How to Raise Money. September 2013 Most startups that raise money do it more than once.
A typical trajectory might be (1) to get started with a few tens of thousands from something like Y Combinator or individual angels, then (2) raise a few hundred thousand to a few million to build the company, and then (3) once the company is clearly succeeding, raise one or more later rounds to accelerate growth. Reality can be messier. Some companies raise money twice in phase 2. Others skip phase 1 and go straight to phase 2. This essay focuses on phase 2 fundraising. Forces Fundraising is hard in both senses: hard like lifting a heavy weight, and hard like solving a puzzle.
To founders, the behavior of investors is often opaque—partly because their motivations are obscure, but partly because they deliberately mislead you. If you're an inexperienced founder, the only way to survive is by imposing external constraints on yourself. The ultimate source of the forces acting on you are the forces acting on investors. Entrepreneur Startup Advice. I usually tell people that everything I learned about being an entrepreneur I learned by F’ing up at my first company.
I think the sign of a good entrepreneur is the ability to spot your mistakes, correct quickly and not repeat the mistakes. I made plenty of mistakes. Below are some of the lessons I learned along the way. If there’s a link on a title below I’ve written the post, if not I plan to. The summary of each posting will be here but the full article requires you to follow the links.
For now it’s mostly an outline for me to follow (in no particular order). Disclaimer: I ran two SaaS software companies. 1. 2. You also need to consider founder scenarios, ownership, prenuptials and stock options. Learning to work with lawyers. 46 Ways To Start A Business With No Money. Most people who want to start their own business don’t have a ton of money laying around and it’s probably one the most common questions I get emailed about: How can I get started without a lot of cash?
Well I’ve put together a list below of the best ideas I’ve heard and personally used. I hope you find it useful! The three basic strategies to starting a business without much money are: Delay the normal “business starting” activities like incorporating, hiring, renting office or retail space, etc until AFTER your business has started earning money. This is known as bootstrapping.Doing everything yourself and spending your personal time instead of hiring an expert. Start With The Easy Stuff: Eliminate Expenses Don’t rent an office! Legal Stuff and Incorporating Make a website for your business Getting a Logo Don’t hire a fancy graphic designer. Accepting Credit Cards Starting a service business where you consult, coach, teach, etc Creating Info Products Before investing in a retail location…