
Author: Joshua


What Numbers Are “Normal” In Fundraising
How long is a piece of string? Tough question to answer. That’s roughly similar for this question as well, but we can still weigh in and provide some guidance.
Why Dilution Isn’t The Most Important Thing
Let’s get real – the one thing you want is success for your business. If you’re concerned about levels and end results of success, that’s a great problem to have. Success, especially if you’re reading this, probably requires fundraising. Throughout fundraising, you’re going to get diluted. Most likely, diluted below 50%. You’re going to report…
Bay Area Money versus… the Rest
It’s a bit of a David and Goliath story. There is a massive divide in how much money can be raised, and at what stage it can be raised, in the San Francisco Bay Area (Silicon Valley) versus pretty much everywhere else. You may expect it to be similar in other major economic centers the…
Hiring Founders and Employees
So you need help. Early on, you probably need Founders (“Co-founders” or “Cofounders”) for little to no pay. Most often, startups are looking for a “Technical Cofounder” aka a CTO. It’s pretty rare for the inverse to happen: a Technical Founder having a hard time finding a Business-focused Cofounder (skill set judgments aside). Let’s be…
Business Entity Selection
There are many business structures and business entity types and states for said entities to reside. Permutations of all of them create a daunting paradox of choice. Let me make it easy for you If you want to raise money: you’re going to want a Delaware-based C-Corp. It’s often the only choice, and it’s pretty…
Fast Followers and Moats
These are catch phrases we hear often, both talking about the concern of competition. A moat is basically protection, something that protects your business from having others enter it. Fast followers are those that.. well… follow you quickly, after you launch/start to gain popularity. Having something that you can consider a “moat” that stops “fast…
What Qualifies as an MVP?
MVP means minimal viable product. “Minimal” leaves room for ambiguity, admittedly – but not much. The reality is, making the product work isn’t what investors care about – they care that the working product has a market. Ergo, pragmatically, an MVP should be the lowest possible viable product that can test and prove the product…
Crucial Pitch Deck Content
A quick overview of pitch deck content – meta in that the post is brief: how your pitch deck should look.