Here are some pointers for startups raising funding

Launching a startup and growing a business is hard.  It’s supposed to be hard. 

You need a complete team to start a business – someone building it and someone selling it.  No fair, everyone on the team is building it and no one is selling it.

Being all-in on your startup is step one.  Part-timers need not apply.

Sweat equity is table stakes – not valuation metrics.

Entrepreneurs think investors want big revenue, but what they really want is predictable and repeatable revenue. In an early stage company the revenue is never large, but if it’s predictable based on recurring revenue, repeat revenue or known lead generation funnels, then you have a growth story to tell the investor.

Build and test your funnel so you know it works and can tell the growth story versus telling the ‘we’ll be big someday’ story – which nobody believes.

Funding is an enabler that accelerate what you already have going. Don’t think funding is going to solve all your problems.

Sell it first, build it second. If you can’t sell it in the first place, there’s no need to build it in the second place. Most startups over invest in their tech and then they search for someone to buy it. A better strategy is to sell it and then build out what the customer wants.

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

Let’s go startup something today!

Copyright (c) 2024, Hall Martin and investorconnect.org. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer:
Hall T Martin is the director of Investor Connect, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the education of investors for early-stage funding. All opinions expressed by Hall and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Investor Connect. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for the basis of investment decisions.