Startups About to take the leap |
- About to take the leap
- I've noticed this within myself when it comes to startups who "win me".
- My startup Vision-44 :) (Blue light blocking glasses)
- Convertible note matured last year.
- The Bird Scooter of Dubai, FLOW Scooter
- Slow progress on startup when day job is going well, and vice-versa
- Connected Car Startup Advise
- A relatively stupid few questions, but probably easy for you all....
- LLC partners - how do you handle share buybacks in your operating agreement?
- Making a product from someone else’s product
| Posted: 28 Feb 2019 03:46 PM PST I'm a sophomore in college who is about to cofound a company with 100-250k in startup funds and I'm terrified. I fully believe in this vision, and I won't let it fail. Both me and the other cofounder decided to take next semester/year off but I am still feeling overwhelmed. The company is a p2p lending service, and it has massive potential, we don't have problems with investors, we're just working on the legal issues, the patent, and getting a fully functioning app (we have a prototype). I'm just scared because it's so different than what I was planning on doing a couple months ago and I know this will change my life. Any advice would be nice! [link] [comments]  |
| I've noticed this within myself when it comes to startups who "win me". Posted: 28 Feb 2019 09:46 PM PST I noticed those startups who have won me do one thing: they create communities. Here's my train of thought. Why would it not be okay to have personal relationships where people just have to stick with you, but it'd be okay to have these dynamics with customers? When I say just because they have to, it could be for instance that they don't have any other choice, you provide a lot of value to them and they got locked-in or they don't know any better — however, they're with you. Generally speakingBringing people together can mean a lot of things. It can happen as part of an event — that's a one time thing. It can happen as a club — that's recurring. Eventually, it can become a community, which probably is more than a club. Much like my other Reddit posts, I'm talking about the future of business. The new business model where companies and customers have more of a relationship (and a good one, obviously, not one like a telecommunications conglomerate). It's not something that's common today but I think due to how connected we've become, eventually those who won't adhere will be washed out. In my opinion, managing/creating/enhancing a community as a company leads to one thing: winning. Those who do that today win and will keep on winning. As this new business model will take shape, it will be more and more widely known (and true). To put things into perspective, today's kids who are growing up with these practices won't know any different than relationships between them and the companies they're using — much like we've grown to not know any different than free shipping in e-commerce. We've grown so comfortable with free shipping in so many places that when we see £2.99 extra to our order's total, we wince and we might go as far as cancelling the order. However, once those £2.99 are included in the order, we keep on going happily. How I'd say people are brought togetherI've said earlier about events, club and then communities. I think brands can bring people together as well. How can that happen? I believe once a very targeted audience is selected, things go uphill. The reason for that is that focus brings impact. When we're talking about strong impact on a certain group of people, the happy consequence is that your message waterfalls into these people's adjacent groups. It's something I truly believe startups who survive do: pick an audience that's as targeted as possible and make these people love you — you've heard it before, I'm sure. Which brings everything to the concept that's at the centre of every piece I put out: experiences. Companies who create experiences bring people together. It's almost as if it's a must — they must do something for a certain very-targeted community in order to build an experience. Why? Because there's no one-size fits all experience. There are experiences who fit a lot of people but that can only be done at a very high level. See: biggest tech companies (no wonder they're so highly valuated since they do this). The bottom lineSo what's the takeaway from this? I've asked before "How Many People Are You Saying No To Through Your Speech?" — once you choose that focus, a community should be either created or enhanced by your company. There are so many untapped communities out there that it's easier to conquer a blue ocean. The caveat to this idea I've presented today? It takes longer than the "follow the money route" — but it pays off: you'll have a stronger foundation. On the "follow the money" route, once a company falls it's usually done for good. Overnight success and one-time-hit-wonders happen and they make or break a company. On the other hand, the long-term shot means an overnight break will enhance what you do to your community but it won't decide the fate of your company — you'll do good even if there will never be an overnight spike. [link] [comments]  |
| My startup Vision-44 :) (Blue light blocking glasses) Posted: 01 Mar 2019 01:53 AM PST Hey Reddit! My name is Lucas and I'm the founder of Vision 44, a startup out of Denmark. So I wanted to share this with you. I wanted to reach out to you guys with a cool opportunity that I think you would love. We're just launching Vision 44 (http://vision-44.com/) and we wanted to get them into the hands (or onto the faces) of more peeps. So, our glasses are high quality and sleek-looking gaming glasses that block out blue light while you play. I created these out of a need for myself. I suffer from a lot of eye strain and headaches if I sit in front of a screen for too long. As someone who takes their gaming really seriously, I couldn't have any of that... That's when Vision 44 was born. They combat fatigue, improve contrast and brightness and they make you look like a boss. I would like to ask you guys to give us some constructive feedback on our products! [link] [comments]  |
| Convertible note matured last year. Posted: 28 Feb 2019 08:28 AM PST $100K convertible note with $10M cap 20% discount. The maturity date expired last year. But the company is doing really well however. The convertible note says it will convert to preferred shares if the majority lenders call at the maturity date @ $3M valuation. Is it normal to call the convertible note to convert at the "punitive" valuation? What are the ramifications? Souring founders relationships and sabotaging CEO efforts to secure "subsequent financing"? Has anyone have actual experience with calling of notes? When is it done? Found this online: "Calling a note and bankrupting a startup will most likely permanently tarnish the reputation of the investor, preventing them from gaining access to promising investment opportunities in the future as other investors and entrepreneurs alike avoid the investor. There are rare instances, for example when a startup has managed to reach profitability and has plenty of excess cash, where calling a note may not adversely impact a startup, but in those cases, an investor most likely has more to gain by enabling their note to convert to equity at a subsequent equity round or acquisition than to call their note. There are some convertible notes that call for automatic conversion to equity at maturity date at a pre-defined price, but these are unusual." I guess I am in this unusual situation. [link] [comments]  |
| The Bird Scooter of Dubai, FLOW Scooter Posted: 01 Mar 2019 12:59 AM PST Bird scooter has hit a 2+ Billion valuation in the fraction of months. My team and I studied and alalised the progress of such a company, when it hit us. Now, My company, FLOW scooter is looking to grow in the UAE, specifically Dubai. We don't want to waste your time or anything, but if you are interested in joining the project, Please feel free to drop a comment and have me reply to you so we can discuss further matters. Everything is and has been accounted for, so let's hop on the future of transportation, Its time to FLOW. [link] [comments]  |
| Slow progress on startup when day job is going well, and vice-versa Posted: 28 Feb 2019 05:00 PM PST Anyone else experienced this? I started coding my startup a few months ago, I made immense progress in just two months, mainly as an escape from my day job. And now that the day job is treating me better, my progress in my startup grinds slowly but surely to a halt. I thought I was burned out, but I guess I'm just losing motivation? I think even Paul Graham said that he'd never start a startup now, because "without the spur of poverty," he wouldn't go very far. So how do I solve this problem? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Feb 2019 03:47 PM PST I am a co-founder of a connected car startup. We're building a platform which would connect essential every vehicle on the road with each other. Currently, we have a prototype which serves as a proof of concept. We are unsure as to how we should go ahead with it. We are planning to apply for accelerators but it seems like all of them are looking for companies which already have some amount of revenue or traction but we cannot generate any revenue unless we have funding. How should we go about this? We have a business plan, a pitch deck etc. As of now, my plan is to just send out cold emails, apply for accelerators( even though I don't know if we are in a position to get accepted) and send out business plans to VC websites which provide seed/ pre seed funding and hope to get lucky. If you have any advise regarding if we are doing this right or if we should take another path? We are in real need of some advise. Also, we are just a bunch of college kids in their junior/ senior years, would that affect our chances of getting funding? Our idea is really promising but I am also aware of the fact that investors look for the team aspect more than the actual idea. [link] [comments]  |
| A relatively stupid few questions, but probably easy for you all.... Posted: 28 Feb 2019 06:30 PM PST I've been planning on doing a startup for some time -- right now saving money so I have some ability to get the development done in a reasonable manner. The idea is something of a social media play but also a bit unique. I've sold off a business that was in this space years ago and given the time away I wanted to return and improve upon the ideas that helped me to sell the first time around (that time, I self-funded and self-developed). Anyway... questions are as follows. First, funding -- should I self-fund everything again? At what point do people give/take money? And do I need the product/users first before even thinking about it? This part always stumps me because my inclination is again, to self-fund development and get the product out there. Secondly, when taking funding -- what is the way people look to "exit"? I'm not intending to be a serial entrepreneur, I want to build a business and run it for the foreseeable future if I can. I don't want to "go public" (I've worked in finance my entire career and while I know it gets me rich, I like to control my own destiny and not have the business I built fall into the hands of others (ie Apple and Jobs though it did have a happyish ending). That's basically it... this is a consumer based social play first, and later will hopefully rope in some enterprises if I can, and a lot of the value is in attracting users to use the platform (it would be free, to start). As far as research and stuff.. appreciate any resources you might use in developing say, a Facebook for today (it's not that but would probably follow similar research principles). Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| LLC partners - how do you handle share buybacks in your operating agreement? Posted: 28 Feb 2019 11:10 AM PST My partners and I are drafting our operating agreement with an attorney, and aren't sure how to handle share buybacks. We have conflicting thoughts and opinions regarding buybacks when a founder leaves or is terminated. We are thinking that when someone leaves, there should be a forced buy back of the shares from the company based on the fair market value. The idea is that once you leave, so does your interest in the company and it is best to keep ownership with those involved in operations. On the other hand, something seems kind of wrong about forcing a buyback when someone leaves... they did put in the work for the company as an investment, and should thus be able to reap the rewards when the company grows. We are at a point where we think we will compromise - when a founder leaves the company, the company is forced to buyback at least half of his shares. What do you all think on this topic? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Making a product from someone else’s product Posted: 28 Feb 2019 08:12 AM PST Hey guys, I'm newish to this sub so I probably have a lot of dumb questions; but I just need some clarification: Let's say you start an ONLINE company (e-commerce). Let's say you sell tables and you call your company 'tableX'. You're a sole proprietorship so you're bootstrapping. So you keep a spread sheet of all your gains and losses. So where do the legalities fall when you're making a product from another product? Let's say that you purchase tables from China (non brand generic tables). Can you rebrand them as your own and sell in the US? Or is there rules against that? [link] [comments]  |
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