I haven't seen a deal structured this way. Usually they get 6-10% equity I exchange for some small amount of money ( ~ $25k ) and tons of mentorship. 15% for $20k seems high ( you are valuing your company at $133k ) but there might be more to it. Accelerators are great specially for unknown foun...
Build naming and domain procurement into your process. Letting your startups "wing it" will result in a lot of crash landings.
It's not that Canadian VC's are risk adverse as much as they are not well positioned to invest at the seed stage where risk is highest. Canadian VC's used to enjoy a supply/demand imbalance where they could rely on being able to have a high chance to participate in a great Canadian company's rou...
Try online forums. There are the cheapest of options but obviously not the safest or most reliable. Can't have your cake and eat it too. Otherwise maybe consider flying to these areas and knocking on investors doors. It took me a year and a half for my first startup to get funding and a lot of ...
I have been in a similar situation with a client recently: a startup with a compelling software solution that needs a large partner to develop and bring it the market. We have done a partner selection together where we looked at strategy, value proposition for all parties (what is the win/win/wi...
It is hard to give specific advice without specific information. Many of the pointers I see can be applied to non-tech startups. In the end, it is about knowing your customer's needs, partnering with those who complement your strengths and weaknesses, listening and evaluating feedback, getting t...
AngelList is your best bet. Since you're asking the question, chances are you don't have a way to get introduced to these investors. The simple truth (like it or not) is the chances very low that you'll get a deal done without an introduction from someone they trust. AngelList can help with th...
It depends on many factors. Are they willing to do it as a convertible note? If you're early stage the debt will be a burden if you don't have revenues in short order to repay it. 20% is extremely high and if you can't repay in revenues it could bankrupt you. Investors outside the U.S. Are not ...
I would suggest you search for and read out blogs. I can't think of any entrepreneurs who aren't also blogging. I have two blogs: brightideas.co and http://groovedigitalmarketing.com
As someone who is deeply involved with startup studios, here are a few hints. 1. First, calculate your optimal scale of operations. In our startup studio this was about 12-15 people core team + dedicated ceo-s for each startup experiment 2. Raise funds for the studio, for at least 12-18 months. Y...