Investing in early-stage startups is very risky. There is a lot of uncertainty around the business model, the product-market fit, and the team’s ability to execute. It is thus no surprise that investors are understandably cautious and jaded, especially given the dismal statistics of the startup...

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Fear of public speaking is a common affliction for many people. As a startup founder, not only do you have to face it head on, but the stakes for you are also much higher. You are not just doing it to win a competition at school, or to get a promotion at work. You are pitching your dream, your...

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Fundraising is a daunting challenge, even for the best finance professionals, and downright scary for startup founders with no finance experience. According to Fundable and Entrepreneur, 565,000 startups are launched every year and just under 3% receive angel and VC investments. Entrepreneur...

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Competitive research is integral to any startup business plan. It demonstrates that there is a demand for the product or service to be launched and that other existing solutions meet this demand inadequately. Deep understanding of the competitive landscape enables a startup to really hone in on...

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Financial models, or plans, are as important as business models. These two entities are the yin and the yang to solidifying a solid startup structure. In this article and the corresponding video, we discuss five of the best practices for building a robust financial model: Best Practice #1: Be...

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Investors are not running a charity. The reason why investors make investments is that they believe they will make a profit. For them, it is a business transaction, that is researched heavily and thoroughly thought through. This further means that investors want to know the business they are...

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In a market hungry for immediate results, there is always pressure to grow quickly. But is that always the right thing for the company’s overall strategy and long-term prospects? Here are four situations where rapid growth can backfire. 1. Unscalable business model If your business is not...

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As a startup founder, you have to become familiar with basic accounting concepts. In this article and the corresponding video, we discuss how to categorize various cash expenses from your Income, or Profit & Loss, Statement properly. Not All Costs Are Cash Costs Not all costs are cash...

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In this article and the corresponding video, we discuss the top five mistakes entrepreneurs make in their pitch decks. Mistake #1: Inaccurate calculations of market size Many founders incorrectly calculate the size of their company’s addressable market. When figuring out your market size, you...

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For pre-revenue companies, forecasting demand is very challenging because there is no financial history. To overcome that problem, some startup founders use random number generation as a tool to “logically generate” demand for their product or service. In their minds, this strategy is their best...

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