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The Art of Startup Fundraising : Pitching Investors, Negotiating the Deal, and Everything Else Entrepreneurs Need to Know
Startup money is moving online, and this guide shows you how it works. The Art of Startup Fundraising takes a fresh look at raising money for startups, with a focus on the changing face of startup finance. New regulations are making the old go-to advice less relevant, as startup money is increasingly moving online. These new waters are all but uncharted--and founders need an accessible guide. This book helps you navigate the online world of startup fundraising with easy-to-follow explanations and expert perspective on the new digital world of finance. You'll find tips and tricks on raising money and investing in startups from early stage to growth stage, and develop a clear strategy based on the new realities surrounding today's startup landscape. The finance world is in a massive state of flux. Changes are occurring at an increasing pace in all sectors, but few more intensely than the startup sphere. When the paradigm changes, your processes must change with it. This book shows you how startup funding works, with expert coaching toward the new rules on the field. Learn how the JOBS Act impacts the fundraising model Gain insight on startups from early stage to growth stage Find the money you need to get your venture going Craft your pitch and optimize the strategy Build momentum Identify the right investors Avoid the common mistakes Don't rely on the "how we did it" tales from superstar startups, as these stories are unique and applied to exceptional scenarios. The game has changed, and playing by the old rules only gets you left behind. Whether you're founding a startup or looking to invest, The Art of Startup Fundraising provides the up-to-the-minute guidance you need.
The Automatic Startup : 25 Steps to a Scalable, High-Growth Business
25 Steps to Found and Scale a High-Growth Business The Startup Checklist is the entrepreneur's essential companion. While most entrepreneurship books focus on strategy, this invaluable guide provides the concrete steps that will get your new business off to a strong start. You'll learn the ins and outs of startup execution, management, legal issues, and practical processes throughout the launch and growth phases, and how to avoid the critical missteps that threaten the foundation of your business. Instead of simply referring you to experts, this discussion shows you exactly which experts you need, what exactly you need them to do, and which tools you will use to support them--and you'll gain enough insight to ask smart questions that help you get your money's worth. If you're ready to do big things, this book has you covered from the first business card to the eventual exit. Over two thirds of startups are built on creaky foundations, and over two thirds of startup costs go directly toward cleaning up legal and practical problems caused by an incomplete or improper start. This book helps you sidestep the messy and expensive clean up process by giving you the specific actions you need to take right from the very beginning. Understand the critical intricacies of legally incorporating and running a startup Learn which experts you need, and what exactly you need from them Make more intelligent decisions independent of your advisors Avoid the challenges that threaten to derail great young companies The typical American startup costs over $30,000 and requires working with over two dozen professionals and service providers before it even opens for business--and the process is so complex that few founders do it correctly. Their startups errors often go unnoticed until the founder tries to seek outside capital, at which point they can cost thousands of dollars to fix. . . or even completely derail an investment. The Startup Checklist helps you avoid these problems and lay a strong foundation, so you can focus on building your business.
Business Plans for Dummies
Plan to succeed as an entrepreneur--we show you how Business Plans For Dummies can guide you, as a new or aspiring business owner, through the process of creating a comprehensive, accurate, and useful business plan. In fact, it is just as appropriate for an already up-and running firm that realizes it's now time for a full-bore check-up, to ensure the business is in tip-top shape to meet the challenges of the globalized, digitized, and constantly changing 21st Century. This edition of is fully updated, featuring the most recent practices in the business world. Let us walk you through each step of the planning process. You'll find everything you need in this one book, so you can finally stop googling, close all those browser tabs, and get organized and get going. Updates to this new revision include knowing how to pivot when your situation changes, recognizing the need for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, where to tap the latest funding sources, and how to plan for a digital strategy, market disruption, and environmental sustainability. You'll also learn how today's globalized marketplace influences your business--and how you can use social media to influence your customers right back. Learn the ins and out of creating a business plan that will actually work Set effective goals and objectives so your business can find success Wow investors with your knowledge of today's important business trends Map out your finances, marketing plan, and operational blueprint--then confidently get to work! Challenge the traditional framework by building a business plan that's workable in today's reality. Dummies is here to help.
Business Plans Handbook
Actual business plans compiled by, and aimed at, entrepreneurs seeking funding for small businesses. Presents sample plans taken from businesses in the manufacturing, retail and service industries which serve as examples of how to approach, structure and compose business plans.
Business Start up for Dummies Three e-Book Bundle: Starting a Business for Dummies, Business Plans for Dummies, Understanding Business Accounting for Dummies
This eBook bundle is the one stop shop to all your business start-up needs! Starting a Business For Dummies is the bestselling guide from business start-up expert Colin Barrow, covering everything budding entrepreneurs need to know to get their business up and running. Whether readers are just starting out, planning a new venture, setting up at home or extending a current business online, this book is all they need to succeed. Business Plans For Dummies maps out a realistic business plan from scratch -- so your business vision can become a reality. This fully updated guide leads you through all aspects of business planning, from clarifying objectives and finding funding, to researching customer behaviour and developing an e-presence. Understanding Business Accounting For Dummies takes you through all the key elements of UK business accounting, covering everything from evaluating profit margins and establishing budgets to controlling cash flow and writing financial reports.
The Elements of Entrepreneurship
This volume summarizes the primary components of entrepreneurship, outlines the various funding opportunities for developing ventures, and provides insight on proven business strategies.
Entrepreneur's Growth Startup Handbook : 7 Secrets to Venture Funding and Successful Growth
An accessible guide to handling the unforeseeable consequences of becoming an entrepreneur in today and tomorrow's economy The spirit of an entrepreneur is often characterized as one of unbridled passion and a sense of fearlessness. But what about the consequences of choosing to become an entrepreneur? The occupational hazards associated with this endeavor range from maintaining focus, balancing work with your personal life, and finding good partners to burnout and boredom. Despite the abundance of entrepreneurial guides written, few focus on the essential aspect of dealing with the unexpected personal and professional costs of starting and financing a business. This new book will help you answer these tough questions. Engaging and informative, this book skillfully examines what usually goes wrong on the road to entrepreneurship, revealing what business owners regret and what you can do to address these issues. Along the way, it provides an overview of the personality traits and qualities that make success in entrepreneurship more likely, and also explores how the weight of wearing the entrepreneurial hat can affect you. Covers the seven principal obstacles that can arise at any level in the entrepreneurial game Filled with the valuable insights of an author who has experience as an entrepreneur and as a corporate attorney representing hundreds of entrepreneurs over his twenty-six year legal career Touches on issues associated with everything from the nerve-wrecking start-up phase to the disenchanted later stages when success does not necessarily guarantee personal or professional contentment If you're looking for a better way to manage and minimize some of the most prominent problems you'll face as an entrepreneur, look no further than this book.
Funding a New Business for Dummies
Find the money to execute your brilliant business ideas Funding a New Business For Dummies drills down to the top question on the minds of entrepreneurs--where can you find the funds to launch your new business? Connecting the dots between your vision and the capital needed to make it happen can be one of the most challenging parts of entrepreneurship. This book helps you over that hurdle, giving you the essential information and advice you need to navigate the path from idea to execution of a business plan. Discover how to evaluate all the options available, from tapping into your own savings to traditional loans to newer options like crowdfunding. You'll also dive into finding and negotiating with investors, as well as managing your capital once it's in hand. Start by visualizing business success, and then put in the work to make it happen, with the help of this no-nonsense Dummies guide. Get an intro to the world of small-business finance Assess your financing needs and take stock of your current assets Evaluate your options for loans, grands, and subsidies Learn to approach investors and pitch your business idea Anyone in the early days of launching a business will find a treasure trove of valuable information in Funding a New Business For Dummies.
Legal Forms for Starting and Running a Small Business
Create solid contracts for your business As a small business owner, you can't afford to farm paperwork and contracts out to a lawyer--you have to deal with them yourself. With Legal Forms for Starting & Running a Small Business, you can act with confidence. Here you'll find the forms you need to start and grow your business. Each document comes with thorough, plain-English, line-by-line instructions to help you: write contracts hire employees and consultants protect your trade secrets create noncompete agreements prepare corporate bylaws prepare an LLC operating agreement record minutes of meetings borrow or lend money buy a business lease commercial space buy real estate, and much more The 10th edition has been thoroughly reviewed and updated by Nolo's experts, and provides the most up-to-date legal information for small businesses.
Starting an Online Business All-In-One for Dummies
Start a successful online business'and be your own boss! Being an online entrepreneur means more than just building a website'and this book breaks down everything you need to know to be successful. Inside, you'll get plain-English explanations and easy-to-follow instruction on online business basics, legal and accounting issues, website design, Internet security, boosting sales, e-commerce, and so much more. While the ideas and concepts behind starting an online business are tried and true, the tools available to entrepreneurs change and evolve quickly'and often. Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies gets you up to speed on the best new tools, resources, and communities, and shows you how to best leverage them to up your chances of success. Discover your niche and create a business plan Design your website and storefront Increase your reach and market with social media Choose the best web host for your needs If you're a budding entrepreneur with dreams of running your own online business, this book has everything you need to get started and grow your company to extraordinary heights!
Startup CEO : A Field Guide to Scaling up Your Business
A definitive book for any CEO--first time or otherwise--of a high-growth company While big company CEOs are usually groomed for the job for years, startup CEOs aren't--and they're often young and relatively inexperienced in business in general. Author Matt Blumberg, a technology and marketing entrepreneur, knows this all too well. Back in 1999, he started a company called Return Path, which later became the driving force behind the creation of his blog, OnlyOnce--because "you're only a first time CEO once." Now, more than a decade later, he's written Startup CEO. As the fifth book in the StartUp Revolution series, this reliable resource is based on Blumberg's experience as a startup CEO and covers a number of issues he's faced over the dozen years he's been a CEO. Offers valuable insights into how the CEO sets the overall vision and strategy of the company and communicates it to all stakeholders Discusses how to build a company's human capital by recruiting, hiring, and retaining the very best talent Examines how a CEO must align available resources with the company's strategy in order to ensure success Addresses what it takes to master the "How" of being a CEO--from leading an executive team to managing in any type of market Engaging and informative, this book is essential reading for any, and every, CEO.
Startupland : How Three Guys Risked Everything to Turn an Idea into a Global Business
The real story of what it takes to risk it all and go for broke. Conventional wisdom says most startups need to be in Silicon Valley, started by young engineers around a sexy new idea, and backed by VC funding. But as Mikkel Svane reveals in Startupland, the story of founding Zendesk was anything but conventional. Founded in a Copenhagen loft by three thirty-something friends looking to break free from corporate doldrums, Zendesk Inc. is now one of the hottest enterprise software companies, still rapidly growing with customers in 150 countries. But its success was anything but predestined. With revealing stories both funny and frank, Mikkel shares how he and his friends bravely left secure jobs to start something on their own, how he almost went broke several times, how they picked up themselves and their families to travel across the world to California and the unknown, and how the three friends were miraculously still together for Zendesk's IPO and (still growing) success. Much like Zendesk's mission itself--to remove friction, barriers, and mystery in order to make customer service easier and more approachable--Startupland removes some of the myths about startups and startup founders. Mikkel's advice, hard-won through experience, often bucks conventional wisdom and entrepreneurial tropes. He shares why failure (whether fast or slow) is awful, why a seemingly boring product or idea can be the most exciting, why giving back to the community is as important as the bottom line. From how to hire right (look for people who are not offended by swearing) to which personas generate the highest response rates, Mikkel answers the most pressing questions from the perspective of someone still in the trenches and willing to share the hard truth, warts and all. While there are books by consultants who tell you how to build businesses, or by entrepreneurs now running billion-dollar businesses, there are few books from people still in the trenches who acutely remember the difficult daily decisions, the thrill (and fears) of the early days, the problems that scale with growing a business, and the reason why they all went on the adventure in the first place. Startupland is indispensable reading for all entrepreneurs who want to make their ideas the next big thing. The book will inspire and empower you to follow your own dream and create your own story.
Startup Mixology : Tech Cocktail's Guide to Building, Growing, and Celebrating Startup Success
Shake up the market with these key ingredients to a successful startup Entrepreneurship starts with an idea and a dream: a dream of a better world for others, and a life less ordinary for yourself. These days, more people than ever are full of world-changing ideas and, thanks to technology, have the means to bring them to life. But many ideas remain just ideas, and many dreams just dreams. Startup Mixology is first and foremost a book about turning your ideas into action. From the cofounder of media company Tech Cocktail, a veteran entrepreneur and investor who was named one of the most connected people in tech, this book covers the basic "ingredients" of winning entrepreneurship. No abstract theories here ? it shows you how to tackle everything from idea generation to launch to marketing to funding and how to start getting things done. Once you've taken that first step, the journey has only begun. Startup Mixology tells it like it is ? and it's not easy! You'll learn about the harsh reality of starting up: what happens when you offend your customers, get no attention, or run out of money. These are the stories you don't always hear in the media. In the end, Startup Mixology is an optimistic book. You can do this ? and you can have fun doing it, too. Every chapter also shows you how to enjoy the journey along the way - because if you don't, what's the point of it all? From cake baking to workations to llama parades, you'll learn how entrepreneurs around the world stay sane, reduce stress, and celebrate the positive. This may seem fluffy, but it's actually one of the biggest secrets of successful startups. Inside, you'll find the stories of companies like MakerBot, WordPress, Zappos, Basecamp, Uber, and more. Hear in their own words how they survived the startup phase, and learn from the straightforward and conversational Frank Gruber, who has met thousands of entrepreneurs and watched them grow their businesses. In many ways, entrepreneurship will be the most difficult undertaking of your career. But if you can find the right balance of hard work, support, and celebration, it can also be the most rewarding. Startup Mixology takes you through the whole process from start to finish, so you can begin the incomparable journey of turning your great ideas into great startups.