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The Anatomy of a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
It’s hard to think of an innovation that has had a more transformative impact on the business landscape than the rise of crowdfunding.
Once upon a time, the only people who could bring new products to market were the ones who already had the capital and connections to make it happen. Now, thanks to crowdfunding, anyone with an idea and an Internet connection can mount the next big crowdfunding campaign – and the next must-have product can come from anywhere.
Crowdfunding is a great way to raise the funds you need to make your vision a reality. It can also be an awesome way to test a pricing strategy or validate demand for your product.
But crowdfunding campaigns aren’t (just) a fast track to capital or product validation. A successfu...
The Secrets to Crafting an Irresistible Elevator Pitch (With Examples)
What is an elevator pitch?
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: a Founder and a VC walk into an elevator…
In all seriousness, if you’ve spent any time swimming in the startup waters, you’re probably familiar with the idea of the elevator pitch. But in case you missed that day in Founder School, the scenario is this:
Say you got in an elevator, and standing in that elevator was the one person that could make or break your business. You have the length of that elevator ride to convince this person to get on board. And no, the electricity can’t suddenly cut out and leave you with a couple of hours to fill instead of a handful of seconds.
Well — What the @#*! do you say?
We’ll get to that.
Why are elevator pitches important?
There’s a reas...
Will Investors Fund Just an Idea?
For those of us who have never raised capital or built a startup before, there's a commonly-held myth that startups get funded with great ideas.
If the idea is so wonderful, an anxious investor will jump at the idea to get rich with an early investment. It must be true — we saw it on Shark Tank!
The truth is, startups get funded at all different stages, from the initial idea all the way up through proven traction. The problem is that the uninitiated don't quite understand what the difference is.
What if we had the idea 9 seconds ago?
If the idea is just that — an idea — and there's no other development or traction to the business, the only likely funding sources are going to be our credit cards and perhaps an incredibly supportive relative....