Startups How did you meet your co-founder? |
- How did you meet your co-founder?
- Trademark protection for brand name(s) with common theme. Multiple trademarks required?
- How hard was it when you all started out? Looking to hear some stories for motivation.
- During Customer Discovery I was told they were going to build the same thing. Thoughts?
- Paying for e-mail marketing tools?
- How did you go about branding your start up, what obstacles did you face?
- Web app vs mobile app in 2021
- VC bidding wars - where are the stories of how founders made them happen?
- Subscription based service international taxes?
- How do you value a new startup when clawing back equity?
- Hiring UX/UI designer
- Why do tech companies need so many employees?
- How to get first customers in food industry
- Cucto
- Started the family business with my mom and I feel like my work is being undermined and don't want this to impact our relationship. Any advice ?
- How did you do your market analysis/research?
- Startup for equity with no revenue - CEO spent 100k of own money to date
- Hire a CEO or be founder-CEO
- Being offered new subsidiary equity % instead of original company equity - post-acquisition
- Best Manufacturing software for small biz?
- Is percentage ownership calculated from Issued & Outstanding shares or Authorized Shares?
- Should my SaaS website have an investors section?
- Which Country to File Initial Patents in? US v UK v EU
| How did you meet your co-founder? Posted: 09 Jun 2021 09:26 PM PDT I am having trouble finding the right technical co-founder who is driven, has the work ethic and is a passionate person. I would like to know what's your journey? How did you find one? I personally would be considered the non-technical founder; the sales and marketing person. I have tried with two technical friends who did not work out. One is dealing with mental health and depression. The other person* is having trouble managing their time with computer science at school and building a startup. I am working in the beauty tech industry; marketplace to discover and book beauty services. I have built the website and front-end prototype for both salons and consumers. Personally conducted market research phone calls with 160 users including both sides to understand what is their pain. I have few salons who are waiting to test out the MVP after seeing the prototype that I have built. One wants to pay for my software and leave their system after testing out the prototype. Just figuring out the technical stuff right now as a non technical person. [link] [comments]  |
| Trademark protection for brand name(s) with common theme. Multiple trademarks required? Posted: 10 Jun 2021 08:07 AM PDT For example, say you own a company... "Big Animal LLC", and you offer various products/services and have them individually branded as "Big Dog", "Big Cat" and "Big Fish". But you want trademark protection to make sure someone doesn't come along and start selling under, "Big Squirrel". You're trying to get established as the "Big Animal" company and want to protect your brand from similar brands using the same/similar naming scheme. So, in order to enforce such a trademark do you have to register multiple ones to showcase that you have trademarks for "Big Dog", "Big Cat" and "Big Fish" or would one for "Big Animal LLC" (the company name) suffice, with a disclaimer made public that "Big Animal LLC, Big Dog, Big Cat, Big Fish and subsidiaries are trademarked"? Basically, I have one main brand with several products/services being offered (currently) under the single brand. It's a prefix-service naming scheme. So that prefix is used across the board on all services, with the service aspect of the name changing. I already own all domain names associated with this, have them pointing to the corresponding product page under the main brand, use these domain names in the hostnames of the servers powering these individual services, etc. But I'd like to have some sort of legal protection from any copycats that may take our name's prefix and operate with a similar service suffice. [link] [comments]  |
| How hard was it when you all started out? Looking to hear some stories for motivation. Posted: 10 Jun 2021 07:02 AM PDT I wish my problem was about managing a startup and scaling it but right now it's more of not being able to get to that part. I haven't found a CTO in 6 months nor have I had any luck with pressed funding to hire a tech team and build the MVP. My first try was innovation consultancy, I wanted to help existing businesses build great products and services, thought I had a knack for coming up with features and improvements. Haven't had any luck there, but I cant stop believing so still pitching, while also pursuing my Idea. That's my story, what's yours? [link] [comments]  |
| During Customer Discovery I was told they were going to build the same thing. Thoughts? Posted: 10 Jun 2021 04:23 AM PDT I have been in the customer discovery phase and so far things are going well. I've been speaking to a bunch of people in my target demographic and got very good info. I then posted on Reddit in a subreddit dedicated to my industry asking if anyone was willing to chat. I did not post our site link or go into too much detail about our product--i want to hear about them. One person reached out asking to chat with me. I sent the link in the PM and was told that they wanted to build basically the exact same thing, but never ended up doing it. They ask specific questions about my team and to "get to know the product more." I'm always happy to tell people about my software, lol, but should I be concerned about sharing so early, especially to someone who had the same idea? Any thoughts about this? Thanks! PS: for some context, I'm almost done with an MVP and received seed funding from a notable startup fund. I just don't want to be shooting myself in the foot, I am new to all of this, and I'm very excited! :) [link] [comments]  |
| Paying for e-mail marketing tools? Posted: 10 Jun 2021 06:29 AM PDT Hey guys! I want to improve the email marketing campaign at my start-up, and recently I have come across a post that say that it is important to spend money on good email subject lines. It said that there are manye-mail subject line tester based on AIs and to use their services to boost your open rate. Now I agree that e-mail subject lines are one of the most important parts of an e-mail campaign (if not THE most important part), but should I really spend money in getting a tool that helps me with my email subject line? Do you think that artificial intelligence really can be creative enough to replace human creativity? Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| How did you go about branding your start up, what obstacles did you face? Posted: 10 Jun 2021 02:20 AM PDT Branding is a pretty meaty area, and one that is close to my heart. I'm currently in start up phase and was wondering - how did you all go about branding your start ups? Did you get a brand consultant in straight off the bat to work on your positioning and brand strategy? Did you work with an agency to produce brand identity like logos, colours, sounds etc? Did you do it yourself, and would you pay for it in the future? Really interested to hear your approaches! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jun 2021 02:39 PM PDT I know several topics have already been created about this question: "should a start-up create a web app or a mobile app?". However, the threads are getting a bit old and things may be different in 2021, especially because of the lockdown that has changed some habits. So what's your opinion about it now? Without going into too much details, I'd like to make a "locate stuff/people around you app". I can be done both ways, but frankly, I've got no clue about what users would prefer. Downloading an app or just use their mobile browsers (easier for adoption since there is no need to download anything). I'm a professional javascript and React.js developer, but I've never used React Native. I've heard setting up a RN project from scratch (not with Expo) is bit tedious and I would need to learn many stuff like how to deploy an app on stores, how to make it available to beta testers, how to access native phone apis, etc. I'm willing to learn that of course, but this would definitely slow down the process. Based on these elements, what would you do? The most important criteria for me is what the user prefer. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| VC bidding wars - where are the stories of how founders made them happen? Posted: 09 Jun 2021 11:37 PM PDT If anyone knows of any articles here it would be a great share. I'm actually looking for specific stories and not just the hustle porn type, more so for a research project but have found issues finding any specific stories or articles online mentioning how companies like Clubhouse (as an example) created a bidding war. Any direction would be helpful, thank you :) [link] [comments]  |
| Subscription based service international taxes? Posted: 10 Jun 2021 08:15 AM PDT I am starting a subscription service giving members access to an API, payments are done via stripe and I am a little overwhelmed on how to do sales tax, vat,… since I have to charge every customer based on his country? There is a lot of businesses that don't ask for a country so how do they all identify it ( by credit card?) ? Also how do I deliver these taxes to all the different countries? How do other businesses handle this? [link] [comments]  |
| How do you value a new startup when clawing back equity? Posted: 09 Jun 2021 09:59 AM PDT Hi, longtime lurker with a hard question, sorry for the throwaway. I'm a founder at a 15-person startup, we're about to term someone for cause. Their agreement has a clause saying we can repurchase any equity that is vested, but I don't know how to value the equity since we are running red and aren't valued. We've got about $400k in F&F/convertible notes, but no formal money and none of the notes have converted. The company isn't profitable. We could use the cap in the note I guess, but that seems like using a number that's not real and it would be expensive lol. We could use the $0.0000__n__0001/share par value, great for us and probably legal, but we're not looking for a fight either when she gets tossed out on her ear with a penny as comp for the equity. Has anyone gone through htis before? What did you do? Btw "for cause" isn't a huge thing like stealing or whatever. It's just bad behavior, nothing that's a legal problem. And it's about 1.5% of equity. Thanks for any thoughts. Edit: thanks everyone for the feedback! Alot of good points we haven't considered. For those asking, yes, this is the US. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jun 2021 05:43 PM PDT We're in need of hiring a UX/UI designer for our SaaS landing page. Where did you hire yours? Did you post an ad? use jobs marketplace? How long did your designer take to complete the work? We got some suggestions from our dev and would like to know your experience. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Why do tech companies need so many employees? Posted: 09 Jun 2021 11:12 AM PDT Airbnb has 5500 employees and I just can't understand why they need so many? It seems like 2 people working from a garage could code Airbnb's platform in a few weeks. Obviously I understand that once there are millions of users you have to really optimize the code but you could probably just hire 2 additional people for that. Also I don't think Airbnb needs a lot of people to do marketing. I know that the above is definitely wrong, but I just can't understand why. Could someone please let me know why they need so many employees and what are their functions? Thank you :) [link] [comments]  |
| How to get first customers in food industry Posted: 09 Jun 2021 11:28 AM PDT Hi all, since I am aiming to sell a service for the food industry I tried to call them. As you can imagine cold calling is not the best method for restaurants. The owner is not in the restaurant or is doing other stuff. Later the restaurant is pretty full and stressful. Now I thought about sending a real letter to potential customers with an invitation for an appointment. So they would be able to book an appointment if they are interested. But I read in the internet, that direct mailing like that is not useful anymore and they will throw them away. What do you think about that? In addition to that I started an instagram channel and I am posting some stuff there and got a few followers. By law I am not able to send emails or direct messages to other businesses, so I am pretty afraid to get in touch with them via Instagram. Which is a bummer, because I can already filter the restaurants and see if they like to test new products etc. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Jun 2021 05:22 AM PDT I recently started as a sales representative for CUTCO knives and I'm looking to book up appointments for demonstrations of our products. you will be given the opportunity to buy right on the spot we're offering lots of great deals and freebies right now. Message me if you know someone that would be interested in kitchen equipment. We sell everything from kitchen knives to utensils to pots and pans all the way up to gardening tools. We are the best brand in cutlery in the world right now. If you or someone you know may be interested in setting up a free demonstration with the opportunity to buy any of our products please contact me. I'm really having a hard time finding people and the only way I make money is by booking up demos I really need to find people [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jun 2021 01:18 PM PDT So to start off I'm the one who started the company , I registered it , I did everything under the sun , I reply to all emails , I was the one to get our manufacturer , create our logo , I built the website myself , handle all the social media (instagram , pinterest, tiktok etc) , reach out to our customers etc. However when all is said and done I feel like my parents are undermining the hell outta my work. Firstly my mom creates the product , my dad could be considered an investor but that's it. However when talking about the future of the company and when and how much I'd get paid it came down to me getting 10%....and tbh guys I felt like my parents undermine literally everything I did to cultivate this business I literally started it and do all the work besides the making of the product. I feel like they think I'm some kid so me getting the 10% is like a big deal (I'm 28). So my mom is like "oh if we make 2 million worth of profit , you'd get a lot money" , guys I'm the one who sits and reads books non-stop and researches and then creates and manages everything. I'm unsure how to feel or what to do because I love both my parents a lot and they've done a ton for me but I'm clearly not a child I ran this whole business. Is there any advice or suggestions you guys could give ? Even if I'm being unreasonable or not seeing it clearly please call me out on it and I would appreciate feedback. TL;DR : Feel like my work is being undermined despite me doing literally all the work and at the end I may not be paid fairly. [link] [comments]  |
| How did you do your market analysis/research? Posted: 08 Jun 2021 08:06 PM PDT Did you just reach out and talk to your target audience? Did you hire a research company? Do you felt that gave enough value to warrant the cost? What would you do different if you had to do it over? Who can you trust to give you that cold dose of reality to see if your project is really worth pursuing? [link] [comments]  |
| Startup for equity with no revenue - CEO spent 100k of own money to date Posted: 08 Jun 2021 04:23 PM PDT Going through a dilemma, trying not to be greedy but also trying to protect myself. Need to validate if Im coming from a valid position or misinformed. Background: Joined a startup per request of a friend with 5 people in total. We are working for equity only. Company has no profit and no outstanding offers. There have been potential investors but only potential and no made offers. Now this friend is a good friend of mine. Old colleague and all. Asked me to come on to build the product. I am a software engineer with extensive experience building out products. He also has a rather big software background. (Regretfully....) I signed a contract based on deliverables and a timeline. I have far exceeded the timeline of delivery. We also since I built the product are able to begin demo'ing a near finished product to customers. As we approach what could be pretty lucrative offers I requested more info into the breakdown of the company and shares etc.. (Should of asked upfront) Much to my dismay, and being trust worthy. The breakdown is as follows: CEO - ~35% CMO (Not sure actual position) - ~30% Friend (CTO) - ~20% Another Dev - ~4% Myself - ~4% Rest Investors - ~7% Now for the application: I built the Mobile Application for iOS & Android ( React Native ) I built the Client Web application I built the entire Backend ( AWS, Lambda ,Cognito, VPC's, AppSync, SNS, ) All deployable with the CDK, Ive got some small build pipelines. Backend has about 95% test coverage. Lots of moving pieces, logic but all builds are reproducible across accounts. Without exaggeration I've built 95% of the project. No outside help and purely my own hard work and grit. The other Developer has down a few things with CSS and what not but purely front end things. So after getting this breakdown I brought it to their attention that I thought I was being highly undervalued. It is a tech startup and that I think I should get something reasonably more. I asked for 10-15%. (Again Im doing this in my own free time out side my full time job ). They came back and said 6%. Also my Exhibit A only says shares by milestones and nothing else. I told them that had I known my shares were so low I could not have agreed. I was told it was in my document but after pulling it up I showed as I remembered it indeed had NO % breakdown of what the shares meant. Just told a number we got and that is all. They refuse to give me more than 2% more which becomes a 6% total. Told me their plan in is to pay us big salaries. Nothing in writing. Also that they took more risk as they have been lobbying 2 years as we need government approval. The CEO is the only whom has spent money. (By the way which I think the CEO is the bomb ). To me it looks like Im highly undervalued being I built the entire application for what is a Tech startup. Which I tried to make the argument which I was told that initially its work but after it would be just passive. Im basically setup that I build the entire MVP for free with barley any equity which they could just remove me, never uphold a promise and I walk away with barley anything compared to their percentages. I feel that I took quite a risk doing this all for free and felt that since my friend was someone I was close with that I was taken care of. I no longer feel the same way. Trying to figure out if Im being justified or not. I spent an absurd number of hours to this point but feel like Im setup to get out'd while others profit from a ridiculous amount of work. I am also told I that I am not valuing them and all they have done so far... **NOTE** I would just like to say thanks all who have responded and continued the conversation. There's a lot that can be said about either side. Strong points made on either side. It's no easy decision, mistakes were made definitely. One thing holds certain though. Having people take the time to provide feedback has been immeasurable. The most important commodity we all have is time and it means a lot that it was spent to help me problem solve. I hope I can provide you all as much value in the future as you have given me. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jun 2021 12:22 PM PDT Hi, I am starting to develop a B2B business to serve biotech companies and I wonder if it would be better to engage a cofounder or hire a person as CEO with possibly less high level knowledge about the service and product and clients, vision and ... ( but maybe stronger in some or other skills) to run the company. I am thinking about finding investors but I don't want to quit my job and work full time in my company in return. The reason is not lack of belief in my idea, I think it is novel with a high chance of success, I am just not a risk taker. I appreciate your thoughts! [link] [comments]  |
| Being offered new subsidiary equity % instead of original company equity - post-acquisition Posted: 08 Jun 2021 05:54 PM PDT Hi all, I work at a startup and consider myself one of its key employees. Initially I was just on a salary however recently, it's gotten acquired and the new owner is offering equity to the key employees. The catch is that, the company is going to be split up into subsidiaries that will compartmentalise each of the company's teams prior to acquisition. These are going to be owned 100% by the parent company, and we will be offered a % in the subsidiary. I'm having my doubts about the usefulness/value of having a % in a subsidiary, when these subsidiaries and parent will have the same CEO and can invoice each other without any trouble. (and make whatever subsidiary they want work at a loss) The team (3-4 ppl, which I'm the lead of) I'm in is the one that brought 95% of the company's value + goodwill. I feel like by moving to separate teams, I'd be neglected of the future growth of the other teams. Moreover, my team is central to the company, whilst the rest are branches that don't have any products yet. It is also possible to get screwed over through malicious administration/marketing/other invoicing from the parent to sub company, leading to the subsidiary making a loss. Moreover, post-acquisition, I have questions as how existing assets will be distributed between the subsidiaries. When I asked the CEO about the above, I was told I may be a little paranoid and that I need to trust that accounts would be done correctly, by him or any CEO that will come in the future. The C-levels will have equity in the parent company. What do you think? I'm in a position that I could move off to a competitor for a higher salary or possibly start my own company. Thanks in advance for your opinions! [link] [comments]  |
| Best Manufacturing software for small biz? Posted: 08 Jun 2021 02:45 PM PDT Hello startup community. I'm a small dog treat manufacturing company, 2 partners and just hired our first employee. Looking for the best tools for our small team to collaborate and track our business: purchases, inventory, production runs (BOM & COGS), and sales. Does anyone have some recommendations? [link] [comments]  |
| Is percentage ownership calculated from Issued & Outstanding shares or Authorized Shares? Posted: 08 Jun 2021 01:22 PM PDT I am bringing on an advisor who wants 1%. When I give him shares of the company, will it come from Issued & Outstanding or from Authorized Shares? Not sure what is standard. is that typically done from the current date or when a round is raised. Thank you!! [link] [comments]  |
| Should my SaaS website have an investors section? Posted: 08 Jun 2021 02:26 PM PDT I'm very close to launching one of my Saas products and still considering taking on investors. Good idea to put some type of investor content on the site to pull in potential investors? Not sure if others have done stuff like this before but guessing why not. [link] [comments]  |
| Which Country to File Initial Patents in? US v UK v EU Posted: 08 Jun 2021 12:58 PM PDT Hi! I am a US and EU dual-national living in the UK with a permanent residence working status. I am working on a startup that will be selling consumer goods. We need to file for patents and I am not sure which country we should file in. We have not yet incorporated, and are also not sure which country we should incorporate in, but are leaning towards the UK due to us having developed a network of mentors here. Of primary considerations: Thank you very much for your insight. I have tried googling this but I have struggled to find any sources that speak on this consideration. [link] [comments]  |
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