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When we want to achieve a certain goal or go somewhere, we plan for it. Why? Simply because taking action and not thinking of the consequences that goes along with it produces chaos and a waste of resources such as time, effort, and money.

Why A Startup Business Plan is necessary

For instance, our lives. I’m pretty sure we all have a plan for our own lives. We want to achieve this and that by a certain age. We look forward the next day because we have a plan to fulfil.

Why do we do this? It’s not because we’re bored or nothing better to do but because we value our life. We want it to be meaningful. We don’t just want to survive, we want to live.

And for this same thing, we need to have a startup business plan. We didn’t think of building i...

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...

CHAPTER TWO: Control The Venue

In This Chapter:

-How to control the location, medium and time of meetings
-How to optimize your schedule for each meeting medium
-How to share your “Go-To” preferences

Once you’ve managed to get your arms around the optimal duration for meetings, you can take your scheduling to another level by optimizing the venues.

The typical cadence of a meeting goes something like this:

It’s not that hard to figure out how to pitch angel investors properly. Most of it comes down to common sense and just treating angel investors the way you would want to be treated.

Despite what you may think, if you want to pitch angel investors you’re not expected to go through some elaborate sales routine. It’s a matter of presenting great information in a compelling way, but doing so honestly and with compassion.

Start with the Elevator Pitch

The first thing you’re going to send to angel investors is your elevator pitch. Your elevator pitch isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a short, well-crafted explanation of the problem you solve, how you solve it, and how big of a market there is for that solution. That’s it. You don’t need to “sell” the ang...

Do you know all of the possible types of business your startup could be? It’s probably not at the top of the list — but it should be. The legal formation of your business — or, in other words, the type of business you form — affects everything from the structure of your company to your personal and professional liability to how you pay taxes. It’s a lot — we know.

And when you’re setting up a startup, you have a lot going on. You have to figure out your market. You have to determine what you’re going to sell them. You have to create a website, social media presence, a blog. You have to pitch and find investment and, and, and…

The list is so long that it can be overwhelming. But if you’re committed to getting a startup going, then you’re com...

What is a minority-owned business?

In order to be considered a "minority" in the world of small business, you must be at least 25%...

• African-American
• Hispanic-American
• Asian-American
• Pacific Islander
• Alaskan Native
• American Indian

Women-owned businesses, on the other hand, are another category.

In order for a business to qualify as minority-owned, it needs to be at least 51% owned by a person or persons from one of those groups.

Additionally, you’ll often need to be certified as a minority business enterprise (MBE) or a disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) in order to qualify for certain loans or grants.

That’s not the case for all loans and grants, however, so make sure it’s a requirement before going through the process of gettin...

A weird thing started happening about five to ten years ago. In cities across the country, coffee shops rapidly made the transition from lively spaces full of chatter, dates, friends, and books to libraries inhabited by intense humans staring into screens, each in their own earphone-isolated world.

I was one of those people; one of the first to start working remotely when I wasn’t able to get a “real job” during the Great Recession.

Back then, even as the coffee shops filled to a breaking point and people waged passive aggressive evil eye wars over the too-few plug points, we were still in the minority.

Today, however, we’ve added coworking spaces in every major city and more than a few minor ones, but coffee shops are still packed to break...

Confession: I dream of becoming a startup consultant. Get paid mad money to tell people the things I know and to help them move their company along?

Yes please.

But, the very things that appeal to me about startup consulting — high pay, low risk (for me) — are the reasons why startup consultant might not always be a great idea for startups.

Which isn’t to say they’re never a great idea.

But, before we get into that, let’s talk about what a startup consultant actually does.

What is a startup consultant?

This is one of those terms that’s more slippery than it looks, mainly because there seems to be some confusion between a consultant, a freelance contractor, a startup coach, and a mentor. If you’re talking generally, all of those categories ...

Virtual reality (VR) is a term and technology that has garnered a lot of buzz, especially in recent years. But while VR is a phrase many are familiar with, that ubiquity hasn’t translated into widespread use, despite some notable advancements to make it more accessible.

When Facebook bought Oculus in 2014, many felt the move would usher VR into the modern era. It took another two years of development before the merger’s first consumer shipments went out, but even after that lead time, most customers still don’t consider VR a must-have. Content producers and hardware manufacturers are chock full of ideas for home-based systems with hardly anyone to buy in to them.

The good news is that those who have tried VR can vouch for its potential. It ...

Founders can make or break startups. That's no secret. The founding team is the cornerstone of any new venture, and their ethics, motivations, and philosophies tend to become firmly ingrained into their company's culture and strategy. Like a fractal, a startup is an aggregate mirror of its founders' priorities, whether that be Airbnb's obsession with design or Theranos' obsession with fraud.All the more reason for good founders to be properly compensated, with a founder salary that includes incentives that align their goals with those of their investors and employees.Unfortunately, it's harder than it sounds. Every startup is different, and every founder has a different relationship with every investor, so there is no real one-size-fits-all...