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The business startup costs that are the least complicated for startups tend to be our "fixed costs" like office space, utility bills, or software expenses incurred. While these start-up costs grow with any new business, they don't scale the way our variable cost projections do when starting a business.

Fixed Costs vs. Variable Costs

The reason we separate our fixed costs versus our variable costs is that we want to isolate our startup cost categories to focus on what will truly drive our business plan. Things like scaling our advertising costs will have an exponential effect on our revenue, for example.

But our fixed costs don't have nearly this impact.

Our fixed expenses do "grow" over time, but not exponentially. Therefore we tend to separate...

Founders have to learn so many new skills when they're launching a startup, and writing a business plan is a big one. When you're writing your business plan for the first time, things can get… intimidating.

What do you include? What kind of wording should you use? What do you make sure not to include? Is a mid size business plan different than an enterprise plan or a scalable startup? Do I need to include financials like cash flow statements? What do investors want to see?

It's enough to make even a stalwart startup founder and management team throw in the towel before they've even begun.

Lucky for you — we've created a complete guide to writing your business plan. Check it out if you haven't already. (And if a link from there brought you here...

Unless you spent July of 2017 living in an underground bomb shelter with no Internet, you probably heard something about a certain Google memo, in which a Google engineer attempted to argue that the company was putting too much emphasis on diversity.

The memo quickly went viral, first within Google, then around the tech-sphere, and finally across the country. But somehow, amidst the storm of tweets, posts, and think-pieces on the subject, the most important points got lost: why team diversity matters in the first place, and what startups and other companies can do to make sure they’re building the strongest, most diverse, most kickass team they can.

So, we decided to devote a session of Startups Live to talking about exactly that. Joining u...

From single founders with no team to some of the biggest tech companies in the world, our definition of “startup” is extremely broad — and very unclear.

While most people wouldn’t put Uber and Facebook in the same category as the apps and games and services being hatched in co-working spaces across the country, they’re all still referred to as startups (and sometimes seen as "start-ups").

So what is a startup company, anyway?

Perhaps the most popular definition of a startup meaning is from Eric Ries, the creator of the Lean Startup methodology:

Startups.com Co-Founder and CEO Wil Schroter has his own definition of what ...

Office distractions take many forms: checking emails throughout the day, responding to text messages, making phone calls, responding to Skype requests, having quick meetings, and even figuring out what’s for lunch. All of these sap our daily decision-making “battery” (yes, science has proven we can only make so many decisions during a day) and subtract from our ability to focus on what’s most important.

For these reasons, I’ve found that quarterly meetings that are unplugged and off-site are a reliable way to get more clarity about where my team and I are going, what’s working, and what isn’t working.

Why Go Off-Site?

My friend Leo Patching, one of the most seasoned, successful entrepreneurs I know, calls an off-site meeting a chance to get...

Entrepreneurs are classic risk-takers. They are continually assessing the world around them, seeking to identify problems in need of a solution. They work hard to address these problems, and transform them into opportunities to improve their world. However, in their haste to identify and seize those opportunities, many entrepreneurs rush into their businesses and forget to establish a long-term vision.

The history of the business world is littered with the empty shells of failed startups that burst onto the scene, but were unable to sustain their business model after their initial appeal wore off. Many of these businesses were started by well-intentioned entrepreneurs who were able to cast a compelling vision for the startup phase. But thos...

In today’s world, you’re likely going to pitch far more investors through an initial email than you will in person. A great email pitch won’t necessarily get you a meeting but a bad one will definitely prevent one. Therefore creating the perfect email pitch is essential.

The perfect email pitch is a little longer than a commercial, but not anywhere near as long as an infomercial. Your goal is to pique the investors’ interest by tapping into each of the key areas they are interested in.

Key Ingredients

Investors hear hundreds of pitches per month, but in each case they are looking for a few key ingredients that make them lean in and ask for more.

The key ingredients for an email pitch can best be described by what the investor is trying to a...

When you’re starting out, you’re faced with thousands of decisions that are all competing for your limited time. But to get your startup moving, you need to prioritize your needs and lay the groundwork for your business to thrive.

Free, low-cost software allowed us to build our business efficiently and prolong key hires. By investing in tech that takes care of routine business needs, you can limit your spending and boost your company’s chances of survival.

Here are five programs that helped us get off the ground and can help you, too:

Dropbox

Dropbox is a great tool to keep track of the files that your entire team needs to access. Dropbox offers cloud storage and file syncing for free. Many tech startups create and store their files and dat...

Entrepreneurs have quite a few options available when raising capital that generally fall into three categories — bootstrapping, debt and equity.

Investors want to find the right fit. They want the right location, market size, and traction, among other things.

Funding your business isn’t as easy as saying, “I want to speak to investors who will give me a big check for my great idea!”

Even the best ideas often require a long period of proving themselves before any investor is willing to support them with a check. Along the way, there are several forms of capital that entrepreneurs use to address their needs.

How Most Businesses Get Funded

The most common way companies get funded is to start with their own capital, known as bootstrapping. The...

Startup Grind sat down with Minerva Tantoco, New York City’s first-ever Chief Technology Officer. As CTO, she is working to develop a citywide tech strategy and to encourage collaboration across other government agencies. While the Mayor’s Office of Technology isn’t classified as a startup, Tantoco argues that with the right mindset, you can turn any job into a startup.

“Working for a small company molded the rest of my career”

Tantoco’s first 5 years of employment were for an artificial intelligence startup in Silicon Valley. Being a young woman trying to fit in definitely had its challenges. She wasn’t even old enough to rent a car! While she looks back on those years as some of her best and worst experiences, she made sure to note that t...