Startups Fundraising Thursdays - A Forum to Ask About Fundraising, Investors, Accelerators, and Other Sources of Capital |
- Fundraising Thursdays - A Forum to Ask About Fundraising, Investors, Accelerators, and Other Sources of Capital
- How do you stop yourself from resenting naysayers? How do you know if criticism is constructive?
- Are recommendations very necessary for TechStars? What is your experience?
- Is termly good to use for privacy policy and such?
- What can I patent exactly?
- Funding
- Getting into a StartUp -Advice?
- Contradictory customer discovery results
- Automotive Start-Up Questions
- Growth Hack for Travel Tech Startup
| Posted: 02 Apr 2020 06:06 AM PDT Welcome to this week's Fundraising Thursdays Thread. Ask about anything related to fundraising, investors, accelerators, grants, and other sources of capital. That includes how to find these sources, how to work with them, and how to negotiate with them. Don't be shy. The purpose of this is to learn and share ideas and methodologies with one another. Any question is a good question! If you are answering questions, remember to be kind and supportive. Many are just starting out and have no idea what they are doing. That's okay! We all knew nothing before we knew something.You can also find more support using instant chat on the /r/startups discord. [link] [comments]  |
| How do you stop yourself from resenting naysayers? How do you know if criticism is constructive? Posted: 02 Apr 2020 01:41 PM PDT English is not my first language so I'm sorry for any mistakes. First time entrepreneur in my early 20s here.. I'll be entering a market that is small in my region now but is expected to grow quite fast based on the trajectory of the same market in different regions. It is a consumer business so feedback from the market is very important to me. Since my target customers happen to be very similar to people in my social circle, I have been talking about the product here and there in my social circle. Most people are quite enthusiastic about it and ask for samples etc. but there are about 20% of them who don't look too keen on it/ straight up discourage it. Now I know I can't make everyone happy so I'm content with an 80/20 split for now. Now some of the feedback is genuine and I'm very grateful for that but I can't help but notice that with some people it has a tone pointing towards looking down on me of making fun of me, waiting for me to fail. Some of that is with regards to the business itself saying that it'll never work or some comes from them thinking I'm not capable of doing something like this. How do I separate the constructive from the rest? I don't want to miss out on any bit of criticism that might actually help me by disregarding it because of personal resentment that I might feel or what I may perceive as negativity from the other person. Once I have done that, how do I stop myself from focusing on the purely negative feedback? I'm taking the leap and starting this because I genuinely love and enjoy the process that surrounds this specific product and after much reflection, research and planning, I do believe that I can achieve what I'm planning. The downside of this is that I'm quite attached to this and hence it is quite possible that I might take things personally when I shouldn't. How do I stop my personal feelings from getting in the way? [link] [comments]  |
| Are recommendations very necessary for TechStars? What is your experience? Posted: 02 Apr 2020 11:17 PM PDT Hello! My team and I are applying for the next TechStars batch in NYC and LA. As we heard several teams of 9 teams were chosen without the application process and before the deadline. Their investor asks for them. Also, I read some success stories in their blog and most of them know managers before the program. Does it make sense to apply without recommendations? And maybe some of you are in Alumni. Could you share your experience, please? [link] [comments]  |
| Is termly good to use for privacy policy and such? Posted: 02 Apr 2020 06:21 PM PDT Is termly good to use for privacy policy? I'm about to launch my project that is an online application. For it, I'm planning on using termly for privacy. Is it viable or should I go about another route? Suggestions welcome! I should mention for this SaaS, my yearly cost is under my budget and I have potential customers lined up already. I just want to be on the safe side and also not break my bank. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2020 02:23 PM PDT Hello, I have an idea in the hardware/automation space and it requires me to 3D print a specific shape, place a few sensors and a microcontroller in order to serve its purpose. I have a prototype built, and I have CAD drawings of the 3D print. What exactly can I patent here? My fear is that it's easy to replicate, but I also don't think the design is complex enough to patent (the circuit is very simple, the design of the shape is very simple, it is not a technically very complex product, but it requires integration of a mobile app and hardware). Do patents depend on how complex the idea is? Also, is it recommended to create a Kickstarter before or after the patent has been published? What is the best stage of the product to create a Kickstarter? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2020 11:05 AM PDT As of right now, my company is in its very early stages. We are developing a product that will require some money. However, I've heard that anything below $100k angel investors won't take a serious look at and will recommend a friend and family round of getting money. My company needs an estimated $60k for R&D, legal protection via patents and such. My question is how am I supposed to get that much money from friends and family. [link] [comments]  |
| Getting into a StartUp -Advice? Posted: 02 Apr 2020 11:35 AM PDT Hello Everyone, Long time lurker here... got myself into some "trouble" and I cannot see a clear answer anywhere, therefore I come before you for some advice. 2 weeks ago I got approached by a very good friend of mine, lets call him Joe. He started to explain how in the last 4 months he partnered with some other friends of ours (i was a roomie with one of them, will call him Dan, but have to mention that Joe set us up as we were both looking for apartments about 4 years ago, I moved out 1 year ago). Joe recently quit his job to go into Sales Coaching and Business Consulting and so he has taken this Startup of his other friends as a "Pro Bono" case as to manage them and get them on a better line. Background for the StartUp: They released 2 collections of tshirts, hoodies which were 30 pieces/model. They were designed by them, bought the material, painted them "manually" and went to a professional tailorshop and worked together with the tailors to make the products. They pretty much sold everything, with little stock remaining, but they did not analyze anything, where they sold it to, how they did that or anything. They just sold it and thats it. Now: The startup consists of two guys as the main founders, a new designer which came along recently and I suppose Joe(he said that the only gain for the moment is experience, as he has no equity,yet). When he approached me after he told me what they are currently doing which is defining the business plan from here forward. He asked me if I could help him a little with some numbers regarding the marketing budgetting, CPM's, CPA's and stuff like that which would help him define better the business plan and surpass this point. After giving an insight from some of my running campaign, I pointed out that he couldnt move forward without a previous case that generated numbers in the past. We then hung up and he called me the next day asking if I wanted to come along as their digital marketer/website dev. My principal responsbilites would be: -managing campaigns -analyzing -interpreting data -build the website&maintanance (this would be together with the main founders, Dan and the other one) -social media marketing -atl marketing if budget allows My secondary responsabilities would be: -have a say in the Marketing Strategy -give my insights in the Content Creation(no, i do not make the graphics,videos) For this they said that I will receive 1.5% equity and when the firm can pay salaries,an average market salary for this job, as well as them, if the firm can pay more everyone will receive more(in their plan this should happen in 1 year). The explanation of this equity that they gave me is that they split the business in multiple parts and the part that I'm doing is equal to 1.5%. Also they said that because I will be working as a part timer and I'm not dedicating fully(i have a job atm, but agreed to go there when they will be able to pay a salary). But I cannot see how the split was done because after I would be influenced by it and would have subjective arguments as to why my responsabilties have to get more procents. Is that right what they are offering? I have no idea, it feels so little I dont even know if they are joking or are serious. I kind of want to join the team, I want to expand my experience and have this project in my portofolio, but I think I'm getting the short stick, or am I? Thank you for your time! Sorry for the long post and the weird English [link] [comments]  |
| Contradictory customer discovery results Posted: 02 Apr 2020 10:18 AM PDT So, we have spoken to approximately 25 people now about our startup idea. Our conversation starts with an open-ended discussion and then we pitch our idea to them. However, we are stuck at a point where most of the customers say "Isn't that what xxx are doing? So, it already exists, why would I want to use you as well?" They moaned about a few issues with the system they currently use, but we couldn't get any of them to commit to subscribing to ours. There are only a few companies doing something similar at the moment. They have established great success but also many complaints/cons to their system. We believe we can fix those cons. What are your thoughts on starting a business based on an idea that already exists but improving on it? To give you an idea, our idea is a marketplace of some kind. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Apr 2020 10:18 AM PDT PROBLEM = Service Advisors at automotive shops get paid off commission just like mechanics. By nature of this pay model combined with most customers lack knowledge of automotive knowledge most service advisors take advantage by selling unnecessary repairs and services. They also don't have the best interest of the customer when it comes to quality of workmanship. Service advisor don't inspect your vehicle after servicing and don't care if a certified-technician or an under qualified parts changer works on your vehicle . In my 15 years in the automotive field I have seen leave the shop service with; •Low engine oil levels after oil change •Brake pads installed backwards after brake jobs •Important bolts and covers left off after •Just all around horrible Workmanship!! SOLUTION = Automotive Service Advisor Startup! Remove conflict of interest by making service advisors 3rd party. Advisor's responsibilities: •Perform preliminary vehicle inspection and/or diagnosis to verify repairs/maintenance at customer home/work •Drop off vehicle for service •Verify quality of workmanship after service/repairs completed •Return vehicle to customer's home QUESTIONS = What kind of pricing model would work for this? How would you validate the idea? [link] [comments]  |
| Growth Hack for Travel Tech Startup Posted: 02 Apr 2020 07:32 AM PDT I am starting a travel tech company and we arein the process of growing our customer base. I've read online about how Airbnb poached their first set of listings from Craigslist in 2008. Is there a way to get access to flight information of travelers flying to a certain region (e.g Africa, South America, etc)? [link] [comments]  |
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