Founders and Fundraising
How Do You Reduce Risk As A Startup CEO?
I don’t why, but years ago, when I was in high school, my Dad got involved in a business building replicas of old classic cars. As I remember it, the company bought old VW? engines, put a classic car chassis around them and sold the cars at a profit. Do you want to grow your…
Read MoreHow Ambitious Do You Need To Be To Attract Investors?
“Give us $11 million, and we’ll build you a billion dollar company,” I said to every investor we met when I was raising our initial funding. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. At the time we were raising our initial funding, the Venture Capital community in the Silicon…
Read MoreHow Not To Create A Pitch Deck
There are some things that you just shouldn’t do when you’re developing a pitch deck for investors. And, there’s one thing in particular that you shouldn’t do that can kill your chances of raising money. Making matters worse, this one thing sounds like a great idea. In fact, you’ll be tempted to pay a…
Read MoreHow Do You Get Multiple VCs Or Angels To Invest?
“I want to invest, but I’d like someone else to set the terms,” Bill, a VC interested in investing in our company, said to me. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. That’s great,” I said, standing up. Bill and I shook hands. “I’ll keep you posted on our…
Read MoreDoes Your Startup Really Need A Board Of Directors?
One of the questions I get asked the most by early stage startup CEOs is, “I think I need a board of directors. What do you think?” In today’s video, I’ll answer all the questions you’re likely to have about startup boards including: What is an advisory board? What’s the difference between a board of…
Read MoreSave Your Early Stage Startup In Three Simple Steps
The NASDAQ is down over 30% from its high. Interest rates are rising. It’s only inevitable that the economic environment is going to affect your early stage startup. How? Well, customers may not want to take a chance on buying from you because they’re worried you’re going to go out of business. Raising that next…
Read MoreHow To Validate Your Startup Idea In 7 Steps
Wouldn’t it be great if you could validate your startup idea in less than one hour because you absolutely, positively have to validate your startup idea? Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. There are seven steps that you need to take to validate your startup idea. And I’m…
Read MoreHow Do You Make A Startup Pitch Deck For Investors
Creating a startup pitch deck, especially if you’ve never done it, is tough to do. You have to somehow, in a very short time period, convince investors that may know a limited amount about your company, why your company is going to make a ton of money. How short a time frame do you have?…
Read MoreWhat You Should Worry About As A Startup CEO?
“How much cash do we have left?” I asked Tina, our very able controller. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “We have $197,000 and change left, Brett. That’s enough to run the company for another three months,” Tina replied. “Okay, assuming we close (our funding) on schedule, then…
Read MoreHow To Determine Equity For Startup Founders
How to determine the equity splits between you and your co-founders is a key indicator of whether the relationship between you will work out. Unless you and your co-founders are happy with the results there will be problems ahead. Over 50% of all co-founder relationships end in failure. In today’s video, I’ll explore how you…
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