The short answer (with respects to problems) is everything that comes along with capital. The good news is that there is significantly less red tape to cut through for innovation! In my journey from working at a Fortune 100 firm to starting my own company, I had a "transition" working with a med...
Grass roots marketing is always best (and cheapest). If you are near schools, "partner" with the schools and offer incentives for the school - for example, 15% of sales this Tuesday will go to John Smith Elementary, just come in and tell us you are with JSE. Get the school's buy-in and they will ...
re deciding between validation capital (Kickstarter) and growth capital (Equity). If your main risk is demand uncertainty, Kickstarter can validate the market while funding initial production. If your main constraint is capital intensity (tooling, certifications, inventory, working capital), eq...
Hi there! 1-. Keep on asking for feedback for your product and adjust it 100% to what your first users want 2-. Go for the wow factor. Make their product amazing (think about an iphone design) and last 3-. Make sure these early adopters use your product everyday (or as many times per week as...
Simplify. Go explain the tool to a group of kids (I usually use my own) but someone else's will do just as well. Explain the tool to them and take notes. Keep track of points that confuse them and make a point to clarify until its clear. Once you are done compile the notes into a presentation of...
Read Tribal Leadership, a great book on culture and Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard, a great book on implementing change when it's difficult.
There is no right answer for this, but definitely, you need to have a 'hustle' aggressive approach when you're launching something new. That means to dedicate some time to get in front of the right people. You can start by joining Facebook groups in your category, going to meetups (as a host an...
The idea of an MVP is 'minimum, viable' ... If you feel you need a "good amount" of funding, I would challenge if you are minimum enough. Obviously, without knowing the details of your product, your ideal customer, or what need you will solve, it is hard to help expose what is necessary in an MV...
Ugh. Investors. Here's the harsh or maybe happy truth. If your Startup offering (product, service, information, courseware, consulting, etc) provides stellar value, then you require no investment. Do your launch + if money starts pouring in, either skip the investors of if you really must use ...
Hi Manuel. While I have never structured partnerships between companies and DCA's, I have worked on many strategic alliances with govt agencies (or the like) and companies. Increasingly this is becoming more and more common. Which State are you in? It may be worth reaching out via your network to...