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The moment we sell our startup — the party is over.

Sure, we'll throw an actual party to thank everyone for taking the ride with us. We're going to issue well-crafted statements internally and externally about how this new partner is what we've been waiting all long for, regardless of whether it actually was.

But once those momentary celebrations subside, we're going to look around at what's left like a frat house after an all-night rager and think "Well damn, now what?" We worked so hard to get to this point, we often have no idea what would happen to the startup once it reached that penultimate moment. But, we're about to find out.

Waking Up Next to a Stranger

By the time we've signed the deal and watched that big wire land in our account...

The worst time to get tired in a race is at the end.

Now, imagine we've just run a marathon (it's called a startup) and at the very end of that marathon is the finish line (it's called an exit), but we're too tired to make it across. Can you imagine a worse time to be out of energy than the moment where we're just about to win the race?

Yet many Founders, by the time we get to our most important milestone (the sale), just have nothing left. So we capitulate. We agree to silly terms, or unrealistic expectations, not because we think it's a good deal, but because we just want to be done with any deal. We're incredibly vulnerable, and that's incredibly dangerous.

"But I Just Want to be Done With it!"

Look, I get it. By the time we're teeing up...

A customer journey map can be an incredibly helpful tool for your business. These maps outline every step that your customer goes through while engaging with your company, from learning about you for the first time to making repeat purchases. A customer journey map helps ensure that your customers are the center of your marketing — it should include touchpoints, frustrations, purchasing motivations, and the like. Creating one can help you identify pain points and keep your customers engaged throughout their buying process.

In this article, we’re going to outline how you can create a customer journey map for your inbound sales funnel.

Start by defining your buyer personas

Before creating your customer journey map, you need to build and defi...

When people talk about the transformative innovations shaping business in the 21st century, you may hear them talk about the influence of automation or the impact of increasing globalization. But one of the most revolutionary aspects of the digital revolution often goes unmentioned: social media.

Because so many of us tweet and post and share day in and day out on our personal accounts, it’s easy to think that social media is… well… easy.

But social media has completely transformed the way businesses connect with their audiences. And as any Founder who has struggled and failed to drum up an online audience for their brand can tell you, effective social media strategy is deceptively hard to get right. It takes a delicate balance of strategy ...

When it comes to building a startup, you are who you hire. Not only do the people you bring onto your team determine the direction and destiny of your product; they also shape what it will be like to come to work every day. So as you get started on the process of “who” your startup is going to be, we want to make sure you’re thinking about something major: team diversity.

What is team diversity?

Team diversity refers to differences between members of startup team. Those differences can include demographic differences (like age, race, sex, ethnicity), personality (extrovert, introvert, and differing Myers-Briggs types) and functional (as in skill sets, like engineering, design, copywriting, and marketing).

Types of diversity

When we think a...

When it comes to financing a startup, government grants for small businesses aren’t the first thing most founders look toward. And they shouldn’t be. While it’s great to get “free money” if you can, federal grants are only available for specific fields and specific uses — and they’re not easy to get.

However, if your startup does qualify for a government grant for small business, then they’re potentially a great source of funding that you don’t have to pay back.

But unlike other industries, startups have another source of funding that we don’t have to pay back, at least immediately: Venture Capital.

Venture capital is also hard to acquire and certainly comes with stipulations — including giving up equity in your startup — but it’s usually ...

A war cannot be won on two fronts — especially if you're a startup Founder.

When I talk to Founders, I often ask them, "OK, so things are tough at work — what are they like at home?" and it surprises them. First, it surprises them because it's a very personal question. Then, it surprises them because they realize why I'm asking.

I ask because I care about them as a person, and I know if they are fighting a war at work (aren't we all?) the only way to make it much worse is to go home to an equal or greater fight.

Our support at home is our greatest strength or Achilles Heel depending on what we have going on — and boy, do we all have a lot going on when it comes to our home life.

Two Battles, One Health Bar

I think of everything like a video...

We're burnt out.

There's no version where "just pushing through another day" is going to make us more effective. In fact, it's the opposite. We're becoming irritable, anxious, frustrated and unhealthy.

When we hit a point of burn out it's important that we understand what to do about it. If we ignore it, the problem only gets much worse. So let's take a look at what Founders do to deal with burnout head on.

How do I take a break when there's SO much to do?

Chances are we can't "afford" to take a break because if we stop working the whole machine implodes (or so we think).

The traditional "I'll take a week of vacation" may simply not be an option. Instead, we may have to take our break in increments, in the form of half days or full days ...

Continuing in Phase Three of a four-part Funding Series:

Phase One - Structuring a Fundraise

Phase Two - Investor Selection

Phase Three - The Pitch

• Part 1 - Anatomy of a Pitch

• Part 2 - Market Size

• Part 3 - Revenue Model

• Part 4 - Operating Model

• Part 5 - Customer Definition

• Part 6 - Customer Acquisition (←YOU ARE HERE 😀)

• Part 7 - Funding

• Part 8 - Key Pitch Assets

• Part 9 - Traction

Phase Four - Investor Outreach

Let’s dive in!

Our Customer Acquisition Slide in our pitch deck details our acquisition strategy for new customers. For many startups, defining a marketing growth strategy will be inherently linked to our customer acquisition cost for new customers and the key metrics in how we convert them.

What does a Customer Acquisition Strategy look like...

What are angel investors?

Angel investors are wealthy individuals who invest in startups, usually at the early stages. Sometimes angel investors pool their money with other angel investors, forming an investor pool.

The typical angel investor is someone whose net worth is likely in excess of $1 million or who earns over $200,000 per year. Incidentally, those look a lot like the credentials of an accredited investor.

Realize, though, that the angel investor is playing with their own money — not invested capital — so even though they may be a high net worth individual, they are still looking at money coming out of their personal bank account.

Federal angel investment tax credits

When you’re talking about federal angel investment tax credits,...