Angel investors are typically high net worth individuals who invest very early into the formation of a new startup company, usually in exchange for convertible debt or equity. The role of angel investors serves as a critical bridge between the startup financing needs of a company and their larger capital needs later on.
In order to be an angel investor, a person does not have to be an accredited investor. However, a lot of angel investors are accredited investors.
In order to be an accredited investor, according to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), a person must:
A founders agreement covers everything from ownership structure to intellectual property rights to which the co-founder can make critical decisions over others. In short — every startup needs a Founders Agreement!
Since co-founders are often very familiar with each other, we can easily jump ahead and forget to formalize anything beyond our basic ownership structure. We snap up titles quickly ("You're the Chief Technology Officer! I'll be the Chief Operating Officer!") among all of the founders and go on our way. We're friends, right? That should be enough... right?
And while all that is certainly true, ...
H ave you ever taken a quiz to find out what Disney Princess you are? Or clicked on a listicle on Buzzfeed promoted by [insert brand here]?
If so: Congratulations. You’re a human being.
You’ve also been on the receiving end of one of the most formative marketing trends of the 21st century: content marketing.
Content marketing isn’t exactly new – it’s been sweeping the marketing landscape for a decade or more now. “Content is king” the headlines proclaim – and for good reason. From blog posts and infographics to Youtube channels and branded podcasts, brands today are tapping into an ever-expanding toolbox of tactics and storytelling techniques to get their message across.
But, what about the plan behind the substance? What is it that makes t...
The very first money that many enterprises raise — whether they go on to raise more money or not — is seed funding. (Some startups may raise pre-seed funding in order to get them to the point where they can raise a traditional seed round, but not every company does that.)
The name is pretty self explanatory: This is the seed that will (hopefully) grow the company. Seed capital is used to move past the first steps (product development, for example) and to start exploring what the next stages will be (like growth or a pivot).
Seed capital may be raised from family and friends, angel investors, incubators, and venture capital firms that focus on early-stage startups. Angel investors are perhaps the most common type of ...
Every startup founder has to go through a new product development process, whether it’s formalized or not. Broadly speaking, the new product development process is the entire process of bringing a product to market, starting with recognizing a marketing opportunity and ending with product launch. For some founders, that process may look like a haphazard “drunken walk,” but others prefer a more structured approach.
For those founders, here are three new product development processes that can help guide you as you work to take your startup from idea to actual product. And considering the fact that research suggests that following a clear, structured new product development process, it’s probably not a bad idea to pick one of these — or a comb...
Just like there are many different kinds of capital round raises for businesses in all stages of growth, there are a variety of crowdfunding types. Which crowdfunding method an entrepreneur selects depends on the type of product or service they offer and their goals for growth.
The three primary types of crowdfunding are donation-based, rewards-based, and equity crowdfunding. This guide looks primarily at rewards-based and equity crowdfunding.
Broadly speaking, it’s correct to think of any crowdfunding campaign in which there is no financial return to the investors or contributors as donation-based crowdfunding.
Common donation-based crowdfunding initiatives include fundraising for disaster relief, charities...
Leadership is a popular topic these days. To become a true leader, you need a combination of skills and attributes. Some of these are inborn, to be sure. However, you can develop your leadership abilities as well.
Entrepreneurial success stories often tip a hat to the literature that supports busy business owners through the thick of the business building experience so, of course, we wanted to share books with actionable advice that aspiring entrepreneurs will find helpful on their journey to building a successful business.
Business books that have already helped millions of entrepreneurs can guide you along the way to obtaining a sustainable business, and being the best leader you can be. After all, being a great leader takes effort — and a ...
Venture capital is financing that’s invested in startups and small businesses that are usually high risk, but also have the potential for exponential growth.
The goal of a venture capital investment is a very high return for the venture capital firm, usually in the form of an acquisition of the startup or an IPO.
A venture capital firm is usually run by a handful of partners who have raised a large sum of money from a group of limited partners (LPs) to invest on their behalf. The LPs are typically large institutions, like a State Teachers Retirement System or a university who are using the services of the VC to help generate big returns on their money.
The partners then have a window of 7-10 years with which to mak...
Interest in content marketing has exploded over the past decade, with good reason. It works.
A study from Conductor showed that education content makes consumers 131% more likely to buy. But it’s not just for B2C, with B2B brands seeing value, too. And it works, for less. One estimate claims content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing, while generating approximately 3 times as many leads.
Sounds like an easy decision to get on board with.
Before we dive into how to do content marketing, let’s take a step back to rehash what it is. We’ve heard all about content marketing and how awesome it can be for your business (see above!). But let’s be clear on what we are talking about.
Content marketing is st...
While the term “product-market fit” gets thrown around a lot in the startup world, it’s not always very well understood. In fact, we can’t even agree on who created it! Some people say that the concept of product-market fit was first developed and named by entrepreneur and investor Andy Rachleff. Others give credit to famed investor Marc Andreessen, who at the very least popularized term product-market fit when he wrote about in a 2007 blog post. He said, “Product-market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.”
In other words: You could have an amazing, sophisticated, well-thought out idea — and people just don’t get it. (Think: That first focus group for Pied Piper on HBO’s ...