Before You Start, Define the Outcome
Sunday, 10 March 2019
How do you determine when your business is going to be successful? When it meets your definition of success. Many, I’ve found, start businesses thinking forward; the test and validate, customer feedback oriented development. I have a hypothesis or a business I want to start, what do I do first? That’s generally actually bad idea because every
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How Startups and Small Businesses Differ When it Comes to Funding
Monday, 04 March 2019
Funding doesn’t determine a startup from a small business; the nature of the business determines the funding. Twist of logic perhaps, so let’s explore it. Very frequently, I find small businesses looking to raise venture capital; let me cut to the chase that such efforts are almost always wasting their time. The distinctions between small
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Funding a Venture Before Angel Investors
Monday, 04 March 2019
This is a tough question to broach with entrepreneurs but it’s one that comes up almost daily. From where does the money come to start?? There is a reason most entrepreneurial success is found by people in their 40s… being able to leverage a network, drawing from experience, and having the money available to start
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So That Incubator Turned You Down… Now What?
Tuesday, 26 February 2019
Get back to work. I was asked recently, If a startup is turned down by an accelerator program, should the founders take it as a sign to move onto something else? Taken back a bit, the popularity of the question astounded me. Is the acceptance of a startup program really that influential to some entrepreneurs? What
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Startups: When to Quit
Monday, 04 February 2019
Here’s the hard truth, since you’re here, since you’re asking when to quit a startup, the answer is now. Because you asked. Truly. That’s the answer. Most Startups fail and they actually fail not for all the reasons cited but rather merely because the founding team doesn’t have their heart in it any more. Your
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From Automobile to Innovation – Stories of Entrepreneurship
Sunday, 13 January 2019
I didn’t grow up around incredible cars, nor in a family of enthusiasts, but a few of my earliest and fondest memories involve automobiles. The first was as a child, being driven to school by mom, when she shared a passing anecdote that she had always wanted to be a race car driver (that story
How Venture Capitalists Venture
Monday, 07 January 2019
Did you know? Venture Capitalists get paid to manage others’ money. If someone is investing directly in your startup, and they know and love the space, having more supportive than capital based intentions, call them an Angel Investor. If someone is directly investing in your business and they want to see customers and focus on
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