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It's a little-known secret — many Co-Founders typically quit in the first year.

We don't hear these stories because, by the time a startup becomes successful, they are long since written out of the annals of the company's history. If we're a first-time Founder, we don't realize that there's a massive delta between the commitments we make when we start a company and those that we have to maintain as the grind continues.

The problem becomes real when we realize we just gave our "forever committed partner" 50% of the company for what amounted to 5% of the long-term effort required to make it successful. If we had known Co-Founders don't last, we'd have prepared accordingly.

So why don't Co-Founders stick around?

Shotgun Weddings Don't Last

It...

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...

Yesterday I was talking to one of my good friends, a Founder, who built a wildly successful startup doing 8-figures in revenue that said "The company is doing great, but after all of our rounds of investment, I've got a tiny sliver left of this company. I feel more like an employee than a Founder now."

What many Founders don't realize, is that this happens all the time. I've gone through it myself. In our efforts to grow our startups and in some cases just trying to keep them alive, we sacrifice that juicy "Founder equity" that we disproportionately award ourselves and all-too-often plunder in the name of growth.

Do Most Founders Lose Tons of Equity?

Not "most", but certainly an awful lot, even in what looks like a successful startup. This ...

It's ridiculous to think that anyone will ever be as committed to a startup as the Founder.

And yet, we're constantly beating ourselves up trying to find just the right combination of great hires, strong incentives, and attractive growth to convert all of this raw talent into the committed, startup-building machine that we've become.

But it's 3 a.m. and we're sitting in bed staring at the ceiling completely engrossed in nothing but the future of this startup. Why isn't everyone else? Is there some sort of magic formula that would convince the rest of the staff to also be sitting in bed staring at the ceiling? (In this scenario we're assuming we'd want people to do that...)

It's time we realize, as Founders, that expecting the same level of ...

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 ...

Offices are a relic that we keep using to justify work.

Think about it like this — if offices had never existed, and a bunch of us were building a startup, do you think anyone would agree with this proposal:

"Let's find a spot that's inconvenient to get to, separates us from our lives, requires us to work in the least comfortable setting, and leaves us doing essentially the same thing we did at home."

"Oh, also, let's pay a fortune for it."

Whoever made that insane proposal would probably get booted off the management team! And yet, here we are, clinging to that relic of a working environment like it's a badge of honor.

"But We Need Them to Build Culture"

Culture is incredibly important, but let's not hard code the concept of "having cultur...

Crowdfunding has become the go-to resource for entrepreneurs looking to launch new products and businesses. It’s an incredible tool to gather support and test ideas on a smaller scale, before moving ahead full-force on a business. That said, it also requires entrepreneurs to put in plenty of work in order to be successful.

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding rewards crowdfunding projects that are failing to make good on their promises – delivering rewards late, if at all, and unable to detail their plan to supply the products pre-ordered by backers. Some would say that it is crowdfunding’s biggest problem to solve, and has led to heated discussion over who is to blame when a backer is left high and dry without the rewards the...

The SBA helps small businesses that may not be eligible for traditional bank loans by guaranteeing large portions of the loan on the entrepreneur’s behalf.

These loans are generally available through your local bank who relies on the SBA to back the loan in order to make it easier for them to take the risk of lending a new business without a significant amount of collateral.

Who’s eligible for a SBA loan?

Although the loans are backed by the SBA, they still require some basic underwriting by the bank to make sure the borrower can manage the loan similar to a standard bank loan.

What about poor credit?

The SBA may be underwriting the loan, but they still want to make sure it can be paid back. Standard credit risk factors (such as your score)...

The startup ecosystem – especially the one found online like places here at Startups.co – is full of helpful material. Unfortunately, other internet sources can be full of myths. Let’s untangle some of the common startup myths you’ll hear, so that you can get started on rolling out a successful venture.

Ready to get started? Good.

Myth 1: All You Need Is an Idea

One of the most dangerous myths about start-ups is the idea that a “great idea” is enough to pull in a significant amount of money that will help your startup get started. In our competitive global landscape, investors aren’t interested in just ideas so much as they’re interested in a significant return on investment. How do you get past the idea?

Put in the Work: Investments are t...

There’s an old adage that says “Entrepreneurs do what other people won’t in order to do what other people can’t.”

The suggestion there is spot on – that the entrepreneurs who get to live the life people dream about did so because they were willing to make the sacrifices it took to make that life happen.

So the question really is: can you afford not to be an entrepreneur?

If the answer is “yes,” your life will probably be just fine doing whatever it is that you enjoy doing. But if you really want a taste for what it means to control your own world and reap the benefits of taking risks, starting off on your own is really the only option.

A Paycheck versus a Payout

Most people equate starting and growing a business to the financial rewards of ...