Venture Capital: Why You Shouldn't Raise VC Money. It seems like nearly every entrepreneur is on a crusade to raise venture capital.
Among the ranks of Ramen-eating, credit-card-maxing founders, venture capital is revered as a start-up panacea. With venture capital, it seems, you can live lavishly, hire a platoon of PhDs, and virtually guarantee an IPO. Chances are, though, you shouldn't raise venture capital money. Simply put, most start-ups aren't poised to grow big enough to satisfy the needs of venture capital funds. And, if your smaller company does raise VC, it typically won't be the best way to maximize your payout. VCs Look for Huge Payouts With a high failure rate in their portfolios, venture capitalists rely on winners to win big. Since you probably won't capture your entire market, in order for VCs to believe you can achieve an exit at this magnitude, you'll need to make a strong argument that you're attacking a very large market.
To help you assess, I created something I call the "Fundraising Matrix" (below). Three Big Decisions Your Startup will Make. “When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for people telling you that you are nuts.” — Larry Ellison, Oracle Every startup makes hundreds, even thousands, of small decisions every day.
But, there comes a time when every startup has to make some really big decisions that will dictate their overall success. I believe there are three big decisions that every startup will make throughout their lifecycle. Without rolling the dice to make these big bets, most companies will hit the “mediocre pool.” This is where startups go when they plateau. 1. 2. Most startups fall apart here because they don’t have a solid foundation where communication, collaboration, and teamwork are stable and integrated into the company culture. 3. In this stage, most startups fall into the trap of one-upping their competitors. At Skillshare, we have a very clear vision of how education should exist in the world. Can You Sustain the Company You Started? In many ways, it's never been easier to be an entrepreneur.
From small-business loans to university courses to mentorship programs to incubators, resources abound for people who want to start new businesses. Yet only about half of all new businesses survive the first five years, despite the support their owners receive. To discover what makes some businesses thrive while others wither, Gallup studied the behaviors that successful entrepreneurs exhibit. Only about half of all new businesses survive the first five years. Our findings indicate that a new company's odds of survival have a lot to do with the innate abilities of its founder. Business size affects the relationship between individual talent and business performance Gallup research indicates that an entrepreneur's personality has a direct relationship with business success in a small startup environment.
As the size of the company grows, the relationship between entrepreneurial talent and business success becomes less direct. LYL-Product-Launch-Master-Checklist_for-community_Final.pdf (application/pdf Object) 27-Questions-to-Find-Your-Passion_LYL.pdf (application/pdf Object) Why you must pay yourself first. The Right Compensation Plan To Ignite A Business.