Hot answers tagged seed-funding
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Andrew Rollins, of TechStars alumnus Localytics wrote a great series of tips recently.
Andrew Hyde, TechStars' community director, covers many of the basics in his post. The one startup he specifically mentions, Foodzie, wrote their own post of advice, which to me really highlights how they stood out.
And Healy Jones, a TechStars adviser from this summer, ...
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I've recently brainstormed up an OCR related technology - here are my notes.
Create an API that third party folks can use - A lot of data is currently being captured at the consumer level and used at Evernote. They are still small and growing rapidly - create a model that allows their users to use your algorithm.
Create an iPhone/Android app that can ...
9
Phew, that's a hard one. Maybe I'll come back with better ideas later. For now, some initial thoughts:
You have written about this algorithm you have, but not much about your own dreams and desires. What do you want? Maybe your invention can lead to a pile of money, but money alone isn't a good reason for becoming an entrepreneur.
Absolutely keep your ...
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I think your best bet early on is to start with the crowd funding websites like:
http://www.kickstarter.com/
http://rockethub.com/
http://www.pozible.com.au/index.php
http://www.quirky.com/
http://www.fundbreak.com.au/
http://www.catwalkgenius.com/
http://en.fansnextdoor.com/
http://www.indiegogo.com/
http://www.cofundos.org/
http://www.profounder.com/
...
9
If by raising seed money you mean selling an investment in your company-- the answer is no. If by raising seed money you mean having the cash you need to launch from supporters with no promise, expectation or opportunity for a "return" then you can.
Equity-- Why you can't
If by "seed capital" you mean bring in early investors who have an opportunity of ...
8
The Government of India has setup a Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises.
It provides guarantee for loans upto 1 Core rupees based purely on your business plan. Also if your loan amount is less, you wont be charged anything if your startup fails. Its very much like a grant.
Also, there are many other schemes. You can look here for ...
8
Commonly you'll want to release more than 10%, but less than 25%. And also as little as possible. If you let go of more, you runt at risk of becoming a hard choice when (if) you're going for a Series A round. If your investors have too little invested they're likely to just not engage as much, and their lack of interest may be noted by the Series A investor.
...
7
What you are looking for is an "impact investor" also known as a "venture philanthropist" : some organization ready to invest on social impact rather than on financial return only. There are several such global organizations as well as some local ones. This field is quickly maturing.
Here are some of them :
Ashoka
Echoing Green
the members of The European ...
7
Although raising money while still working is doable, it's a lot harder (I'm speaking from the perspective of someone that's done it recently). I'm not saying you can't, but I am saying that you should go into it with eyes open.
Some investors will consider it a deal breaker. You'll need to learn to take it with a grain of salt - it's just that some people ...
6
Bootstrapping isn’t just about being in your twenties and living in your parent’s basement. We are currently bootstrapping our business, and I’m happy to say that I don’t live in my parent’s basement, but sad to say that I am no longer in my twenties.
Bootstrapping is about making common sense decisions, being creative, and living within your means. That ...
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No; it doesn't even make sense to give the CEO preferred stock. The "preference" in preferred stock is usually a liquidation preference, giving the holder of the stock the right to get 100% of their investment back before anyone else takes a dime. This makes sense for an investor that has put in money. As the CEO has not put in money, it doesn't make sense. ...
5
Another thing to think about is showing a "path of capability". Lots of people have neat ideas, but can't get the ball rolling. Thomas Edison was dead-on when he said that genius was 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Make progress happen on your idea. If you're a coder, code! If you're not a coder, sketch and design. Talk to real live prospective ...
5
Another tip I'd give you is to reach out to past TechStars founders. They're generally super helpful in providing ideas. They've also been known to provide a "heads up, these guys seem really smart" when they run into an interesting team. And don't over-focus on the application itself. you've got to have good stuff to go along with it, like continued ...
5
A funding Series is kinda subjective. Usually, you raise a Series A when you have hit your seed money milestones, raised a significant amount of money or your investor wants to evaluate your company (e.g. set a round price).
I would say start thinking about what your Series A will look like now and start the process of raising it. You can never start ...
5
Ideally, an executive summary is no more than two, single spaced pages, using twelve point font. The layout should use ample white space and sections should be accented with bold or underlined text. Like a pitch, there are critical sections that need to be included. These sections, in order of appearance, are:
Centered Company Name and Executive ...
5
In general you can, but your investors may require you to write those costs off and consider them part of your "contribution".
I would probably swallow the costs myself, as investors want their money to be spent on some new stuff, not paying down what they can already see. That is, they want to move forward as quickly as possible, and may (reasonably) see a ...
5
Soon grasshopper -- soon.
First: What is this crowd-sourced funding?
The bill passed! (The "Jobs Bill" apassed in April deregulates the SEC to allow emerging growth companies to raise up to a million dollars a year from an unlimited number of unaccredited investors on public forums. This means that your company can raise money in a whole new way. But it ...
5
You haven't done anything to reason about the current fair market value of your startup, and you haven't given us any info on it.
If your startup essentially is just a loose dream at this point, then 3% sounds high, but possibly not unreasonable depending on the specific amounts & work involved.
Start by guesstimating the fair market value of what you ...
4
Diaspora was successful because of insanely positive coverage in The New York Times, not because they happened to use kickstarter as a mechanism for raising funds. Don't assume that you can replicate that experience.
4
The most recent list I've seen also provides the application deadlines for different startup incubators: http://kaljundi.com/2010/02/19/upcoming-startup-incubator-deadlines/
And Robert Shedd has tried to round up all that he can find at:
http://blog.shedd.us/321987608/ - His commenters have contributed even more.
For the benefit of those not led to ...
4
A common way to do this would be to have the angel investors loan money to the company, with an option of converting that loan to shares if there is a follow-on larger investment. This allows the angels to invest without having to agree on a valuation until you have a lot more traction.
For example, the angel/seed investor might put in $100,000. When the ...
4
Although there are some well founded criticism against convertible notes, if they're insulted, the angels you've talked to are clearly behind the bandwagon. Paul Graham, arguably the most influential person in the world when it comes to seed financing, seems to have declared Convertible Notes the winning trend. Perhaps you need to educate your angels? Kindly ...
4
Actually, your immigration status doesn't matter when it comes to investing.
If you don't have a work authorization, you can't actively participate in the management or operations of any company, paid or unpaid. That's where the confusion often arises.
But as long as your investment is passive, it doesn't matter where you live or who you are. You get ...
4
I would contact a CPA on this, just to make sure you do it right in sync with your tax return. You really shouldn't have a problem...
The answer to #1 is NO---this is not income. This is startup capital and belongs on the balance sheet, not the income statement.
The LLC will show no revenue, but will show expenses (itemize them) via the payback to ...
4
Imagine this:
You have a company. It's worth something. Call that x.
An investor invests $1,000,000 in your company.
Now how much is your company worth?
Answer: x + 1,000,000.
Why? Because the company still owns everything it owned before the investment, only now, it also has one million dollars more in the bank, so it's worth a million dollars more.
...
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What a great question. I think that Rob has put together the exhaustive list of resrouces for crowd sourcing the launch of your nonprofit. That is one fantastic idea. Here are others.
Framing the Campaign to Raise
The key difference between sourcing launch capital for a for-profit and a not-profit is the desired return.
In a for-profit the desired return ...
4
I agree that that "other entrepreneur" has exactly zero chance of getting funding only working nights and weekends. He has already decided he can't. You do not have to be him. There are lots of ways to demonstrate your dedication. Foolhardiness is not an appealing quality to investors. Be your true self: dedicated, realistic, hardworking, focused on the ...
4
I think you are too heavy on your engineering staff, and too lite on your Sales & Marketing expense. Without customers you are dead in the water.
How do you attract & retain the Power Users in each city? If they are key to your sales and customer development, how are you accounting for their expense in your development plan (i.e.- whether you are ...
4
Yes.
You want them to invest their full time money.
They want you to invest your full time effort.
Would you want to fund someone who had alternative income and whose ability to leave the company isn't jeopardized because they still have income. Working full time on the project is one of the ways they know you have skin in the game.
Without it your ...
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