Short answer: No. You can stop reading this article now and get back to work building your business. Doing anything else (especially like stopping to create a business plan) is purely wasting your time. In all seriousness though, why is the question of a business plan still so prevalent amongst founders? Why is it that...
There are two types of leaders: those who thrive through war and hardship (like Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln) and those that excel during peace & prosperity (Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher). And generally, there is almost no overlap between the two, which makes sense. The thing is, this dichotomy doesn’t only apply to politics...
The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 5: How to Structure Your Fundraise to Close Your Round Faster Welcome back to Part 5 of our Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising. If you missed the previous posts, I highly recommend you read through those first before continuing. The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 1: Understanding...
The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 4: The Biggest Fundraising Mistakes Startups Make Welcome back to Part 4 of our Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising. If you missed the previous posts, I highly recommend you read through those first before continuing. The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 1: Understanding Investors 101: The Pros...
Did you know the average successful startup (i.e. from inception to acquisition or IPO) lasts longer than your average marriage (that ends in divorce): 8 years vs 9 years for SaaS. Outside of that being unsettling proof for the sorry state of marriage these days, it should make you take pause. How long have you...
Fundraising is one of the most critical aspects of any startup. You need the runway to “burn” through the learning phase (products to product market fit) as quickly as possible as you work to scale your business. Because otherwise you’ll never catch (and ultimately conquer) the incumbents. Because some businesses simply NEED outside funding to...
Angel investing in tech startups can be a massive source of wealth creation. It’s sexy too, who doesn’t want to say they’re an angel investor. And what better way to spend your time than by meeting some of the most inspiring and innovative individuals building the world-changing business of tomorrow. But it is not all...
Building Sustainable Businesses that Scale and Change the World We are consuming more resources than our planet can handle. Every day $111B is spent in the US alone on an insane number of consumer goods producing an unfathomable 728k tons of garbage (or 63k garbage trucks) per day filling our landfills. And that is just the...
I don’t believe in regrets. I don’t believe in living my life looking backwards and wondering what if, as if wondering would change anything. I don’t see the purpose and I think it only damages the present, as if life wasn’t good enough as it is. Because things could have gone very differently… possibly even...
Designing virality and word of mouth marketing into your product When it comes to producing hockey stick growth and exploding valuations, virality and word of mouth are the holy grail. A product that markets itself without spending a dime on customer acquisition (CAC)… That is the stuff of legends that every company strives for, but...