It’s Still Hard
Things certainly feel frothier these days. More and more companies are raising money, and valuations seem to be skyrocketing. But even in stronger economic times (we hope!) and bubblier eagerness to put venture and angel capital to work it’s still extremely hard to raise financing. And in many cases the amount of money you’re looking […]
4 Ways to Align Interests Between Startup Founders and Investors
Are investors and startup founders on the same side of the table, or the opposite side? A: Depends. When things are going well, everyone feels like they’re on the same side of the table. When things are going not so well, it’s a different story. This is the reality of the startup-investor relationship. It’s not […]
Use of Funds
Almost every investor pitch, whether to angel investors or venture capitalists involves one slide near the end about how much money a startup is looking to raise, milestones it hopes to achieve and generally, the “use of funds.” The intent behind describing the use of funds is to explain to the potential investors how you […]
No One Can Raise Funding for Your Startup Except You
One of the big roadblocks that first-time entrepreneurs face is the issue of raising capital. There are no easy answers. But one thing is certain, the only person that can raise financing for your startup is you. There are enough high quality resources out there on raising venture capital and angel investment. And there are […]
Using Mega Trends When Pitching Your Startup
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about “mega trends” and how to use them when pitching your startup. Investors like mega trends. After all, they’re big. And most of us are aware of them and have been affected by them (or expect to be in the future). Tens of millions of baby boomers getting set […]
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