Advisor Services For Startups

Startup CEO thinking too small

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Are you as a startup CEO thinking too small and dooming your startup to failure?  You need to “size” your startup size ambitions in alignment with: Your experience and skill set Your co-founders The funds that you can raise within your ecosystem The support that your ecosystem can provide The size of the addressable markets…… Continue Reading

Mission Statement Drifting

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Is your Mission Statement Drifting? Every early stage startup has a mission statement and a set of employees with job titles and employment contracts (job descriptions usually come later). If you have an outsider ask each officer and key employee to describe the mission statement; how aligned are the responses? You really need to try…… Continue Reading

Dealing with Difficult People

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Is dealing with difficult people a problem for your startup?  Everybody has a bad day someday. Let’s talk about how to cope when they unload on you. Dealing with difficult people When someone gets upset for whatever reason; you must first address their feelings; then you can address their problem. Avoid feeling emotional yourself –…… Continue Reading

Fire Your Problem Customers

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Fire your problem customers in order to improve your startup’s business. A customer anticipates that he will be well treated. That is fine. It is a startup’s job to deliver reasonable service to its customers. But, a Startup also has the right to expect that its customers will not make unreasonable demands. Warning Signs So,…… Continue Reading

Manage Your Priorities As A Startup CEO

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It is complex to manage your priorities as a startup CEO. It is too easy to let yourself feel overwhelm. This post provides suggestions for a series of categories for your thought to help you be in control.  So set your priorities as a startup CEO Time Committed How much time is committed to your…… Continue Reading

Issues in a 50-50 Equity Business Partnership

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There are potential issues in a 50-50 equity business partnership. Many startups start out essentially as a partnership. The partners agree on a few essential things and get started with enthusiasm. But things may work out better if they think through the following; with the help of an appropriate lawyer. Business Plan The partners need…… Continue Reading

Reasons to send business Christmas cards

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Here are compelling reasons to send business Christmas cards (Hanukkah cards, Holiday Cards, New Years Cards). Christmas Cards (Hanukkah cards, Holiday Cards, New Years Cards) are a unique opportunity to reach out to customers and prospects and leave a smile on their face. From a marketing and branding perspective you might want to do this…… Continue Reading

No Cost Website Promotion

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No cost website promotion can increase your traffic. There are several ways to do this. These include: Reciprocal Links Request reciprocal links from synergistic sites. Small websites are more typically responsive. Be careful as you do this. Avoid scams. Google grades you on who you link to and who links to you. Forums Research in…… Continue Reading

How to Host a Teleconference

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Some startup employees do not know how to host a teleconference, as they have only known a simple 3-way call. The 3-way call or old form of teleconference has been replaced by more sophisticated multi-call phone teleconferencing and online teleconferencing. Teleconferencing Basics The following basics can be adapted to fit any kind of teleconference call.…… Continue Reading

What is a Teleconference?

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There are numerous ways for a startup company to hold a meeting of selected employees, consultants and vendors. Usually they are held in offices or conference rooms. But sometimes participants are on travel or otherwise geographically separated. In that case one way to hold a meeting of all the participants is a teleconference. A teleconference…… Continue Reading

Blogging is Free Internet Marketing

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Blogging is free Internet marketing.  It is also one of the best Internet marketing methods.  Blog is a term that refers to a web log. Essentially, a blog is a journal hosted on the Internet. A blog can be created at very low cost and then used for business purposes.  Costs for a text blog…… Continue Reading

Blog Content Brainstorming

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Let’s assume that you have established say three core content focus topics for your blog. Within each focus topic you have several subtopics. So – how to keep your content fresh? You need to brainstorm this periodically. You need to select fresh topics. Know what others are blogging about Look at Blogs with the same…… Continue Reading

Be Comfortable With Public Speaking

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Public speaking is an important part of being a startup CEO. So you need practice so that you will approach each presentation with confidence. Be Comfortable With Public Speaking You need to get started as a speaker. Just do it!! Toastmasters International is one place to develop knowledge practice and confidence. Go to http://www.toastmasters.org/ and…… Continue Reading

Consider when hiring a virtual assistant

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These are topics to consider when hiring a virtual assistant. “Virtual Assistants” are being used more and more by startup CEOs. You can hire a VA from any continent! Consider time zones and their impact. The hourly cost can be modest or high depending on your needs. Many VA’s have degrees. Some have excellent experience.…… Continue Reading

Find Joint Venture Partners for Startups

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To find joint venture partners for startups is to strongly leverage and accelerate your revenue growth. Joint venture partners can leverage the dealflow and credibility of established corporations and get your offering in front of new markets. Here are a number of groups of places to look for joint venture partners for startups: Established corporations…… Continue Reading

Essential Startup Management Skills

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Some people think that raising funding for a startup is the difficult part. but the most challenging facets to a startup are: Having the essential startup management skills for each stage Developing an outstanding product concept Creating an unfair advantage that can be sustained for 2-3 years Building the best team for this offering for…… Continue Reading

Reasons A Startup CEO Should Take Vacation

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Some startup CEOs think that they cannot take a vacation. Here are reasons a startup CEO should take vacation. Physical relaxation As a startup CEO you work very hard to launch and grow your business. Trying to ignore the natural need for a physical rest will only lead to a bad ending. You need to…… Continue Reading

Capitalization Table for a Startup

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Meaning of Capitalization Table A capitalization table for a startup is a spreadsheet that describes the ownership stakes in a startup. A capitalization table is accurate documentation of all the primary shareholders of a startup, in addition to their pro-rata ownership of all the securities granted by the business (common shares, preferred shares, and options),…… Continue Reading

Post-Money Valuation

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The valuation of a startup is a measure of how much the startup is worth to an investor. This is at a particular point in the life cycle of the startup, at a particular point in chronological time. Post-money valuation for a startup is a venture capital concept for the valuation of a startup, just…… Continue Reading

Pre-Money Valuation For a Startup

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The valuation of a startup is a measure of how much the startup is worth to an investor.  This is at a particular point in the life cycle of the startup, at a particular point in chronological time. Pre-money valuation for a startup is a venture capital concept for the valuation of a startup, just…… Continue Reading

Stock Dilution

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For a startup, stock dilution is an ownership impact caused by the issue of additional shares of common stock.  When the startup issues more common stock, by definition a stockholder then owns a smaller percentage of the total number of shares.  This is stock dilution.  It impacts both shares and options. From a Silicon Valley…… Continue Reading

Stock Vesting

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Every startup CEO learns about stock vesting. The CEO learns why he/she does not want it to apply to their equity; but wants it to apply to everyone else in the startup who receives equity. Basically vesting controls how fast the recipient of equity actually owns it and in theory could sell it. Ownership in…… Continue Reading

Alternative Funding for Startups

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Traditionally startups use angel investors and venture capital firms as their sources of funding. However, there is alternative funding for startups. Crowdfunding Seedrs and Kickstarter are examples. Please search our Blog Posts for crowdfunding to find 10 posts on crowdfunding. Government grants US Government agencies EU government agencies and EU Country government agencies and other…… Continue Reading

List of Silicon Valley Angel Groups

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This Post is a partial list of Silicon Valley Angel Groups.  An angel investor is a wealthy individual who invests in a business startup. A few are billionaires.  They provide (primarily) investment and advice to startups. Angels are also known as business angels. Angel investors and some venture capitalists who invest in early stage startups…… Continue Reading

Selecting Venture Capital Firms For Your Startup

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Selecting venture capital firms for your startup is one of the very important tasks. It is critical to research the venture capital firms that are focused on your needs before you contact them. VC requirements Venture capital firms have evaluation criteria for startups. As a part of your research into specific firms; learn their sector…… Continue Reading

Why startup applications for venture capital fail

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Many business people want to create startups. Many of the startups apply for venture capital. But an application for venture capital funding has to conform to guidelines and procedures and be selected. The process takes months. Why startup applications for venture capital fail You need to understand both why applicants fail to succeed and why…… Continue Reading

Stages of Corporate Venture Capital funding

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Many successful startups have made use of a few stages of corporate venture capital funding. When venture funding comes from corporations whose primary purpose is not venture investing the funding is known as corporate venture capital. At the Global Corporate Venturing and Innovation (GCVI) Summit in January 2016, Kashyap reported that Corporate Venture Capital (CVC)…… Continue Reading

What is Corporate Venture Capital?

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At its simplest corporate venture capital (CVC) is the way that corporations invest in startups and businesses that will eventually be of benefit to the investing company. An example might be a large refrigeration company providing financing to a new robotics startup that is developing a robotics system, that might revolutionize the manufacture of air…… Continue Reading

Mistakes While Raising Startup Capital

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There are many types of mistakes while raising startup capital. This post addresses several that occur all too frequently. Poor preparation You need to prepare before starting to meet with potential investors. Please see our Blog Posts: Before First Contact With An Investor Investor Strategy for Startups Your Due Diligence on Potential Investors Not enough…… Continue Reading

List of Problems Shared by SMEs and Startups

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SME Problems and Startup Problems are frequently similar.  SMEs tend to have more problems than established corporations.  Unfortunately some startups share these same types of problems. SME problems shared with many startups Insufficient credibility They are not known; so they are not trusted Inadequate financial resources This can cause management to choose cheap and inadequate…… Continue Reading

Outsource Bookkeeping When Early Stage

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Many small startup CEOS try to do all their own bookkeeping. After the first two months of launching the startup this is typically a mistake. Have an accountant help you set up a chart of accounts and train a part-time bookkeeper for you. Your focus as startup CEO You are launching a startup and trying…… Continue Reading

How Startup Governance is Different

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Governance can be implemented and changed at all stages of a business. But startup governance is different. It is always best to start early well before any contracts are signed. But it’s never too late to get your company on the right track. There are some differences is governance between startups and established companies so…… Continue Reading

List of Debt Crowdfunding Sites in the UK

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Debt crowdfunding sites (also known as peer to peer lending sites) are close to offering bank loans in that money borrowed is paid back to the lender with interest.  This can work better for businesses not able or willing to borrow from traditional sources such as banks. The ‘loan’ is spread over many individual lenders…… Continue Reading

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