When it comes to starting a business, it’s important for us online entrepreneurs to know what our end goal is. Is the end goal to get a big exit, like getting acquired or going public? Or is it creating a
Pay Like A Banker
It’s easy to disparage bankers and big banks. They have corrupt relationships with their rating agencies, they routinely take positions against their own clients, and at commercial banks, their business model has transformed from giving loans to charging fees. Banks
Virtual Tech Teams Gain Respect
Until very recently Angel investors and VCs were extremely bearish on companies with international tech teams, and teams that didn’t work in the same room. That view is changing. The view is changing because it has to. Hiring a local
What Investors Want
Here’s a great question I received from a reader of this blog yesterday. I’ve taken out the name of his company, but his problem is one commonly experienced among entrepreneurs looking for angel and VC investment. His product helps businesses
Defend Your Vision
I’m considering raising funds to grow the ClearGears team, so along with my first U.S. employee, Steven, we’ve started meeting with angel and venture capital investors. The process is awesome: we get to meet experienced, connected, and passionate people who
Who Gets What?
Figuring out who gets how much equity among partners in a new startup is a real challenge. How do we assign equity if some founders are investing cash, while others are just putting in sweat equity, and others still might
Sharing Equity
As an entrepreneur, understanding the basics about how to divide up equity among parterns and investors is vitally important. Salman Khan at the Khan Academy provides this wonderfully clear video on the impact of outside investment on your shares. Giving
The Costly .Com
Websites Are Cheap. Online Businesses Are Expensive. My full-time job as VP of business development at Crowd Interactive gives me some insight into the costs associated with online businesses. Every day someone asks me: how much does it cost to