Which is more important for your startup–a big vision or a specific focus? Lately I’ve been hearing about this dilemma from several companies I work with through Techstars. These companies have mentors or advisors telling them they need a big, bold vision to draw others to the company, attract investors and be viewed as thought …
An investor asks you a simple, direct question: “Have you ever lost a customer because they couldn’t figure out how to install your product?” Your answer might be: “No, that has never happened.” Or maybe: “Yes, that has happened once.” It was a short answer, but you answered the damn question. This is where it …
Your precious public pitch. You prepare, practice, polish and finally, present it. I know, that’s a lot of “P” words. Here’s one more: Purpose. Never lose track of the reason you’re pitching to begin with. You aren’t pitching investors in order to get them to make a decision. The purpose of your pitch is to get a meeting. …
The interesting thing about startups over the last ten years has been watching the cost of starting a company drop so that really just about anyone with a couple of months can launch something on the web that can be interesting. Those launching products that need to produce molecules — physical products that need a …