Investor Connect Podcast

I receive requests for introductions from many sources. Startups want to meet investors. Advisors want to meet growth companies. The list goes on.

Over the years, I’ve learned to raise the bar. I could take whatever attachment they have and make the introduction. Instead, I raise the bar by requiring the requestor to make it better. I ask for a proper email address that represents their business instead a hotmail address. I ask the requestor to write a short paragraph about the purpose of the introduction. If they don’t have a focus, then I ask them to find one before sending it.

I’m happy to make an introduction. I want it to be successful. I’m surprised by how many drop out after I ask for a short note explaining the reason for the introduction that I can use in the followup.

If you want an introduction, then provide a few sentences describing the purpose of the introduction and why you are asking for it.

If you ask for an introduction, offer something in return or pay it forward.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

 

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Raise_the_Bar.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 9:29pm CDT

I was recently talking with a startup who had a photo service.

He spent $3K to test out his business model. He found he could sign up one photographer for every dollar spent and how much revenue he could generate with each one.

As he spoke, I found myself engaging with his pitch when he had numbers. He talked about how he spent his $3K to demonstrate the cost of customer acquisition and the average lifetime use.

Later in the discussion, I found my eyes glazing over when he started talking about how “everyone loves this service.” “It works great.” and other statements that spoke generally about the product but not specifically about the business.

With investors, anecdotes tell, but numbers sell.

Use numbers when you talk about your business. Demonstrate your expertise and the results of your research with specific facts.

Show the unit economic numbers around your business model and make the case that you have a business that works.

Make sure you don’t show up with general anecdotes as you may see the investors interest wane.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

 

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Anecdotes_Tell_Numbers_Sell.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 9:50pm CDT

Every startup has one key metric to grow their business to the next level.

The one key metric for mobile app businesses is user engagement with the app.

This measures how much time or how often the user engages with the app.

The user needs to engage on a regular basis and over time increase the usage.

Some focus on total number of users but if most of those users don’t use the app more than a few times, then there’s no way to grow the business and later monetize.

Others focus on downloads but this too fails to measure activity that leads to growth and monetization.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Mobile_Apps.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:53pm CDT

Your One Key Metric: SaaS businesses

Every startup has one key metric to grow their business to the next level.

For a software as a service business it is the CAC: LTV ratio

CAC standards for Cost of Customer Acquisition and represents the cost of signing up the customer including marketing, sales, and any other related expenses.

Lifetime value and stands for the total amount of revenue from the customer. This is typically calculated by looking at the churn rate which is how many customers are dropping out each month.

The metric compares CAC to LTV.

A base ratio of 1:3 indicates a business model that is successful. In this example for every $1 spent on acquiring the customer the customer is spending $3 on the service.

For venture funded companies the ratio needs to be 1:5 or better

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Your_One_Key_Metric_for_SaaS_Businesses.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:11pm CDT

Every startup has one key metric to grow their business to the next level. 

The one key metric for network effect businesses is organic vs. paid users.

The share of organic users relative to paid users should increase over time because as the network expands, more users want to join. Users can come from those who are friends and contacts of other users.

For two-sided marketplaces, users can come from both the supply side as well as the demand side.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Your_One_Key_metric_--_Network_Effects.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 9:18pm CDT

Every startup has one key metric to grow their business to the next level. 

In applications requiring FDA certification, revenue is not the key metric, but rather FDA approval is.

For medical device companies the key metric is cycle time through the 510K application and approval process. 

The purpose of a 510k submission is to demonstrate that your medical device is at least as safe and effective as an existing medical device on the market today.

The cycle time for approval varies based on type of device and ranges anywhere from 50 to 300 days.

Your key metric compares your performance against the standard cycle time for your type of device.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_One_Key_Metric_Medical_Device_1.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 8:22pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Kerry Rupp, General Partner at True Wealth Ventures. True Wealth Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund run by women. They invest in women-led companies with products and technologies in the sustainable consumer and consumer health sectors that more efficiently solve the next generation of challenges. They believe that because women make the vast majority of consumer and healthcare purchases, having them on the management team designing, marketing, and servicing products is extremely beneficial.

In this episode, you learn more about Kerry’s background before early-stage investing. Right out of college she went into coding which was short-lived but got her into the tech space. She then spent 20 years in the early-stage-technology space working at early-stage companies. In her career, she has worked with everything from product management, biz dev, marketing, strategy, apps, and sales. She partnered up with former business associates to run one of the first accelerators in the market and fell upon investing in startups. They did not set out to create a venture fund next to an accelerator but realized they knew a lot about which startups were good and needed funding. The right model for the accelerator was to create an investment vehicle. It sprung out of the accelerator and was the right thing to do at that time.

Direct download: Kerry_Rupp_of_True_Wealth_Ventures.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:44pm CDT

Every startup has one key metric to grow their business to the next level.

For consumer product companies selling through retail, the key metric is same-store sales.

You track ongoing sales by units per store each week or month.

This metric tracks your organic growth rate of the product and can range anywhere from 1 to 10% month over month.

If selling online the CAC: LTV ratio applies which is the cost of customer acquisition compared to the lifetime value. This is the same as recurring revenue companies.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_One_Key_Metric_--_CPG_Sales.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:43pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Sasha Shtern of Zero G Capital. Sasha is a seasoned entrepreneur with deep ties to the Denver startup community, and known for investing and operating companies in manufacturing, construction services, and technology. In addition, Sasha is the co-founder of Rocky Mountain Blockchain and co-organizer of Ethereum Denver, one of the largest blockchain organizations in the region. Sasha got his start as an entrepreneur at an early age in eCommerce, and gradually build on that success investing in the community.

Sasha talks about some of the investment opportunities in the Midwest and Mountain West, and how determining valuation is key, particularly when talking about startups across different regions. He explains how the differential in valuations between the middle of the country and the coasts can create opportunities for startups and investors. Sasha emphasizes the importance of capital efficiency and using early earnings to generate initial growth. He also discusses how there are fewer barriers to starting a business, and what that means for investing. Finally, Hall and Sasha discuss how the best founders can transition from being a technician to a salesperson and be good at both.

Direct download: Sasha_Shtern_of_Zero_G_Capital.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 5:23pm CDT

Every startup has one key metric to grow their business to the next level. 

For eCommerce, the key metric is sales conversion rate. Your conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who make a purchase. 

For most sites, the conversion rate is 1 to 5 percent. You can find it manually by dividing the number of people who bought a product by the total number of visitors.
 
In many sites, there are micro-conversions going on throughout the site that lead to a purchase. For instance, a user clicking on a product on a category page is a microconversion, because it takes the customer down the path to a sale.
 
You can use these smaller conversions to better understand your overall conversion rate.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Your_One_Key_Metric_--_eCommerce.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:15pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Vickie Zisman, Owner at Bastet Communication. Vickie is a skilled corporate communications professional. She has led corporate activity in marketing, marcomm, events, as well as investor/partner/international relations. She has worked in corporate PR, digital media & social networks as well as the cross-cultural business environment in the private and non-profit sectors. Her background in marketing and communications has put her in contact with entrepreneurs and eventually led to her making introductions and connections between startups and investors.

Vickie speaks about her experiences with startups and investors and their contrasting points of view. She emphasizes that, for most investors, technology needs to be market-ready, and able to be translated into a solid business. She also highlights the importance of personal chemistry and shared vision between startup and investor, and a healthy partner relationship. Vicki also talks about the characteristics of the Israeli startup market and provides advice for investors looking into that space. Finally, Vickie explains how she achieves the best deals possible between both startups and investors, as well as what she sees as the biggest hurdles affecting today's startups.

Direct download: Vickie_Zisman_of_Bistet_Communications.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:36pm CDT

The first vision of a business may seem grand and clear.  Upon launching the business you’ll find it doesn’t exactly fit with the market so you pivot. 

It takes 3 pivots to get to the growth phase of your startup.  

The first is the Target Market pivot-- you take this when you find the right market.

You then have to change your business model to fit the economics of that new market.  I call this the business model pivot in which you find the right way to structure your business.

Next comes the Team pivot-- finding the right people to grow and run that new business model.

The originally envisioned business almost never is the one that takes you all the way to a growth stage. 

You’re three pivots away from it.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Youre_Three_Pivots_Away.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:31am CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Brian Deutsche, Founder of XV Capital Group. XVVC focuses on seed-stage investments across industries in the US.

Before XV Capital, Brian was a CPS by trade with a focus on chemical manufacturing. Brian then went on to grad school to get an MBA to transition into the world of investment banking where he was an M&A advisor in the world of consumer and retail. There was a focus on food, beverage, multi-site, retail, and direct-to-consumer. Brian helped early-stage businesses with their positioning and preparing for their fundraising. That's what led to his passion to be more deeply involved in the world of early-stage companies and now investing in them.

Direct download: Brian_Deutsch_of_XV_Capital_Group.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:55pm CDT

Before you launch your fundraise, you’ll need to build some basic documents for pitching the investor and following up their due diligence.

Start with a basic pitch deck, ten to 12 slides, that includes a non-confidential introductory version of your deal.

For first presentations to an investor, keep it simple and focused on the core. The goal is not to tell the investor everything. Instead, tell him the key value points in your deal, along with basic details such as how much you are raising, and what you are going to accomplish with the funds.

You’ll also need a terms sheet that an investor can sign to join the fundraise. You want to be able to take funding when offered. If you don’t have a lead investor yet, then start with a convertible note with a standard discount rate, interest rate, and cap rate.

For your diligence box or what some call a dataroom, you should gather your documents regarding articles of incorporation, entity filings, patent filings, income statement, balance sheet, and 3-5 year financial projections.

With these basic documents in hand, you are ready to engage investors.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_What_documents_do_you_need.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 8:48pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Josh Chapman, Managing Partner of Konvoy Ventures. Konvoy Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund that focuses exclusively on video gaming & esports.

Josh has a background in finance and has worked at both BlackRock and Morgan Stanley. He decided that he wanted to use those skills and be a life cycle company. He then decided to get into the venture space and launch his firm.


According to Josh, Konvoy is entirely focused on investing in technology startups behind video gaming and sports. He says there is also a large need for focused investment capital in the industry. Konvoy is incredibly excited about the future of video gaming. They've gone from 100 million people in 1995 that played video games to now north of 2.6 billion people that play. That breaks down between about 2.1 billion on mobile, 1.1 billion on PC and about 700 million on game consoles. The future is very bright for the industry.

Direct download: Josh_Chapman_of_Konvoy.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:42pm CDT

I’m often asked where startups should look for funding. There are many sources.

First, start with your family and friends, as they already know you and believe in you.

Second, expand the circle to include current and previous coworkers.

If accelerators are appropriate for your deal, then consider those not only in your geographical area but also in your sector. Most accelerators take companies from across the country. Many are now offering funding of $150K or more.

Third, look for a local network of angel investors.

Fourth, ask around for family office investors in your area. These are high networth individuals who have organized their startup investments into a formal process.

Finally, approach venture capital, but only if you have a deal that fits the VC funding model, which looks for a 10X return, a scalable business model, strong growth and an experienced team.

There are literally tens of thousands of investors in the startup world today. The key is to gain an introduction, make a pitch, and then follow up to close.

In summary, it’s best to start with those you know and use their funding to show support and momentum to those further out in your network.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Where_to_look_for_funding.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 9:41pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Paul Sethi of 2048 Ventures. Paul is a co-founder and Managing Partner at 2048 Ventures. For 7+ years prior to 2048 Ventures, Paul was CEO of Redbooks, leading sales data and intelligence platform for the marketing industry (acq. by List Partners - May 2018). He also co-founded Robuzz, an advanced ML/NLP practice, with a real-time alerts and data extraction engine built for enterprise.

Paul has been a first-check angel for over a decade, including in Flexport, SeatGeek, Transfix, Knotel and LearnVest. He serves as an Advisor to Transfix and OpenFortune. Early in his career, he was a public company investor focused on the tech sector.

2048 Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm. They invest in exceptional first-time entrepreneurs who are building businesses differentiated through technology. Based in NYC, and invest in founders from New York, Boston and Emerging Tech Cities.

 

Direct download: Paul_Sethi_of_2048_Ventures.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:12pm CDT

For early stage funding there are several types of investors.

Angel, VC, Family office, or customer funding.

So which type is right for your deal?

This depends on your type of business, the return and timeframe for that return.

VCs want standard business models in high growth sectors with a 10X return in seven years.

Angels want 3 to 5 times their money in 3 to 5 years and have capital preservation in mind. They often look at businesses in non high-growth sectors.

Family offices are not time sensitive and can be very patient money but do expect outsized returns for that patience. They will also look at businesses in non high-growth sectors.

Potential customers are also candidates to fund your deal by pre paying or buying customized versions of your product. While this is not an investment, the cash earned works like funding to build your business.

In launching your fundraise, consider which investor fits your business type, return, and timeframe.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: _Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_What_type_of_investor_should_you_seek.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 9:31pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Michael Mealling and Steven Jorgenson of Starbridge Venture Capital.

Michael co-founded Masten Space Systems, was CTO of Seraph Group (a seed-stage VC fund), is the CEO of the Waypaver Foundation, and the President of the Moon Society. He has helped build several startups over the years ranging from telecom consulting to social media.


Steven is a founding partner of the Space Finance Group, Quantum Space Products, Space Angels Network, and Integrated Space Analytics. Steven is also an active angel investor in numerous other aerospace startups, giving him valuable personal experience as both the Investor and the startup Entrepreneur, as well as extensive experience as a professional investment fund manager.


Starbridge Venture Capital is a venture capital fund focused on the overlap between the space technology sector and traditional technology investments. There is true innovation happening across multiple sectors of space science and technology and at a pace that is quite obviously accelerating.

Direct download: Michael_Mealling_and_Steven_Jorgenson_of_Starbridge_Venture_Capital.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 5:08pm CDT

There are two primary deal structures for your startup fundraise.

There’s the convertible note which is a debt instrument that converts to equity later. However, if you want to use a straight debt instrument you should use a promissory note.

Then there’s equity. It gives ownership rights in the company. The ownership is set by the valuation put on the company. An equity deal often comes with additional terms such as board seats, voting rights, and more.

Most startups use the convertible note to kick off their fundraise because it doesn’t set the valuation of the company which drives how much the investor gets for their investment.

You will find setting valuation is a major step in the fundraise process.

Until there is a lead investor and the valuation is set, there will be many investors who want to “just be in the deal,” but not spend time setting the valuation.

At some point in the fundraise an investor will express interest in joining but wants equity. If they are investing $100K or more, then they are a candidate to be the lead investor.

After the equity investment is made, the convertible notes convert into equity.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_-_What_Deal_Structure_Should_you_Use.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:12pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Grant Newlin of Newlin Ventures. Grant started his career as a management consultant at UI, before moving to investment banking, M&A, financial planning, and eventually working in food tech with Kraft Heinz. He ultimately started working with New Stack Ventures doing angel deals, before founding his firm, Newlin Ventures.

Grant talks about how the angel and VC investment worlds have changed in recent years, and what excites him about the food tech space, whether it is in CPG, agricultural, restaurants, or software. He explains how food tech differs from other traditional tech businesses, particularly when it comes to fixed costs and volume. Grant also talks about how funding for food tech companies often follows a different roadmap than other startups, and how getting positive gross margin in the beginning is key. He touches on how the food tech space has evolved, and what role the larger CPG giants and small startups are playing. Grant discusses his investment thesis in the food tech space, and some of the technical and regulatory challenges to expect. Finally, Grant advises would-be startups and investors in food tech to five some consideration to building in-house to ensure product control.

 

Direct download: Grant_Newlin_of_Newlin_Ventures.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 3:04pm CDT

Every day I ask entrepreneurs how much they are raising.

Most begin with the big number--the full and complete raise they anticipate to run. This ranges usually between $1m and $10M.

It’s good to have the big picture in mind.

Some actually consider raising it all at once because “they want to get the fundraising out of the way.” I remind them that raising too much money on a round will cost you equity that you don’t have to give up.

Your valuation is low at the beginning. It’s best to raise only the funding you need to reach the next milestone, and no more. As you grow the business, your valuation will go up and you’ll give away less equity.

Consider breaking your fundraise into tranches. It will save you time and make each fundraise easier.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_How_much_should_you_raise.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 6:37pm CDT

 

In this episode, Hall welcomes Reed Berglund of iSnap. Reed is a tech startup advisor and CEO of iSnap, a SAAS company with a platform that is helping businesses collect customer video stories and gauge customer satisfaction. As an advisor, Reed supports a portfolio of the company's capital, content, time and experience. The current portfolio of companies includes S4M and Hanna Essentials.

Reed was CEO and Co-Founder of Fullbottle whose company was one of the early entrants in influencer marketing across on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. A marketplace for creating and acquiring visual content from photos to videos from creators around the Globe.










Direct download: 01_Reed_Berglund_of_iSnap.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:50pm CDT

Competitive advantages increase revenue by 30% over the competition or decrease cost by 30%.

Virality is a key competitive advantage in which users invite other users to join your platform.

Virality reduces your cost of customer acquisition. It’s is different from Network Effects. Network Effects shows the platform increasing in value based on more users participating.

I once had a CEO tell me “I wish I had designed for virality rather than revenue.” If you build virality into your product, you will have a larger pool of prospects to monetize as well as a lower cost of customer acquisition.

For you next project, consider designing for virality.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Five_Competitive_Adv-Virality.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 10:52pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes Ciarán Hynes, co-founder and Managing Partner at COSIMO Ventures, a deep technology firm specializing in Blockchain. With over ten years of deep tech market experience, Ciarán leverages his extensive network of investors, advisors, government agencies and business leaders throughout the U.S. to bring strategic benefits to these organizations.

In this episode, you’ll learn Ciarán's background before COSIMO Ventures. He has founded over seven companies, was the CEO of five and had several successful exits. In the process, Ciarán met Robert Frascar, and they worked on several startups together. Finding they had instant chemistry and worked well together, they formed COSIMO five years ago. As a reflection of the founders’ entrepreneurial background, COSIMO Ventures looks at companies from an entrepreneurial perspective and brings that knowledge to their portfolio

Direct download: Ciaran_Hynes_of_COSIMO_Ventures_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:39pm CDT

A competitive advantage increases revenue by 30% over the competition or decreases cost by 30%.
Most businesses increase in value as the customer base grows and validates the product/service. Users encourage others to join the platform. This is called Network Effects.
As the number of users grow, so the value of the platform grows as well.
If a business can harness that customer base and turn it into a community that more aggressively attracts other users then it’s a competitive advantage.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.
Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Five_Competitve_Adv_-_Network_Effects.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 9:37pm CDT

In this episode, Hall welcomes James Somauroo of HS. Ventures. James is a Founding Partner at HS. Ventures, which build, scales and invests in the best health tech startups. James is a health tech contributor for Forbes and hosts the HS. Health-Tech Podcast, which is listened to in 80 countries. He’s an anesthetics and ICU doctor by training, he’s held roles in leadership, management and innovation at NHS England, Health Education England and the British Medical Journal and previously directed an accelerator that provides startups with market access to the NHS, saving £48M for the UK health service. James holds degrees in biomedical sciences and education and is a guest lecturer on health tech innovation and entrepreneurship at University College London.

Direct download: James_Somauroo_of_HS.Ventures.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 4:30pm CDT

Competitive advantages increase revenue by 30% over the competition or decrease cost by 30%.

A platform-based solution is a competitive advantage over a single-product company, as a platform brings an inherent cost advantage.  

Platforms reuse the research, design, architecture, and product packaging.

Customer support is also reused.

Consider adopting a platform-based approach to your business. 

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!


In this episode, Hall welcomes Kevin King, Managing Director of Texas Halo Fund. Texas Halo Fund (THF) is an investment company that specializes in investing in early-stage businesses with promising growth prospects and exceptional management teams. Their investment approach identifies compelling businesses from multiple sources and without regard to the industry or geographic location. They seek the best opportunities to generate the highest returns for investors with the lowest possible risk. Each fund invests in multiple companies in a variety of industries to construct a diversified portfolio.

Today, you’ll learn about Kevin’s background before Texas Halo Fund. He’s been in the startup industry for most of his career and has successfully run 10 early-stage businesses. Kevin advises would-be investors to have a definite plan of approach before writing a check, and not to just invest in something interesting without a little due diligence. Kevin suggests investors challenge themselves to build a portfolio of ten to twelve companies. For startups seeking funding, Kevin advises persistence and flexibility. As he explains, startups often must do a little of everything. For that reason, having a rigid approach (the "I have a skill set in a certain sector and that's what I'm going to do" mentality) can lead to unfortunate surprises when you're running an early-stage business.

Direct download: Kevin_King_of_Texas_Halo_Fund.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 5:10pm CDT

Competitive advantages increase revenue by 30% over the competition or decrease cost by 30%.

Recurring revenue is a key competitive advantage.

In today’s world you would think every business has recurring revenue. Yet, I find most businesses who are raising funding did not structure their business for recurring revenue.

Recurring revenue helps your business in several ways.

It opens up your business to new customers who could not afford your product previously because the one-time payment was too high. By breaking the payment into smaller steps, more customers will be able to afford it.

It provides an ongoing revenue stream so you can plan your business better as you know how much you will have coming in.

It helps you maintain engagement with the customer and gives you the opportunity to find new opportunities to serve the customer. 

Overall it should increase your revenue in the long run by at least 30%.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Five_Competitive_Advantages_--_Recurring_Revenue.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 11:12pm CDT

 

In this episode, Hall welcomes Stephen Meade of MonetaPro, a B2B sell-for-credit exchange using blockchain technology to deliver better efficiency, liquidity, and trust to global trade. Stephen is an entrepreneur, executive, and founder who has built numerous successful technology companies over the past 20 years.

 

Stephen talks about how he entered the FinTech space and the importance of blockchain technology. Stephen advices that investors in the blockchain space should consider equity or a blended offering rather than token offerings alone - in other words, consider sacrificing some liquidity for better long-term control and value. He explains how companies are moving towards using blockchain on the funding side, while also highlighting those that are using blockchain technology as part of a product or service. In addition, he discusses some of the regulatory developments in blockchain, and how the challenges for startups remain fundamentally the same - acquiring customers and raising capital. Finally, Stephen expands on the role of MonetaPro, how they fit into the FinTech space, and where they are going from there.

Direct download: Stephen_Meade_of_MonetaPro.io.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 2:23pm CDT

A competitive advantage increases revenue by 30% over the competition or decreases cost by 30%.

Channel access is a key competitive advantage. Channel access lets you connect to a set of customers that others cannot.

Perhaps your previous job gave you contacts throughout the industry that you can now leverage for your startup.

Perhaps you have found a social media channel, SEO, email, or other marketing channel that works well. It may take some experimenting to find that channel but now you have something your competition does not.

In your pitch to investors, you want to highlight this as a key differentiator. It may not be a sustainable advantage for the long haul, but it can be crucial to launching your startup.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

Direct download: Startup_Funding_Espresso_--_Five_Competitive_Advantages_--_Channel_Access.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 8:07pm CDT

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