Questions related to receiving capital from external sources.
3
votes
2answers
139 views
What are some creative ways for a cash poor start up to compensate a designer?
We are in need of a designer for our start up, but we are pretty much cash poor. I have been talking to a designer for a few days, and he really wants to help as he loves our idea. He is very ...
1
vote
0answers
74 views
Is it possible to get funding to buy a Canadian non-profit company and turn it for-profit [closed]
I'm going to be vague and have used a new anonymous account to hide my identity because I don't want the other parties involved to know about my question.
I'm a developer who has been working on ...
11
votes
14answers
52k views
What are going rates for finders fee?
When trying to raise money, what are the going rates for finders fee? Also, who pays the fee: the investor, the entrepreneur or the company that is getting the investment?
Does it change with the ...
2
votes
2answers
230 views
Kickstarter in EU : still not possible?
I've seen a few posts on this site about crowdsourcing which imply that it's not possible to use kickstarter outside the US.
I'm wondering where does this information come from ? Any sources ? I ...
2
votes
3answers
160 views
How do I specifically start a business as a government defense supplier?
No matter what shape the economy is in, the government will always have at least a few if not many contracts with defense contractors.
I would like to start a business as a supplier to these ...
5
votes
8answers
7k views
What does traction really mean?
I've heard alot from this forum about traction. I tried to look at the meaning in the dictionary, but I somehow can not relate it with a startup. So what does it mean by traction and how does that ...
0
votes
5answers
340 views
Business plan & funding advice - Atlanta area
I'm doing most of the work on my business myself but need some advice on my business plan and the best way to approach funding. I'm in the Atlanta area - any suggestions?
0
votes
3answers
171 views
Where can I find international seed investors?
We have just lauched a website for our upcoming SPARQL Database Server. We would like to attract the interest of international seed investors, but we are not sure where to start looking. We are based ...
0
votes
1answer
182 views
What is the procedure to finance a project?
A wealth individual would like to invest into a project where he would provide the funds and I would provide the management of the project. However, I am not too sure of the correct procedure to start ...
1
vote
1answer
52 views
Should an entrepreneur pitch foreign investors
Should an entrepreneur pitch investors from other countries to invest in his venture? Are VCs actually interested in these kind of opportunities or it is expected to be a waste of time?
5
votes
5answers
601 views
I am the founder of a website. If I go to meet an angel investor,what questions will he probably ask me?
I have developed a website. It is under internal testing. My website is a platform. You can ask for people to do something for you and you pay them; on the other hand, you can do something for others ...
7
votes
4answers
307 views
When is a niche too small?
I'm interested in developing a product for the sport of paintball. It has an estimated 10+ million participants (3rd largest extreme sport), though I'd be targeting the real enthusiasts of the sport ...
1
vote
7answers
3k views
I have a great idea for a web site but I have no money and I am not a developer where can I go and find a developer?
This was my dilemma for over three years... I finally figured out the solution, but it took a paradigm shifting event for it to happen. I am sure a lot of folks feel this pain what would you do? How ...
0
votes
5answers
292 views
Funding with no revenue but have traction
If you have a startup that is free for all users and does not generate revenue, but the site/product is used by a lot of people so you have a lot of users, would a VC potentially give you funding even ...
1
vote
4answers
293 views
What if we got funded?
What if we got seed funding (say $350k) and needed to find an iOS developer and backend web developer right away.
Do you:
a) Hire an agency to help develop the app
b) Find a freelancer to develop
...
1
vote
1answer
89 views
Is this break down of startups by stage normal?
Ran across this breakdown of startups applications (roughly 7000 "startups" in the database) that appears to show that less than 10% of startups looking for funding have any revenue. Seems hard to ...
3
votes
3answers
121 views
Technology Accelerator or Bootstrapping
I have a few ideas for a company, and plan to get started sometime this fall. I know of an accelerator that focuses on this vertical, and I have contacts there so reaching out to them would be pretty ...
4
votes
4answers
181 views
How important is market size? And how small is too small?
I have been working on a startup idea for the past few years. The prototype is out there and I have a few hundred people using it. My adsense revenue is about as much as I spend on costs. At this ...
0
votes
5answers
222 views
Should i give 3% equity to this Incubator?
I have recently submitted an application to receive a government grant for funding. There is a requirement, that is to be submit via an incubator.
I contacted an incubator and they are ok with ...
-1
votes
3answers
116 views
How to get funding without a plan?
I really don't have a "plan" right now, but have been offered a meeting to pitch to an entrepreneur that has already sold at least two companies they founded each for over 100 million. They know I ...
7
votes
2answers
3k views
What is the difference between Series A, Series B and Series C investment?
What is the difference between Series A, Series B and Series C investment for a startup?
How does this affect salary and/or equity expectations if I am looking to join a startup in a ...
3
votes
2answers
106 views
How do I pursue funding for a vertical product?
There are many resources about how to pursue funding for horizontal products, often software that can be used by a large number of people. These are problems that investors can understand personally, ...
2
votes
1answer
298 views
Looking for Angel/ VC funding for our project
We have a smartphone job engine. The project is already released in beta domain and getting good response. We have not yet prepared Business Project/Proposal document as we were concentrating on ...
-3
votes
1answer
135 views
Where can I find complete list of Venture Capital, Private Equity and Angel Investors? [closed]
I am looking for a list of venture capital, private equity and angel investors. Are these lists available online or do I need to subscribe to a service?
Also where can I find complete lists of ...
0
votes
2answers
562 views
Founder Anti-Dilution Clause
We are 3 founding partners in an early stage start up. We are all good friends, and just started to negotiate an equity agreement. Our goal is to be fair, but also be fundable, as we will be ...
3
votes
4answers
565 views
What is the best way to present our business plan to potential investors or to a bank?
We have an excellent Business Plan, for some fantastic mobile ideas. The down side, we need funding to get these ideas developed and to market. What is the best way to meet with potential investors? ...
2
votes
8answers
491 views
Funding and money for startup
I have a very simple and basic question: How do I get funding for my startup? How much money can you get?
Thanks,
Yama
2
votes
6answers
3k views
Looking for a list of angel investors? [closed]
Either angel investment firms or single individuals would be great.
1
vote
2answers
228 views
The Dream Team - What investors look for?
I know that the first thing investors look for is a good strong team. Until recently, I thought that just meant the founder and co-founders. However, I was just checking out angelist, and most of ...
0
votes
1answer
109 views
Getting funding with an unorthodox team
We have three co-founders...all of us business men and business owners. None of us are programmers. We have decided that finding one more co-founder(a coder), would probably be the best move for us. ...
1
vote
2answers
123 views
Just went live and need funding- what do I need to prove?
I just launched an online platform that allows inidividuals to video chat based on their interests. Unfortunately, Sean Parker launched a similar concept last week but it just means we are both on the ...
4
votes
1answer
142 views
I ran an ad and now an investor wants to invest in my project and he wants to do several things first. Is this an odd request?
He wants to open a Chase Bank account for the investment. So my question is how do I protect myself if for some reason this person is trying to lauder money through my project? What protection can I ...
1
vote
2answers
236 views
How to decide on how much stake to sell in a SaaS startup?
I have a brand new tech startup. The system was developed over the period of 1 year, the website is ready and it also already has a couple of customers (non-recurring). The service was launched 2 ...
1
vote
2answers
121 views
Reasonable compensation for building a product prototype
I'm negotiating a job to build a prototype for some people. They will show that prototype to investors and can potentially get funded.
Do people usually get compensated for this? If so, what should I ...
0
votes
2answers
97 views
Pitch for funding while the company is in the process of being registered
I have applied for the registration of my company, but it might take around 3 months to get all the formalities clear. In the meantime, is it possible to approach any VC and ask for funding? I ask ...
2
votes
6answers
466 views
Standard Articles of Incorporation Documents - resources
What are the best incorporation (and related) document resources? Are the YCombinator incorporation docs available?
There are a number of 'model' or 'open source' documents for a startup's first ...
0
votes
1answer
47 views
Funding : for growth, releasing equity for cash
Just browsing through crunch base, i was looking at flipboards profile http://www.crunchbase.com/company/flipboard , what i was wandering is initaly they got $10.5m series A funding and then $50m in a ...
0
votes
3answers
262 views
New LLC - Initial Investment
I have a newly formed LLC in California which I did through Legal Zoom. I understand I need to be careful with cash flow (with respect to where it comes from and goes). I am also in the process of ...
2
votes
2answers
146 views
When VC's buy into a business who gets the money?
This might be a really dumb question but I've heard of a few cases where VC's have purchased into a business and it made me wonder. Facebook's purchase of Instagram recently made me think to ask on ...
1
vote
1answer
122 views
Once you find a VC/Business Angel or other, how long does it usually take to close the deal and get the money?
Imagine you found a VC or Business Angel or other to invest in your project something around 200,000 USD. How long does it usually take to close the deal and get the money? (A min-max and average ...
4
votes
7answers
475 views
When do I know it's time to approach VCs (or do I need to)?
I have a startup that owns a product. The industry response about the product has been very encouraging and articles have been published on tech blogs about its superiority. The cost to run the ...
11
votes
8answers
2k views
How do I get funding without “spilling the beans” on my idea?
I've got an idea for a product and I want to get funding. How do I go about looking for funding without telling too many people, or the wrong person, about my idea?
I don't want it to be stolen.
3
votes
3answers
2k views
How do businesses like Instagram and TwitPic make money?
Both of those examples don't charge anything, and don't have ads on their wedsite/app. Both of them have (to the best of my knowledge) gotten hugh amounts of money in funding rounds. How exactly are ...
4
votes
1answer
159 views
What is the JOBS Act?
The Senate passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) by a vote of 73-26. The Senate added new crowdfunding protections, the House will likely accept them as-is, and the President is ...
1
vote
1answer
74 views
How to choose debt or equity funding
Does anyone have a methodology or logic for deciding on debt vs equity financing?
Specifically, for a software startup, where a lot of development has been completed and product is ready to launch. ...
1
vote
1answer
101 views
Is it legal to pay someone a commission for helping us raise funding?
Our startup is at a very early stage, and we do not want any institutional funding at this moment, for reasons out of the scope of this question.
We are instead looking for funding from friends and ...
3
votes
5answers
287 views
Whats my next step?
My name is Stephen. This is my first time at your site so I'll explain where I'm at with my product and hopefully I can get a little feedback on what you might think is the best "next step".
1.) Had ...
1
vote
2answers
149 views
How Many Seed Investors Should we Approach
We are building a startup, we are a few weeks away from our MVP launch. We have had some initial positive investor conversations with an angel and a couple VCs. One large VC that generally doesn't do ...
2
votes
1answer
151 views
What do kickstarters want in return?
I was looking at kickstarter to get some funding for a possible business venture. Kickstarter funding would cover entity filing fees and other costs or licenses and materials.
I have seen some ...
1
vote
3answers
2k views
Statistics about startup success vs. failure rates?
Are there any statistics that measure the success vs. failure rates of startups?
The definition of success would be to attract first or second round of funding and failure would be to not get anymore ...
