Founders and Fundraising

When Should You Stop Giving Equity To Your Team?

I was in a board of directors meeting for a company I am advising. The discussion moved to stock options. One of the investors, “Michael” said, “We should set the strike price as high as possible so employees that quit will not exercise their options.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe i can…

Read More

What Are The Early Signs Your Startup Is In Trouble?

“There is no negotiation on this term sheet,” “Raul”, the Venture Capitalist, said to me. I was stunned. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. There’s always negotiation, isn’t there? Everyone negotiates, right? Not this VC. The terms we were given were horrible. I tried everything I could to…

Read More

What Do You Need Besides Talent To Start A Company?

One of the most technically talented people I ever worked with was “Doogie.” Doogie was, and probably still is, a brilliant engineer. He was creative, and he was always coming up with novel ideas for how things should get done. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. And energy?…

Read More

How To Successfully Pitch Your Business In One Slide

Imagine this scenario. You’re in a meeting with a major potential customer. And this one customer can make or break your business. You have to win this deal or your business is going to fail. Or imagine this scenario. You’re raising money. Do you want to nail your investor pitch? Then download the free, Startup…

Read More

How To Handle Co-Founder Issues During Fundraising

Every time I raised money, there was drama with one of my co-founders. It’s a nightmare because you’re worried the drama could cost you your funding. Since at least 50% of all co-founder relationships end up in failure, you have a pretty good chance of having co-founder issues happen when you’re raising money..That’s what today’s…

Read More

How Should You Divide Equity As Your Company Grows?

-“Here’s what I think is fair for your role,” I said to “Ken,” one of my co-founders. Ken smiled, and said, “I was thinking the same number.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] We shook hands, and that was that. I had agreed to the equity for my…

Read More

How Can Transparency Help Get You Funding?

How transparency can help get your startup funding Every startup has problems. And somehow or other, these problems, such as you missing your numbers, or a co-founder, always happen at the worst possible time which is when you’re raising money. Now, what do you do? Do you hide the problem from your potential investors or…

Read More

How Should You Respond To An Investor’s Rejection Email?

I’ve got a lot of experience with investor rejection emails since we had 63 investors pass on investing when we raised our Series A funding and a whole bunch more when we raised our Series B funding. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. Many investors just never responded…

Read More

Why You Want Investors to Say No

When you’re raising money, having investors tell you no, we will not invest in your startup is a good thing. Yes, you heard me right, hearing an investor say no is a good thing. In today’s video I’ll explain: What you don’t want to hear an investor say to you? How do you know if…

Read More