funding Archives - Page 2 of 10

I’m Afraid VCs Will Take Over

Tuesday, 17 January 2023 by Paul O'Brien

How do startup founders protect their company from investors in the shareholders’ agreement? Should they? Protect from what?? Seriously, think about it for a moment. The startup community is flooded with people who ‘don’t want VC,’ think, ‘investors will take over,’ and fear the influence or control of investors. This paranoia is a problem in

Published in Startups

18 Comments

Startup Valuations May Vary, Here’s Why and What You Need to Know

Monday, 05 December 2022 by Paul O'Brien

Businesses are valued based a multiple of earnings and profit. The variation stems from a few things associated with what that multiple might be (since earnings and profit are evident) Investor opinion about the capabilities of the executive team Investor awareness of competition, threats, and opportunities Investor knowledge about the market, trends, and potential regulation

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Published in Startups

9 Comments

Neither Your Product nor Your Idea is Fundable

Sunday, 14 August 2022 by Paul O'Brien

How do I sell a startup that has a validated solution yet neither users nor revenue? Among the primary FAQs within startup incubators and of advisors, is how do I get my product funded? You know the question through the variety of ways in which it emerges: How do I raise startup capital for my

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Raising Capital, Startups

32 Comments

New Business or Startup? It Matters

Friday, 01 July 2022 by Paul O'Brien

I’ve been the “Grumpy Get Off My Lawn!” about this over the years and tend to just roll with the people who are adamant that words are interchangeable, feeling that it’s not worth pushing when people want to say one thing can mean another. Of what have I been grumpy? Words matter. An investor in

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

15 Comments

Raising Capital: The Process is a Flywheel

Wednesday, 26 January 2022 by Paul O'Brien

Our year has started with a flood of curiosity about Venture Capital not just in how to raise funding but in consideration of how funds work, what it takes to get a job at a venture capital firm, and whether or not VC is broken or needs to change. Certain of 2022, given the recent years of

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Published in Raising Capital

21 Comments

How Funding Startups is Like Betting on Horses

Monday, 09 August 2021 by Paul O'Brien

Last week, a bit of a controversial, but thought-provoking, perspective about Venture Capital caught the attention of a lot of my readers and followers. There has been a horrific rash of *VC Bad* propaganda and misinformation lately, sparking my thought that people are being misled about the what Venture Capital is and does. That, entrepreneurs are frustrated

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Startups

15 Comments

“Venture Capital Destroys Value” – What??

Wednesday, 04 August 2021 by Paul O'Brien

The conversation recently had started, “Why do venture capitalists invest in startups if many of them are losing money and destroying value?” and I had to pause when I heard the point of view because I couldn’t even rationalize how someone thinks that way. Then of course it dawned on me that lately there has

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Published in Industry, Startups

31 Comments