Raising money is a sales process, one in which a very small percentage of customers want what you are selling. Following on “If you think it… they will fund“, if you actually want that funding, you’ll need to talk with investors. How many investors??? More than most entrepreneurs think. A conversation with a potential fledgling led to this post. He was frustrated at...
How do you measure, compare and aggregate the impact of organizations that aim to do good in the world? Measure, whether in a nonprofit project or for-profit social enterprise? Compare, using a universal measure to easily compare a rooftop of solar panels vs. an acre of re-planted forest vs. 500 vaccines vs. jobs vs. food vs. happiness? Aggregate, as in taking the sum of any or all impacts...
Why does one startup get picked over another for funding? From the entrepreneurs point of view, the answer to that question is often asked in frustration, as they are turned down by yet-another investor, or passed over by yet-another accelerator program. I feel for those entrepreneurs, as I spend most of my life on their side of the table. However, periodically I step over to the other side...
A startup died today. (A thousand other startups died today too, but just as we mourn our own family and friends more than strangers, so we mourn the startups we know more than the masses of others.) In mourning, those of us who knew this company started asking the question, “Why?” Why did this company die? On the surface, the reason is simple. The company ran out of money. No money, no payroll...
