Entrepreneurship Tips

  The correct answer is “They cannot”. Banks do not lend to high-risk ventures. Their interest rates cannot support the 80% failure rate the venture capitalists get in selecting companies. Any bank that did this would be out of business very quickly. Banks lend to companies that have proven cash flow to pay the interest and principal monthly or assets to back up the loan only. It is just the maths. Generally, six-quarters of positive cash-flow and financial statements is required. VCs have a similar success rate to throwing darts, or random selection, BTW, even after a $5M infusion of...

  Of course. Agree on a price (the hardest part) Write a check and both sign a transfer agreement to put in the company’s board of Director minutes Change the company cap table and ownership name Of course, this is not always easy, as usually the departing founder wants way more than the shares are worth today. The more common scenario is when the other founder leaves (early, before the company has any profits or revenue often) the company issues more shares that dilute down the old founder because they should have never vested it all and the founding agreements...

  And beat the odds that only 1 in 6,300 will reach this level of annual sales. The attached diagram shows the skills, systems and experience needed on that team. Each cell would take at least 5 years’ experience to acquire and master that skill area. So, we are looking at 100 years of experience cumulative for the company as a whole. Most people think they are “ready to scale” as soon as they have some sales. This is never true. In fact, you need at least 4 levels of stuff in 5 business areas, or your odds of success...

I'm reposting this image because it is great stuff. We "buy on emotion", more than logic, and remember by stories. Ten million years of evolution created our human ability to remember PERSONALITIES. Good versus bad.    A brand is just a company personified. And a story is a collection of personalities made memorable.But to truly be successful and grow, or scale at 50%+ CAGR, you also need strong innovation and protect ability.As The Father of Management said: "A company has two jobs. Innovation and marketing". Only those that do both well will scale to $100M+ which only 1 in 6,300...

  I find that pitch decks to investors fail to articulate how they will maintain a market lead and build barriers to entry around their business over time, as more competitors emerge. We teach 17 ways to increase SCA at The CEO Boot Camp and in our scaling consulting work. I would recommend adding two additional slides to the standard 10-12 most have in their decks. This will impress investors far more than some fancy graphics or massive TAM market claims. Slides to add: Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) - How will you evolve your barriers to entry over time. The...