Category: Startups

Friends and Family Funding: Good Idea / Bad Idea (and just how it is)

Tuesday, 04 August 2020 by SEO'Brien

That Friends and Family Round of funding… we’ve all heard we need it, or that that’s where founders start; but are so many really raising money from family? Let’s cut to the chase, overwhelmingly most founders can’t look to family for financial help and so how should we really think of drawing capital from loved

Published in Startups

8 Comments

The Stress of Running a Venture Backed Startup

Friday, 17 July 2020 by SEO'Brien

The expectations of investors, the demands of a company now more prominent in the market, but the ease of pressure in having resources available… Being venture backed doesn’t make it more stressful, nor less, it’s a matter of the stage, the expectations, and what that all means to you personally. Startup teams usually change from

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

4 Comments

The 2 Slide Startup Pitch Deck

Monday, 29 June 2020 by SEO'Brien

Can we connect with investors in 2 slides? It’s said that at the earliest stage, investors are looking for the right people, validation, and a market opportunity but as pitch coaches, advisors, and incubators focus on the merit of the elevator pitch or the perfect email, does it not make sense that the pitch deck

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Published in Startups

52 Comments

The Family and the Wedding Party – Starting a Startup Team

Wednesday, 06 May 2020 by SEO'Brien

You need to think of EVERYONE at this stage as co-founders and owners OR merely consultants (formally contracted with VERY clear terms, requirements, deliverables, and ownership). Trust me. You do not want to be in a situation where you are committing anything to anyone hired, an agency, or freelance professional – such people either need to be

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Published in Startups

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Pitching VCs from Far Far Away

Monday, 04 May 2020 by SEO'Brien

Later this year, the Mandalorian returns to the small screen for Season 2 of one of the hottest reasons everyone has flocked to Disney+ While anxiously awaiting a show near the top of my Must See TV, my family and I spent the weekend binge watching Star Wars while I toiled away on a major

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Published in Advertising, Featured, PR, Startups

4 Comments

Startups: Avoid Competition (don’t neglect it)

Sunday, 03 May 2020 by SEO'Brien

Years ago, Peter Thiel provocatively proclaimed in the Wall Street Journal that “Competition Is for Losers” and I recall loving the headline not for the negative connotation implied, but for the play on words that you’re going to lose if you set out to compete. “The airlines compete with each other, but Google stands alone.

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Published in Featured, Startups

30 Comments

How VCs Make Money: the 2 and 20

Tuesday, 31 March 2020 by SEO'Brien

In downturns in the economy, it’s then that Venture Capital Funds really come to the forefront of our startup communities because it’s then that entrepreneurship shifts from a buyers market to a sellers market. Buyers vs. Seller. Some time ago, I got a little bit of s*** for suggesting that founders think of Venture Capitalists

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

19 Comments

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