You need to get in at the start of an opportunity to really appeal to investors
A lot of startup founders talk at length about the size of the market, how much of the market they’re going to get and what the opportunity is. But actually, when you look at an opportunity, what’s more important is to get in at the beginning. Take digitisation and decentralisation of music. Record and CD […]
Is your startup thinking big? If not, investors aren’t interested…
It’s fascinating to see how different founders approach the idea of growing a business. Too often, they have no concept of thinking big and yet, this is one of the first things investors look for. Investors need a multiple return on an investment to make their portfolio profitable, to justify investing in an illiquid asset […]
Scaling your startup: How to recruit the best team to achieve your ambitions
Taking your startup from founders-only to employing staff is a big shift in gear. It comes with a new set of financial responsibilities and you’ll have to start considering HR practices and what kind of company culture to develop. It’s a daunting task, but also one that’s incredibly liberating. Get the right people in place […]
How to build a thriving company culture as your team grows
You’ve made the leap and employed your first few employees. It’s an exciting time when you start to expand your team, but when it comes to company culture there’s more to consider than whether you’ve hired the right person. Creating a successful company culture should go beyond hiring like-minded people and finishing early on a […]
Lessons on leadership from finnCap founder Sam Smith
Sam Smith led finnCap as the youngest and only female chief executive of a City broker and it’s now one of the leading independent brokers in the City. As a judge at this year’s The Pitch Final, Sam tells us how she developed an entrepreneurial attitude and what she’s looking for in a pitch. I […]
The five steps to building scalable sales and marketing systems
Sales and marketing are the engine of startup growth. In order to grow and achieve your potential, you need to put the systems and processes in place that can scale with you. This article includes five steps that will help you implement the right sales and marketing systems to engage with prospective customers. We’ve included […]
The secret to building startup systems that can drive growth
Creating effective systems is essential to building a startup that can scale. That means getting financial reporting in place, being productive and communicating clearly. Learning relentlessly is part of entrepreneurs’ DNA. Building a business is about embedding what you learn into scalable systems. This article explains the three types of systems you need to scale […]
Raising seed? Your MRR and ARR forecasts are a waste of time
It’s common for angel investors to ask for three or five-year projections. That’s ridiculous for most early-stage startups – how can you develop forecasts without any data to extrapolate? The majority of pre-revenue decks that we see make this mistake. They include a hockey stick graph where they’re making millions in year three, but what’s […]
Investors aren’t interested in founders with Productitis – think problem not solution
Founders that focus on features don’t get traction. We affectionately call this “Productitis” and it’s the easiest way to throw away your development budget. The problem is, after years of thinking about an idea, the product’s already built in a founder’s head and there’s no limit on feature creep. They are obsessed with a specific […]
How to test and validate your startup idea
Testing and validating your idea is a critical step of building a business. You need to conduct research to gauge whether there is demand for your product and how customers will use it. It’s best to go through this process at an early stage, so you don’t sink too much time and money into an […]
