Millions of dollars flowing through your platform and you can't monetize it? You can't monetize the website, but you expect to be able to monetize on mobile? Those seem like major disconnects to me. Any investor you approach would think the same thing. Are you a marketplace like Etsy? If so, several smaller versions have already pivoted their businesses. You may be heading in the same direction. It sounds like an interesting problem. If you'd like to discuss in more detail, I'd be happy to look at the model and see if mobile makes sense. We can also talk about ways of getting a mobile platform created for less than building a native version from scratch.

You're doing it all wrong. Grow this baby and sell it for more. Hire yourself a strategist to work with you on this.

I have designed a few of these online marketplaces and I can tell you from experience that in this day and age, phone numbers are a deterrent on a signup form. I advise against it and agree more with the cons. However, that does not mean that you cannot get feedback from students. Form the past websites that I have built with student demographics, I have found that they like to interact with each other, so a better way to get feedback is to set up a forum in your online marketplace. Also, just adding a comment thread like blogs have is a very good way to get feedback, even more effective than phone numbers. Also, one reliable method that I found works is an incentive based feedback survey when students can earn pennies on the dollar to take surveys. If you go this route, you could offer 25 cents or $1 or even $5 to the first 20 or 100 students that fill out the survey answering all your questions that you would normally have asked over the phone. I hope my suggestions are helpful to you. I can always assist you in building your online marketplace. I have more suggestions for you as well. Bruce

Definitely DON'T go for funding at this stage. It would be just TOO COSTLY for you in terms of the stake you will have to give away for a limited amount. Most likely at this stage, you don't even have a clear picture if you really need the investment. Have you mobilized all the cash you can on your own? All I mean absolutely all. You don't want to ask for money when you are saving some bucks just in case your idea doesn't work. Have you raised some from FFF (Family, Friends and Fools)?. Again, don't go to angels until you have covered your very basics with those. All in all, most probably what is best for you is to grow this a bit more, get some proper biz metrics in place (churn, growth, revenue per user ...), experiment a bit with which marketing tools will work best for you and start a fire. When you have this fire started (i.e. you know, backed by data, what works and what doesn't), then YOU MAY buy some gasoline (i.e. ask for cash). Don't do it before. Always keep this in mind that I read in some book: "A FOOL AND HIS/HER EQUITY ARE SOON DEPARTED" Pere

It really all depends on the value of the website and your service that people are signing up for. The higher quality your service offering, the higher quality leads you need in my opinion. Also, most websites make members verify with a valid email address, so it is very common. I like the idea of lower signups, but higher quality. However, don't think of it as higher quality. Think of it as more highly qualified and targeted leads. Bottom line: I would go with less "higher quality" signups. Bruce

I think the best place to start is your startup's net worth which includes all assets, the salaries of your staff, and total sales. Say for instance, your business' net worth is $300,000. That's a good middle ground starting point, but your price to this other company can rise or drop from there. The next step would be to study your competitors and see if you can estimate their approximate net worth. If you can research about 3 to 5 companies in your competition and space, take the average, so the average could be $450,000 for instance. Next, have several meetings with this company and see how bad they really want you and how far they are willing to go to acquire you. When I say several meetings, you need to really see what they are willing to pay and compare it to your net worth and average net worth of your competitors. You may be able to go higher from there and let this company negotiate your price down. Be prepared to show them the average net worth of your competition and yours, but only show them the higher figure so they can negotiate your price down. Have an absolute lowest price that you are willing to go to sell. Good luck. Bruce

You seem to have a broad market focus. Narrow down your initial most suceptible group & early adopters. Once you have a target market, you can develop a series of objectives measures in days and social platforms for your 1 or 2 initial target markets. Once you have a series of objectives(goals) you can begin constructing a plan that helps you stay on track and even if you second guess it should serve as a reminder that there is a strategy in place and even if you pivot a bit all marketing efforts drive towards that next up objective. Once the steps are laid out, in laymen form such as pen and paper construct a series of possible content shares, imagery, captions, etc and develop a congruent messaging across all of your efforts. All leading towards 1 or 2 basic sign up forms or YouTube videos... Etc. always capturing email and name for access to continue to desired link or content pdf etc. don't be admiment about signing up for the $200, an email is an email so even if is an email given for access to information or future updates or tips you can still use that to nurture long term conversion. A consultant like myself can help you achieve this. Even if you get 10k sign ups averages state that you won't get more than 1k actual valuable users at best. There is a lot of work that needs to put into place, otherwise there wouldn't be questions like yours and consultants like me. But with a good strategy in place you do definitely increase your exposure and growth rate even if you don't reach your goals, because is about creating value no masses of uninterested leads.

This is a great question. I personally use Apple TV. And only use about 1:8 of their apps. I'm curious about your work. Please provide me with info ;)

I personally have had success with the Google Keyword Finder. This is part of the Google Adwords program for estimating keyword traffic and since Google has statistics on everyone's surfing and search habits, this is your best bet. My advice to you is that before you try estimating server traffic for your marketplace, select 5 to 10 short and long tail keywords that you want to target and then use Google's Keyword Finder to look at the search traffic. I hope this helps. Bruce

You're facing an uphill battle. Angels and Seed Funds see a new app every hour of the day. Same goes for incubators and accelerators. No one will invest cold because there is no way to protect it. There's nothing patentable. You'll have to show rapid user adoption. If you can hit 10-20k users within a few months after launch, you might have a chance. Even then, it will be tough because so many that have a quick adoption rate see their monthly user rate fall through the floor. You'll also need to live in a major hub - San Fran, Austin, NY or Boston. If you still want to pursue your idea, start small and test each feature before investing a significant amount of money. Research the Agile method of software development and follow it. If you want to talk, I'd be happy to talk you out of pursuing this idea. Ha. Just kidding - sorta.

First, congratulations on going the entrepreneurial route! You have a situation that is very common and one that can cause frustration so you're smart to identify it early. Branding, skills and experience are all external to you. They are the building blocks you use AFTER you've determined the type of business model that would work best for you personally. Here's are the first two steps in how to start: 1. Identify your values. (not strengths - that's external). Values are internal. They are the things that are most important to you. For many entrepreneurs, the values of Freedom, Accomplishment, Creativity, Recognition come to the top of the list. There are no right or wrong answers - only what is important to you. 2. Once you have your values identified, it's important to know your personal style - your way of being in the world. Are you introverted or extroverted? A mixture? (By reading your question I'd say both). Go toward pleasure? Away from pain? Want to help others? Consider these items above or get a personal style test and values test to know quicker. 3. Once you know who YOU are and what drives you, you must build a business model that can serve what you want to achieve in not just business but life. Do you want to be a solo person doing all the work? Run a large company? Somewhere in between? Online or offline or both? Then compare your intended business model to your values and style answers. Now when you ask the "Should I" questions you'll have a blueprint to help you make the right decisions every time. Hope that helps.

This is a prime example of why "stock template" operating agreements are not always the best. They don't always cover every situation and can sometimes lead to confusion. It is best to have specific language on the Operating Agreement that discusses exits, sales, and division of assets. With no other information to go on Scenario one is probably the way a business adviser would interpret the situation. The best action is to consult an contracts lawyer.

Hello, You may want to check out stockbrokers.com. They have enlisted Best International Stock Brokers 2016: http://www.stockbrokers.com/reviews/internationaltrading Hope this helps :) Regards Imran

Hello, This is a great question. Would your focus be for a specific country or region? I'm assuming this question is for online business only? Regards Imran

Hi, Apple cleary states the guidelines on what you can and what you can't sell on appStore from this guide: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/NetworkingInternet/Conceptual/StoreKitGuide/Chapters/Products.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40008267-CH2-SW2 IAPP basically applies to content or services WITHIN your app, say you want to enable content, like on games, or what to enable services to access some data within your app. For the sample apps you gave, they dont need to have IAP within the app since they are offering a complete system which includes Admin and backend portal. The app is just a client that the system will use. You control transactions within the back end. Either you can bill customers based on trasactions made on the app, or based on subscriptions. In app purchase is good if you are developing iOS ONLY app, and dont want your users to log or use in any other systems, but if your developing a complete system where users will log on their admin account, see reports, pay bills, and most specially, if you want to own 100% (apple gets 30% for every earning you get on IAP) of your earning from your transaction, you can avoid using IAP. For your second question, the reason is that, this app is published using an Enterprise account. If you are a company, you can signup for an Enterprise account instead of the normal developer account. What differs from an enterprise account is that you dont need to published it on iTunes and hence does not follow the normal app review process from apple. That means, you can develop any features you want without violating any guidelines that apple have set in publishing your application. Enterprise account is suited for company and organizations who have their own set of policies. Donwloading an app from an enterprise account needs users to trust on the settings, thus downloading from an unknown source is risky. Hope the information above helps. If you have any more follow up quetions or any queries regarding your iOS app development, you can always book a call and I will attend to it dligently. Warmest Regards, Francisco

Have you looked for a contract bottler in your area? Email me at jay@ludollc.com.

You know what would be great... A platform exclusive for Marketplace experts ;) I would answer this in short by saying you don't attract them simultaneously. To elaborate; The Chicken and Egg problem is solved (historically) by attracting and retaining the top providers of whatever service first. This, in turn, creates the - "have" to be there or at least submit proposals there, or risk paying more, getting less etc... - notion in the customer's brain. As for Clarity specifically, watch this video of Dan Martell (founder of Clarity.fm) telling the story of how they did it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKQ2nw3UWPk I have helped launch a few service-to-customer platforms in the last few years. So my related answers and advice are all outlined here: http://chickenandegg.io/faq/ I'd suggest finding a hook for the experts/service providers first and foremost. Boiling your platform down to a niche is best if you're strapped for cash. And further pinpointing a localized or network-oriented market is a great strategy. Quora, for example, utilized their founders' relationships with VC's in Silicon Valley to gain their influencer early adopters. Thumbtack.com used a creative strategy of creating a tool for their service providers to use (for free) to help them with their craigslist ad posting needs. This added the stickiness they needed to keep those first service providers while they marketed to customers. Let me know what specific answers I can help you with. I'm better with specifics. Alex

Yes, absolutely there are very different rules that you have to follow for healthcare products. It mostly boils down to what you are claiming, and what the 'class' of your product is as defined by the FDA. You have to go through an extensive process to get certain healthcare products approved by the FDA. And even when approved, it's only approved with certain restrictions on how you can market it. I've worked with two startups on getting products through FDA, and worked with them on how to legally market their products before FDA approval (i.e. how to correctly abide by the restrictions while still being able to market). If you'd like to discuss the restrictions more with respect to your specific product let me know, all the best, Lee

Speakers, authors and coaches need what you have to offer. They all want to be seen as experts so you need to tell them how your product will do that for them. It's called building a platform and any speaker, author or coach will understand that language. There are two things to consider when positioning yourself in front of this group. Speakers and authors will respond to marketing practices that use the language "become an expert" or "stand out in your field". Coaches will respond to "help more people with your expertise" or "coach more people to success with _____ (their area)". Get in front of these groups yourself so they know you're a real company. Align yourself with an author or speaker or coach that has credibility in the market you'd like to penetrate and and approach them to endorse your product. (After they've been given a demo, of course). These are a few things that come to mind immediately. If you'd like further information, email me at sfrank@stephaniefrank.com or give me a call. Most of all, keep going...this group needs what you have to offer. P.S. I just thought of one more thing. Large platforms like Udemy discount courses regularly and many experts in your category get really frustrated by the perceived devaluation of their material. Something to consider.

You appear to have a very broad concept. The more features you add in the more expensive it will be. I'd recommend figuring out the key feature you think will appeal to potential users and build a MVP based off that. If that feature doesn't attract users, having the other features wouldn't have helped. I'd be happy to talk through your idea and make some recommendations building a test platform.

Whether you are selling B2B or B2C, you have to focus on selling to only one person. You can actually sell to one person at a time while selling to millions at a time. They are one and the same. Don't get off track, what we call digital marketing selling is just selling in print. And that has not changed since Cluade Hopkins wrote "Scientific Advertising." Really long before he wrote the book. The secret to success: I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with some of the biggest names in business, celebrities, actors, entrepreneurs, business people, and companies from startup to billion dollar operations. The number one reason for their success is doing what they know and love while doing it in new, creative, and innovative ways. While you are thinking, think big and think of something at least 1% better, newer, or different. And being cheaper is not a winning strategy. Best of luck, Take massive action and never give up. Michael Michael Irvin, MBA

My experience with online communities is mixed. Those work best if you have a value proposition that appeals to a large mass for a short period of time - i.e. a game. For something like healthcare I'd imagine you are looking to have people engage regularly and for an extended period of time. That is going to take more time to convince people to use your platform. You should be looking for your core user. If you developed personas and user stories, you can use those to identify groups to start with and expand from there. A beta test with a few hundred core users is better than 1000s of users that don't fit your model. If you didn't develop personas or user stories, I'd recommend taking time to go back and think through those. Either way, I'd be happy to help you get started. Best, Brian

It's a tricky situation. In my experience, it makes the CEO of the company not strong enough if he can't handle the fundraising efforts. It might be different in biotech, especially because the R&D and the work that has to be done is way more time consuming than a regular startup. Also, investors like people who are also investing (in equal conditions) in the startup, because that reflects that they put their money where their mouths are. You should help the CEO to make a fundraising strategy, build it up for them and let him put his face on it. If you're working as a consultant, you can charge by commission.

Wow, I am disgusted to here that an employer would do this. This is not legal of your employer and pretty downright unprofessional. Do NOT pay the invoice. He sounds like a scam. What I suggest is that you demand a 1099 from him. The 1099 is a tax form that an employer sends you when you do not pay quarterly or per-pay taxes. A 1099 is the legal way to go when you have not paid taxes during the year. I am not an accountant, but I am answering this because I witnessed a friend going through a similar situation. Also, I, too, had a job where I was paid checks with no taxes withheld. The 1099 is what MY accountant suggested and when I filed it, I paid the taxes estimated from the gross amount on the 1099 form. What your employer is doing is 1. saving money paying by not paying quarterly employment taxes on your labor. 2. trying to make more money off of you by invoicing you for the taxes that you should be paying the government. I am sure he has no intention of paying, but probably just pocketing. 3. Saving money by not hiring an accountant of his own. 4. Getting YOU into serious trouble with the IRS. All 4 of these are illegal. Demand the 1099 and if he refuses, threaten legal action. Also, hire yourself an accountant. I hope this helps, Bruce

Try Elance. Whether you are selling B2B or B2C, you have to focus on selling to only one person. You can actually sell to one person at a time while selling to millions at a time. They are one and the same. Don't get off track, what we call digital marketing selling is just selling in print. And that has not changed since Cluade Hopkins wrote "Scientific Advertising." Really long before he wrote the book. The secret to success: I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with some of the biggest names in business, celebrities, actors, entrepreneurs, business people, and companies from startup to billion dollar operations. The number one reason for their success is doing what they know and love while doing it in new, creative, and innovative ways. Ask, Ask, Ask. Have thick skin and learn from each "mistake." In a short while, the market will tell you what you need to do and who and what you need to ask. But get started now even if that just means asking a contact on LinkedIn. While you are thinking, think big and think of something at least 1% better, newer, or different. And being cheaper is not a winning strategy. Best of luck, Take massive action and never give up. Michael Michael Irvin, MBA, RN