As someone who is deeply involved with startup studios, here are a few hints. 1. First, calculate your optimal scale of operations. In our startup studio this was about 12-15 people core team + dedicated ceo-s for each startup experiment 2. Raise funds for the studio, for at least 12-18 months. Y...
I haven't seen a deal structured this way. Usually they get 6-10% equity I exchange for some small amount of money ( ~ $25k ) and tons of mentorship. 15% for $20k seems high ( you are valuing your company at $133k ) but there might be more to it. Accelerators are great specially for unknown foun...
Convertible notes are by no means "earned." They are often easier to raise for early-stage companies who don't want to or can't raise an equity round. Equity rounds almost always require a simultaneous close of either the whole round or a defined "first close" representing a significant share o...
I don't know if I would suggest a book on "fundraising" because this is a situation in which personality, quality of team, execution and overall market potential play a determinant role in you getting funded. I've read a lot of books! I mean really a lot!! Mainly because i enjoy it, but the book...
The specifics of what an investor might try to look for may vary depending on whether the startup is, say, a daily deals play, a chip company, a mobile app, or a genomics startup. In general, here are the key things being examined with respect to a technical co-founder. Different investors might...
Try online forums. There are the cheapest of options but obviously not the safest or most reliable. Can't have your cake and eat it too. Otherwise maybe consider flying to these areas and knocking on investors doors. It took me a year and a half for my first startup to get funding and a lot of ...
When it comes to raising money you must remember that risk is a perception. Your job is to drain the risk! Below is a link to a resource I provide my investors. The 50 questions are specific to product design/development but the 15 categories are questions that apply to any industry. If you c...
I'd be happy to help, I've advised many early stage startups on their pitch decks. Feel free to send a Dropbox link to your pitch deck so that I can go through it beforehand, best, Lee
Not sure about VC, but I know for a fact the private equity firms do this. It's usually in the context of a "standard operating procedure." I worked in two companies owned by a leading tech PE firm, and they had a standardized tech stack (with specific vendors) that we were expected to use. Us...
The decision to raise equity capital would be made based on these criteria: (a) Size of your market: Is it a big market, meaning you have a chance to hit $100M in revenue in 5-8 years? (b) What is your YoY growth rate? (c) Will infusion of equity capital help you greatly accelerate your YoY growt...