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The blended workforce is made up of people who work full-time and part-time, as well as temporary workers, freelancers, and contract workers.

The so-called “gig economy,” or the rise of popularity in freelance work, that took root with the recovery from the 2008 recession and expanded with the advent of the Affordable Care Act is making the blended workforce the workforce of the future and the workforce of today. Around 40 percent of today’s labor force is made up of non-traditionally working people, including freelancers (sometimes referred to as agile talent, 1099s, consultants, contractors, etc.), temporary workers, and self-employed workers.

As with any labor force, the blended workforce offers advantages and disadvantages. Though compa...

We opened our doors in 2010 with less than 100k in revenue. Despite bringing in money the first year, I technically lost money due to start-up and capital expenses. I even had to get a loan from the IRS to cover taxes that year that took me four years to pay off.

It was my first exposure to the “Oh wow, THIS is how businesses fail”. I had to grow quickly and with a sense of urgency to keep enough cash coming in to pay for the baseline business expenses. I was hustling while crossing my fingers that my hard work would pay off. It did. I grew so fast that I had to hire people quickly that cared as much as I did….and I did. The second year we grew by 630%. We followed that first year burst with an average of 73% growth every year for the next ...

Many startup founders find themselves taking out their first business loans as they’re working to get their company launched. But, like so many other things in the startup world, it can be really harrowing to approach first time business loans — because you haven’t done it before! So here’s your comprehensive guide to first time business loans, including what to expect, how to prep, where to find them, and how to apply.

Should startups apply for first time business loans?

Unfortunately, first time business loans can be difficult for startups to procure. That’s because while some funding sources in the startup ecosystem — like VCs and angel investors — are looking to take big risks, traditional financial institutions like banks generally ar...

What is product-market fit?

While the term “product-market fit” gets thrown around a lot in the startup world, it’s not always very well understood. In fact, we can’t even agree on who created it! Some people say that the concept of product-market fit was first developed and named by entrepreneur and investor Andy Rachleff. Others give credit to famed investor Marc Andreessen, who at the very least popularized term product-market fit when he wrote about in a 2007 blog post. He said, “Product-market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.”

In other words: You could have an amazing, sophisticated, well-thought out idea — and people just don’t get it. (Think: That first focus group for Pied Piper on HBO’s ...

As Startups.com and Fundable founder Wil Schroter likes to says, “There’s not a lot of ‘fun’ in funding.”

Raising equity funding for your startup is a long, difficult, and often demoralizing process. However, if you’re successful, you walk away with money that will help your startup grow and become everything you hope it could become.

But despite these challenges, thousands of startups raise funding every year, implying that the potential rewards outweigh the guaranteed strife and risk. Here’s an outline of what a startup founder can expect at each startup funding stage.

Pre-Seed Funding

Pre-seed funding is the earliest startup funding stage, so early that many people don’t include it in the cycle of equity funding.

At this stage, founders...

The most powerful asset a startup can have is simply enough time to operate.

The problem is, most of us don't have that asset — at all. In fact, the very nature of a startup is often fighting the few moments we have left until our startup runs out of money altogether. Since we're all so hyper-aware of what happens when we run out of time, let's talk about the opposite — what happens when we have lots of time to build our startup?

Our internal motto at Startups has implicitly been "Let's stick around long enough to build our dream." That meant constantly fighting to stay profitable so that we could have an unlimited runway. As we celebrate our 11th birthday, I'd like to reflect on what the asset of "unlimited time" has done for us.

We Can Su...

It’s true. Startup accelerators are awesome.

In fact, the right accelerator for your startup can not only provide some much-needed cash but also connect you with a network that will help your company grow. But, how can you figure out which accelerator is right for you and your startup?

Zack Weisfeld, head of Microsoft for Startups and founder of the Microsoft Accelerator says the first step to locating the right startup accelerator happens before you even google “startup accelerators.”

“Have clearly defined goals,” Weisfeld tells Startups.co “Envision what your startup is trying to achieve and have clear ways to measure your achievements. Then, find an accelerator that is aligned with your startup’s value and goals.”

In other words, don’t ...

There is absolutely a point where the cost of building our startup is simply too high.

The problem is all of our startup lore tells us otherwise. When I talk about building my new startup I talk about not taking a vacation for 7 years, not seeing my family for 3 years, and eating nothing but Ramen Noodles for a decade.

OK, the last part isn't true, it was Chocolate Pop-Tarts dipped in Nestle Quick (I was living big all along!)

We've built a culture around respecting the sacrifice, which is only somewhat helpful. What's dangerous is when we wind up taking it too far. How far is too far? That's the $0 question.

The Hard Truth of Being a Founder

One of the most difficult things about being a startup Founder is that you have to be willing to sac...

Growth won’t happen without some sacrifices. One of those sacrifices that has to be made is surrendering your ability to do it all (that is, all aspects of your business) by yourself. Tim Ferriss summed it up well when he said, “Focus on being PRODUCTIVE, instead of simply BUSY.”

Productive founders know that in order to scale their businesses, they need to be able to get out of the daily details, and into big picture thinking. But in order to do that, they have to outsource.

From Virtual Assistants, to freelance support, to hiring an expert to handle specific tasks, outsourcing means less hours spent tearing out your hair over tedious tasks, and more time pushing your company forward into the future.

You can do that, too. To help get the ...

Startup equity is one of those things that it's fair to say every startup founder without an MBA struggles with, and even those with a high degree of financial modeling education won't have been through this before. Most people don't have to think about this stuff until it's really important. But if you're starting to freak out about who gets what slice of your startup pie, take a deep breath, calm down, and get ready for Startup Equity 101 (your official startup equity guide).

Equity. Stocks. Shares. Vesting. Fair market value. The minute you dive into figuring out startup equity compensation, you're slammed from every side with a bunch of words that you might have heard in the past and you might be able to fake knowledge of at a dinner par...