It’s quite common that I meet founders that are seeking capital for their startup idea. I love talking to these founders, but I inevitably tell them the same thing: It’s exceedingly rare, these days, to raise capital for just an idea but not impossible. Moreover, there are ways that founders could finance initial product development without equity-based investment.
Want your startup to succeed? Know thy competition
Too often startups tell me that they have no competition. I write those startups off right away because I can guarantee that not only do they have competition, but the competition is a worthy opponent that must be taken seriously.
Rather than convincing me that your startup is special, stating that you have no competition tells me instead that you are either ill-informed, unrealistic, delusional, or too lazy to perform a thorough analysis of your competitive landscape. I’m sure the motivation is often just trying to impress the investor, but I am infinitely more impressed when a startup rattles of a dozen competitors and tells me everything there is to know about them. The startup journey is a competition, and it inspires substantial confidence when a team has thoroughly studied their adversaries.
Getting Customers for Your Startup
It doesn’t matter if you built the greatest product on earth if you can’t find an effective distribution strategy to acquire customers. In this episode of Startup Basics, Sergio and Kimmy explore a wide array of tactics and marketing channels. They look at flipping the traditional perspective: focusing on tasks first and then channels secondarily. … more
Grow Your Startup with the 1-10-100 Rule – Startup Basics
Popular tech media would make it seem otherwise, but it’s quite rare for a startup to release a product and see users or customers rushing in. Instead, many startups have limited means to promote their launch, and all they get at the beginning is a trickle. This can be very disconcerting, but there is a … more
Do I Need a Co-Founder – Startup Basics
The media loves celebrity founders such as Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos portraying them as one-man shows. However, most successful founders have at last one co-founder, and it’s quite rare for one individual to build a huge tech startup on their own. Moreover, there are some really important benefits in having one or … more