Not spending enough time gauging your business’s progress can be just as harmful as wasting your time with needless emails or Excel sheets. You may be so focused on getting your business to the next level, chasing funding and finding the right talent, that you are ignoring developing metrics to monitor your success. But without […]

You came, you pitched, you conquered. Congratulations! But do you know what to do once you’re asked to sign a term sheet? Let me say that first, you should have already retained a good startup lawyer. Most investors will expect this. And a good lawyer can be a real advocate for you: by keeping negotiations […]

I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but startup fundraising can oftentimes feel like you’re navigating a minefield: one false step and the money blows up! That’s why you need to be clear on what you’re looking for, where to look for it, and what you need to get it. You start the process by […]

“How can I connect with investors?” is one of the most common questions I hear from early-stage entrepreneurs. “Connect” is a good word to use. If you’re looking for funding, you don’t just want to “meet” investors, shake their hands and give them your quick pitch. You want to connect with them to really make […]

How To Get Startup Funding Don’t you wish there was a formula that could guarantee funding success? There isn’t of course, but there are ways to make the process feel less like a heroic quest and more like an achievable goal. So how do you actually go about it? And what are the steps involved? […]

When your company is in its early stages, presumably you’ve thought through your offerings and done the hard work of choosing a company name. You might even have a logo or website. In terms of building your brand, these steps are a good start in the right direction—but these things alone do not add up […]

Equity is a startup’s lifeblood. And, just as with any other element of building a successful business such as, putting the right team in place, setting and hitting milestones, and effectively managing cash, developing your capital strategy is an important a piece to getting it right. One thing to remember: Your equity is precious. Don’t […]

So your company is in its very early stages. We’re talking a skeleton crew of staff, minimal sales, and even less cash. While your focus is understandably on immediate survival and how you can hit your first big hurdles, what else should you be thinking of, especially where your finances are concerned? 1. Establish a […]

We’ve all heard some variation of the quip that overnight success actually involves years of striving, with presumably several failed efforts and false starts along the way. But when entrepreneurs experience failure, whether it’s their first encounter with it or an especially spectacular failure, it can be a major blow financially as well as emotionally. […]

If you’re wondering what your marketing budget should be, you’re not alone. This is the million-dollar question: How can you be sure you’re spending the right amount of money on the right types of marketing? Many say it’s an art, not a science. Others argue that there is a clear equation that can help you […]

Bootstrapping is a great startup strategy, but for some companies, bootstrapping isn’t the right answer—or maybe it was the right answer, in the early-stages, but you’ve outgrown that phase and are now in need of greater capital. Many entrepreneurs are black and white when it comes to capital: it’s either bootstrap or pursue VC funding. But this […]

There are many great reasons to pursue entrepreneurship—with the most important reason being that you have a real solution to a real problem, an idea for something that can improve a situation and, consequently, improve people’s lives. But there are a whole host of bad reasons that motivate people to pursue entrepreneurship. If any of […]