Startups Share Your Startup - August 2021 - Upvote This For Maximum Visibility |
- Share Your Startup - August 2021 - Upvote This For Maximum Visibility
- I'm starting to think that degree/working experience doesn't matter much to start a startup
- Create contracts on a budget
- Move from high salary to startup
- Would it make sense to separate different products' IP into separate companies or keep it in one for a multi-module startup?
- FAST agreements/other startup advisor onboarding vehicles
- Native or PWA, for a social media application?
- Anyone got tips on selling jewellery?
- Platform for startups and investors
- How to effectively invest in social & influencer marketing so you don't miss out on 1M views
- Where do I find legit market research/intelligence?
- Seeking a recommendation for a digital download service after buyer pays
- Payment solution for adult?
- Startup moonlighting advice
- Computer Science or Computer Engineering (US undergrad) for early career and later tech startups?
- Don’t want to pay for a professional pitch deck? Here’s how it can hurt you.
| Share Your Startup - August 2021 - Upvote This For Maximum Visibility Posted: 01 Aug 2021 12:01 AM PDT r/startups wants to hear what you're working on! Tell us about your startup in a comment within this submission. Follow this template:
-------------------------------------------------- Join our discord for instant chat, advice, and emotional support! -------------------------------------------------- Startup Life Cycle Stages (Max Marmer life cycle model for startups as used by Startup Genome and Kauffman Foundation)
If you are running a traditional business that is not designed to scale rapidly, feel free to reference a traditional business life cycle model and share what traditional business life cycle stage you are at. [link] [comments]  |
| I'm starting to think that degree/working experience doesn't matter much to start a startup Posted: 31 Jul 2021 04:06 PM PDT I'm on the beginning of my journey so I'm overthinking a lot about which path to take early on, marketing/sales or tech. But I realizing that it doesn't matter much. The most important thing is the skills that we develop that can help more in the beginning of the startup. The rest (advanced business subjects, finance, management, investments, etc.) can be picked up and learn during the process. For example, tech knowledge can be useful for you to build the product early on and launch it spending less money on hiring other developers, CTOs, etc.. And also to have insights about the industry and the product. When the company starts to grow or you have tested and see potential then you can start to hire people (or even call a friend to be the CTO) and you can focus on the business side (or stay in tech and hire a ceo) and learn it as you go (as Mark Zuckerberg and many other famous programmers-CEOs did for example). If you focus/work on marketing/sales it can be a useful skill to use to sell the product but then you need to go after a CTO since the beginning (or you can call a friend too). Maybe start something with a no code tool, test and then hire someone to implement in a better way. As you worked with sales it will probably be easier to make and save $ to bootstrap the company since the day 1. To test the mvp and build funnels or use facebook/goolge ads would be easier in this case as well. Making the product profitable wouldn't be a problem. I've seen other people with similar doubts so i just wanted to share some insights and maybe discuss about it. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:00 AM PDT Hi, I'm starting a UK tech startup and it will be focused on consultancy. To enable me to take on work I'll need to draw up contracts and agreements , kind of an order of work and a contract to say we are working together to deliver X. I'm seeking advice on a low cost option to create contracts , don't have the cash to speak to lawyers right now, it's a really new startup. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| Move from high salary to startup Posted: 01 Aug 2021 12:43 AM PDT Hi! One of the reasons I'm sure a lot of folk don't start their own business (it's definitely always stopped me) is having a secure and decent salary. I'm really looking for advice or at least opinions of how other has made the jump to starting your own business.
It's not really a question, note just looking for folk to share how you've done it , I appreciate it, thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2021 09:50 PM PDT Hi all, I'm running a hardware startup with multiple modules. I have bootstrapped the last 4 years and spent a decent $200k on R&D for the hardware. It is still about 6 months to 1 year away from being at a stage where investors would be interested. I will definitely need investment to get this module to market. I have another module for the bigger picture that will most likely yield income sooner than the hardware. They are synergistic products however I have not worked on it at all to date. I'm wondering if it makes sense to open a separate company to protect the IP of the hardware. The pros of this would simply be IP separation/protection so that if it turns out I need a cofounder to take on some of the work I am not risking my pre-existing work. The negatives would be that it prevents software devs from working on both products at the same time. Ultimately all modules/IP will be under the one company however I'm not sure if it makes sense or not to separate them to start with? Anyone had experience or can offer thoughts on what investors might think if you'd been in a similar situation? [link] [comments]  |
| FAST agreements/other startup advisor onboarding vehicles Posted: 31 Jul 2021 08:40 PM PDT Hi, I was looking at the FAST agreement and it's said that you can either offer restricted stock or options based on the current existing option plan. We haven't adopted an option plan, so we're looking for alternatives. I was thinking about issuing SAFEs at low val caps as another way. Are there other ways to get this done? [link] [comments]  |
| Native or PWA, for a social media application? Posted: 31 Jul 2021 11:45 AM PDT Currently have a native app, iOS. Founder paid a lot for this. I'm looking at the current features our app has access to – access to the device's GPS/camera and these can be used and accessed easily via a PWA. It has been over a year, and we have not developed an Android app, too costly. Our in – house developer also only knows how to program in Swift / C#. We are a location based social media app, less than 1,000 users. Sitting at 220 and hasn't moved much. Founders mainly focused on the dev side and kind of ignored the business side – digital marketing, user retention, user research, and user development. Currently dabbing into migrating over to a PWA – • Dev cost will be cheaper. • We can increase userbase faster. • Once we move over to a PWA, we will be able to iterate features faster. Our app is very simple. It's a location-based bulletin board for people to communicate with each other, based on their location. Think of it as Yik Yak 2.0. Our users create posts and other users like and comment on them. What am I missing here? Why should we stick with a native app? Looking at our use case, I'm thinking PWAs might be the best route for us. There are some cons I see with PWAs – • Limited functionality on some OS. • Battery consumption on PWAs is not the best. • We will not have full access to some device's features. What do you guys think? Have you ran into a similar decision when developing an application? [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone got tips on selling jewellery? Posted: 31 Jul 2021 02:58 PM PDT Was thinking of asking this question on the entrepreneur subs, but I don't think there is anything innovative here. In any case, just a quick question. As a hobby over the past 2 years I started to make jewellery. Not "wires and stones" and "DIY" stuff. But real 18k - 24k rings, bracelets, etc. that I've sold from $500 to $7000. I only sold a few pieces here and there and I really want to sell more. However whenever I tried Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, and eBay, I had no clue. No one bought, no one was interested. Just wondering what other things I can do to promote my products? I think my biggest hurdle is selling those expansive pieces (which I'd like to do). I just can't picture a groom going online and spend $5000 on a ring without seeing it in person. All ideas are welcome :) [link] [comments]  |
| Platform for startups and investors Posted: 31 Jul 2021 11:08 AM PDT Hello, Does anyone knows any platform that helps early stage investors manage their portfolio? Something that shows info like stage, financials (revenue, costs), KPIs. I'm doing some analytics work for an investment/innovation fund and they collect all this data manually in Excel because they haven't found a better solution. [link] [comments]  |
| How to effectively invest in social & influencer marketing so you don't miss out on 1M views Posted: 31 Jul 2021 08:49 AM PDT Some years ago I was pitching to an automotive manufacturer about how to build a following on social, as their product was perfect for Instagram and YouTube. Their competitors were on social, and killing it. I gave a demo on a variety of influencers and platforms, showing how influencers could be used to create brand equity, leads, and sales. I described the effectiveness of building a brand on social, and how today, many people will use social to engage with a brand rather than a website or a helpline. The Director wasn't interested in a stand-alone-service, rather, he wanted a 360 digital marketing approach (fair enough). So he hired an agency, and the results were terrible. This agency, like MANY agencies (unfortunately), take your money and spread it far too thin, across social and digital, with no real brand building in mind. They create and pay for ineffective ads, they share very unengaging content, and they do not respond to customer queries in the comments. Not only did he pay them a hefty fee, but when he could see it wasn't working, his idea was that ''social doesn't work'' and he decided to give the social media management responsibilities to his employees. The content got even worse. On top of that, when there were questions in the comments from customers, regarding where to buy the product, no one answered. Countless lost sales. Soon after, a very famous influencer that we actually suggested in that very meeting (where they turned down our pitch), started sharing content where he reviewed a vehicle he was given. In the video, one of the automotive company's products appeared, but no mention of it. One video reached millions, the others, also in the hundreds of thousands, each showing the same product. Funny enough, while the influencer didn't specifically mention their product, it would have been a fantastic opportunity for a placement, and an opportunity to start building brand equity amongst his viewers. If the influencer had of mentioned it (the product is hard to spot unless you're looking for it) I believe there would have been some great results. This kept happening on several occasions where many other well-known influencers kept reviewing vehicles with their product. I don't want you to miss out on influencer marketing opportunities as I am a firm believer that it is a great way to build relationships with your customers, when done right. You might not think you have the right brand for influencers, or that you want to spread your budget, however, in the beginning, I always advise start-ups to look into influencers that align with their brands, to cost effectively utilize an existing audience, and direct them to your social and website, and start to build something. Instead of trying to build an audience from scratch across multiple channels and formats, see if you can work with influencers (you should pay them by the way), partnering with them long term, focusing on building brand equity. Don't spread your start-up budget too thin, see what works, rinse and repeat! Good luck! [link] [comments]  |
| Where do I find legit market research/intelligence? Posted: 31 Jul 2021 08:48 AM PDT Hi, I'm exploring a startup idea in a domain unrelated to my professional expertise (I'm a tech person looking into a physical, retail consumer product idea for international markets). I'm looking for market intelligence on demand for US-made goods in certain countries (eg, India, Japan, Brazil) and/or the general working relationship between small businesses in the US and these markets. Generally I'm a decent Googler, but can't find the right resources for this info (if it exists). Mostly returning info on how to sell _from_ India/Brazil/etc. into the US via Etsy. Any advice on where to find the right info on this narrow topic? [link] [comments]  |
| Seeking a recommendation for a digital download service after buyer pays Posted: 31 Jul 2021 09:26 AM PDT I want to have a digital file available for purchase via my website. It is only a single file and business hosting is quite expensive on my website host (weebly). I was thinking that I could simply link a PayPal button to a Google drive file, but I'm wondering if there is something else that would make it appear a bit more professional but be inexpensive. Essentially, I want the buyer to be able to pay through PayPal and then have access to the download via an intermediary. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2021 09:25 AM PDT Hi, could anyone recommend an online payment solution for adult startup based in the EU? It seems that most people end up with CCBIll or Epoch. But does not really exist any other option than to pay 10%+ / transaction? We are not developing another live chat/video hosting/ regular porn site but the unique double-sided marketplace that not only fights against forced/ violent practices used often in the industry but is also the first online adult platform that allows to models earn money without public nudity. Our company identifies with Erika Lust's nonviolent approach to porn and fights for human rights. Unfortunately, most of payment processors companies just do not care what it is if it falls into the adult category.. However, we still do not lose hope and believe we will come up with the solution without having to accept those ridiculous fees per transaction. We actually found a few companies that specialize in adult and their fees are about 2-3% per transaction (merchantscout.com, ccnetpay.com). But why no one mentions them? Are they scam or are we missing something? Could anyone help? We are preferably looking for the solution, that supports also BTC and is ready for automatization of invoices. Would be also nice if it provides some customizable options and the gateway is inline (meaning the customer stays on our website and it won't redirect him). We will be happy to pay monthly/annual fees but not really going to pay 10%+ per transaction unless it is the only solution. Thanks a million for any help! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2021 06:22 AM PDT Hi - been looking to create my own business / startup for a while. I have an idea, it's more of a consultancy business, so hopefully I can start small and grow. But I have the problem that probably prevents most people (it's certainly stopped me so far). I have a good job that pays good money that would be hard to list without. I'm planning on starting my own business small and grow , it will need to be outside of my work hours which is fine. I will need to use my LinkedIn and personal details to make it work, problem is I don't want my current work really knowing about it as they're not the kind of company to not care about things like this (bad culture). Any advice for how to use my details without my employee potentially finding out? It would just be great to hear from people in similar situations that have done this before and how it went, so I'm not asking for you to solve a problem I would just appreciative your honesty of how you made moonlighting and using your own details to run a business work while you have a main job, thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Computer Science or Computer Engineering (US undergrad) for early career and later tech startups? Posted: 31 Jul 2021 04:09 AM PDT I want to go to university in the US and I am currently exploring my options. I want to know whether CE curriculums, generally speaking, can prepare students for a stable career in software as well as CS does (e.g. do CS students have an edge in terms of programming knowledge for jobs). Since I also aspire to one day create my own business, I also want to hear opinions on which major will offer both stable employment immediately after graduating, and leeway to create and develop new ideas in the future. From what I understand, while CS is somewhat more restricted to software, which is a huge market with great potential on its own, CE can give a better overview of how computer systems work, how hardware and software interact... and I have seen some described as the best of both worlds. As much as I love CE for its broader perspective, if early careers in software outright favor CS students, and/or if CS can still help me with working and creating outside of software exclusively, then I'll have to consider that as well. P/s: I know this is on r/startup, but I am also having reservations about acceptance into the selected major in good colleges. Would CS be a much harder major to get into than CE, or are they the same? [link] [comments]  |
| Don’t want to pay for a professional pitch deck? Here’s how it can hurt you. Posted: 31 Jul 2021 02:56 AM PDT Early this morning, my colleague sent me a 12-page pitch deck from a London-based tech company looking to raise. The team looked pretty good, the tech seemed interesting, but after reviewing in detail, I had more negative ideas than positive. Not only was a lot of really important information left out, the information that was there, simply wasn't compelling enough to convince me that they could raise. I had to keep myself motivated and open-minded about what this company could possibly be one day, instead of being inspired and wanting to be involved. Also unfortunate, they told my colleague ''We don't have one dollar to spend on a deck, but we need one, fast, so we can raise!'' In my experience, a professional pitch deck costs around $5000 - $10,000. Any higher, then maybe it's too expensive (circumstantial), and any lower, the quality of work isn't great. A good deck takes about 2 to 6 weeks to complete, with countless reviews, and workshops with the founders to make sure the right message comes across. When I see posts from start-ups asking ''Need a deck in 48 hours so we can raise. Budget is $500'' I just know the kinds of pitch decks they're going to receive – they're going to be completely shit. A professional pitch deck cannot be rushed. It needs to be written like poetry, flow like a river, and inspire the reader in such a way, that they feel compelled to speak to you personally. In the rarest of all cases, start-ups with the most incredible piece of break-through technology, can get by with a low-quality deck. As a founder, you don't need to be skilled in writing pitch decks. As scientist or athlete with a start-up looking to raise some capital, it's ok that you're not good at writing decks! You're already good at something, everyone is! However, if you don't seek professional services, you could reduce your chances of raising, because you most likely will miss the key points an experienced professional will highlight that you simply cannot formulate in clear and concise copy. I know that $5000 - $10,000 for a deck can seem very expensive, on top of all the other costs you're already facing. And this is not to say that you cannot find someone to do a great job for cheaper, it's just personal experience that you are more likely to get lower quality work on a tighter budget. Shop around and see if you can get a deck for a budget that suits before needing to take a loan to get one made. Don't break the bank on a deck, but remember it's a really good investment when done right. By the way, if you are a super early-stage start-up, and $5000 - $10,000 is a lot of money, then you might be too early to raise anyway. Do what you can with what you have, as long as it doesn't hurt your start-up and chance to raise. I wish you all the success in the world. [link] [comments]  |
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