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Last week I had a dozen business founders over for beer and pizza to catch up and talk shop. It’s one of my favorite things to do, because I think when you get a group of fellow founders in a room together, there’s instant fraternity among them. People let their guards down. When surrounded by peers, Founders talk about things that no one else can appreciate or understand.

After enough vodka gimlets, the conversation gets very, very honest.

Some of the founders present had already grown and sold companies, while others had just gotten started. Despite the wide spectrum of business stages, the sentiments shared were universal – no matter what industries their businesses were in, or how much they had accomplished.

1. Being a Founder is Lonely...

Entrepreneurs are constantly befuddled by how an investor would choose one deal over another to review or invest in. The refrain pretty much looks like this:

“What?! How can that investor possibly invest in {Insert Undeserving Startup Name} when my company is far more attractive?”

The truth is there are lots of potential reasons for these decisions, but it’s important to understand what the landscape looks like, and how your deal stacks up to others.

It’s Kind of Like a Dating Site

Imagine investors were just regular people like you on a dating site. They would sort through tons of profiles looking for a few things that are important to them. Maybe it’s the picture, maybe it’s your height, maybe it’s whether or not you like long walks on th...

When you’re confident about a business model, you will have absolutely nothing holding you back.

When I call Miguel Madrid at his Austin apartment, he’s glued to his computer, handling exchange requests in the wake of fulfilling the two massively successful pre-order campaigns his company Comfortable Club ran on Kickstarter last year.

“We shipped about 15,000 items in three days,” he tells me.

Comfortable Club is an online apparel brand that delivers ridiculously cozy underwear and loungewear at half the price of retail. The idea seems to be striking a chord: between those two Kickstarter campaigns, Comfortable Club has taken in more than $350,000 in pre-order revenue from over 5,000 backers — now customers.

All of which means things ...

Here at Startups.co, we do our best to help Founders and other startup folks build better businesses. As part of our mission, we love sharing the experience and perspective from some of the most seasoned Founders in the Startup Scene, who drive change and have gained a unique perspective as a result of their experience.

In this interview, Craig Newmark, who founded craigslist.org, talks about how doing well by doing good can be an effective business model.

Wil Schroter: Founders worry all the time that there is some big, looming “Grim Reaper of their Business” that will come and get them if they don’t react accordingly. People have tried to be the Grim Reaper of craigslist since your inception. Of all the threats, what was the one that fe...

Whenever I sit down with a soon-to-be startup founder or a prospective employee at my startup, I always ask one fundamental question:

“Is your spouse cool with what you’re about to do?”

In my book, it’s all that matters. Having the support of your spouse can make or break an entrepreneur or anyone working in the startup world.

Or, said differently, not having their support is a recipe for disaster.

You Can’t Fight Two Wars

Working at a startup is a grind that takes every ounce of your energy to create something from nothing. If you come home with even an ounce of energy to spare, it’s a gift.

So, if you walk through the door at home, and you’re presented with an entirely new war to fight, it sucks.

No one has enough energy to fight one batt...

It was recently reported that the co-Founder of WeWork Adam Neumann took over $700 million off the table from investors long before the company had gone public.

How do these Founders go about getting cash out of their startups long before the startups ever cash out themselves?

Why would investors let me take money off the table?

Investors will often dangle the option of providing some Founder liquidity only when the deal they are trying to get into feels incredibly competitive.

This happens only rarely, and only amongst investors who are open to providing some Founder liquidity (some are very against it!).

Generally speaking, it only helps the investor by allowing them to get into the deal but provides very little upside to the company a...

Think money motivates your employees? Sure. But it’s not the biggest motivator.

Many entrepreneurs believe that digging into their pocketbooks will help drive employee engagement, but the reality is that 67% of workers say praise and commendation from a manager is what truly motivates [Tweet This] (vs. the 52% who say an increase in base pay does the trick).

Instead, consider making quality time with each employee a priority, pick up a personal tangible gift, offer a high five or fist bump, tell them they’re doing a great job or pitch in on a task. Connect with them. They’ll respect you more and work harder as a result.

This infographic takes a look at the truth behind employee motivation and how you can motivate your workforce without reac...

The first thing to realize as a founder is that many investors make quick judgements and bucket founders into basic groups: “promising” or “not promising.” Unfortunately, many judgements are influenced by widely held beliefs, and generalizations about someone’s age or gender that may or may not be relevant to the present situation. For instance, an investor may automatically perceive a young white male with a CS degree from Stanford as more qualified than a female founder of equal or greater status even if he has had significantly less experience. According to a recent Babson College Report, only 15% of VC-backed startups have a female founder, and just 2.7% of Venture Capital backed companies have female CEOs. Moreover, the report also co...

Are you in the startup or growth and establishment phase of your business? Odds are you’re already thinking about the importance of location.

Where you’re located might not be a huge concern when you’re the sole member of your “team”. However, once you grow the business past a critical point, you’ll need to attract additional talent and investment.

The temptation to set up shop in an inexpensive city is entirely understandable. On the face of it, it seems the most cost-effective option. After all, startup hubs such as New York, San Francisco, London, and Singapore regularly rank in the top 10 most expensive cities in the world, both for cost of living and cost of doing business. So why not go somewhere cheaper? Or even further afield:...

How do business loans work?

A business loan is an amount of money a business borrowers from a financial institution, with set requirements for the amount of time it will take to pay back, as well as interest rates. Businesses get loans in order to help them start or to fund expansion. They’re one of a range of funding options for startups.

Here’s a look at how business loans work, starting with the types of business loans that are available to startups and right through to how to apply for a business loan.

Types of business loans for startups

There are five main types of business loans that are relevant for startups: SBA small business loans, business credit lines, short term loans, invoice financing, and merchant cash advances. Let’s take...