Life-Changing Advice for Startup Founders:
Here's a crucial yet often underrated principle that applies not only to startups but to life in general: Always provide real value when seeking help or support from others.
Whether you're reaching out to your community, investors, friends, or anyone else, offering something valuable beforehand is key. Clearly articulate what they stand to gain by assisting you, supporting you, or collaborating with you. Be specific about the benefits they'll receive.
By following this approach, you'll open doors that might have otherwise remained closed. Providing real value creates a positive impression, builds trust, and establishes strong relationships. It's a powerful way to attract support and assistance.
Remember, it's not about merely asking for help but also showing the genuine value you can bring to the table. This mindset shift can be a game-changer for your startup and your personal growth.
Embrace the power of giving, and you'll find that doors will open, opportunities will arise, and regrets will be replaced with rewarding collaborations and fruitful outcomes.
So, use this invaluable advice to fuel your startup journey and make a difference in your life and the lives of those you engage with.
@unicornholding
Here's a crucial yet often underrated principle that applies not only to startups but to life in general: Always provide real value when seeking help or support from others.
Whether you're reaching out to your community, investors, friends, or anyone else, offering something valuable beforehand is key. Clearly articulate what they stand to gain by assisting you, supporting you, or collaborating with you. Be specific about the benefits they'll receive.
By following this approach, you'll open doors that might have otherwise remained closed. Providing real value creates a positive impression, builds trust, and establishes strong relationships. It's a powerful way to attract support and assistance.
Remember, it's not about merely asking for help but also showing the genuine value you can bring to the table. This mindset shift can be a game-changer for your startup and your personal growth.
Embrace the power of giving, and you'll find that doors will open, opportunities will arise, and regrets will be replaced with rewarding collaborations and fruitful outcomes.
So, use this invaluable advice to fuel your startup journey and make a difference in your life and the lives of those you engage with.
@unicornholding
Investor personas
Different investors are motivated by different things, invest at different stages, and can be the right choice for different startups. One of the most important steps in fundraising process is to figure out what investor personas will be the best fit for your company.
*Top-tier investor** — is well know, invested in famous companies, has strong inbound dealflow from their personal network. Sees 1000-5000 companies per year, invests primarily in (1) super strong traction, (2) repeat founders with great past success, (3) people they have strong personal connection with like former colleagues.
New angel — looking to build a reputation and learn about investing. Looks for companies where they can provide hands-on help based on their previous skills and work experience. Hard to find on places like Angel.co. Ask other founders — what fresh new angels they've seen.
New pre-seed or seed fund — looking to add first few "logos" to their portfolio and impress potential LP to add new capital to their fund. Look for something that looks "trendy" or "awesome". Understand that they need to come early or accept companies with less traction to win the deal against top-tier investors. Look for "new fund" announcements on publications like TechCrunch and Venture Beat.
Casual investor — investor who looks to learn more than to make money. Has a day job like a CEO of late stage startup. Has some personal areas of interests and free capital to play with. Interested in investing in smart people exploring their market of interest. Look for active operators who casually invest. Some of them invest out of "scout funds" associated with top venture firms.
Non-venture investor — someone who traditionally been active in other forms of investments like real estate, private equity. In many cases, a family office of a wealthy person. Looking for venture deals aligned with their primary area of business.
There are many more personas, but these will give you an idea. The mistake many startups are making is only building their list around "top-tier investor" persona. For most startups it's not the most likely type of investor to invest!
#investors
@unicornholding
Different investors are motivated by different things, invest at different stages, and can be the right choice for different startups. One of the most important steps in fundraising process is to figure out what investor personas will be the best fit for your company.
*Top-tier investor** — is well know, invested in famous companies, has strong inbound dealflow from their personal network. Sees 1000-5000 companies per year, invests primarily in (1) super strong traction, (2) repeat founders with great past success, (3) people they have strong personal connection with like former colleagues.
New angel — looking to build a reputation and learn about investing. Looks for companies where they can provide hands-on help based on their previous skills and work experience. Hard to find on places like Angel.co. Ask other founders — what fresh new angels they've seen.
New pre-seed or seed fund — looking to add first few "logos" to their portfolio and impress potential LP to add new capital to their fund. Look for something that looks "trendy" or "awesome". Understand that they need to come early or accept companies with less traction to win the deal against top-tier investors. Look for "new fund" announcements on publications like TechCrunch and Venture Beat.
Casual investor — investor who looks to learn more than to make money. Has a day job like a CEO of late stage startup. Has some personal areas of interests and free capital to play with. Interested in investing in smart people exploring their market of interest. Look for active operators who casually invest. Some of them invest out of "scout funds" associated with top venture firms.
Non-venture investor — someone who traditionally been active in other forms of investments like real estate, private equity. In many cases, a family office of a wealthy person. Looking for venture deals aligned with their primary area of business.
There are many more personas, but these will give you an idea. The mistake many startups are making is only building their list around "top-tier investor" persona. For most startups it's not the most likely type of investor to invest!
#investors
@unicornholding
Hey guys, it’s time to support our heroes on Product Hunt! Please follow the link and support Degoverned on Product Hunt today!
Degoverned, is modern corporate & legal platform, is now live on ProductHunt: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/degoverned
We’re focusing on technology startups and here's what we have to offer:
🏢 Incorporation: Not just in the U.S. but also in Singapore, UAE, Estonia, and various offshore locations.
💰 Fundraising: Venture beyond the SAFE and explore issuing equity, debt, or tokens.
📄 Legal Templates: Need an urgent NDA? Store all your templates in one place and tap into our ever-expanding library of legal documents.
📚 Education: Dive into our guides and get savvy with new tech regulations, starting with crypto and web3.
More products are coming, such as trademarks, due diligences, crypto licenses and more.
Your feedback and support means a lot to us!
👉 https://www.producthunt.com/posts/degoverned
Degoverned, is modern corporate & legal platform, is now live on ProductHunt: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/degoverned
We’re focusing on technology startups and here's what we have to offer:
🏢 Incorporation: Not just in the U.S. but also in Singapore, UAE, Estonia, and various offshore locations.
💰 Fundraising: Venture beyond the SAFE and explore issuing equity, debt, or tokens.
📄 Legal Templates: Need an urgent NDA? Store all your templates in one place and tap into our ever-expanding library of legal documents.
📚 Education: Dive into our guides and get savvy with new tech regulations, starting with crypto and web3.
More products are coming, such as trademarks, due diligences, crypto licenses and more.
Your feedback and support means a lot to us!
👉 https://www.producthunt.com/posts/degoverned
10 lessons on bootstrapping a $200m business | Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell)
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@unicornholding
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YouTube
10 lessons on bootstrapping a $200m business | Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell)
Patrick Campbell is the founder and CEO of ProfitWell, which he bootstrapped and sold for over $200 million. In this special episode, we explore 10 big ideas from Patrick, including tips for hiring employees who align with your company values, creating winning…
The State of AI.pdf
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The State of AI. PDF
• 61% of public relations professionals currently use AI or are interested in using AI in their workflow. Only a small portion of them, 15%, say they have no interest.
• 38% of PR professionals already using AI in their workflow are in the C-suite, a higher percent than employees at other levels of the company.
• Crafting pitches, writing press releases and writing social copy are the top three ways that PR pros currently use AI.
• Employees at companies with fewer than 500 employees are more likely to already be using AI than those at larger companies.
• The biggest concern PR pros have about AI is that the output will be used without first scrutinizing it and therefore lower the quality of conversations in the field.
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@unicornholding
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• 61% of public relations professionals currently use AI or are interested in using AI in their workflow. Only a small portion of them, 15%, say they have no interest.
• 38% of PR professionals already using AI in their workflow are in the C-suite, a higher percent than employees at other levels of the company.
• Crafting pitches, writing press releases and writing social copy are the top three ways that PR pros currently use AI.
• Employees at companies with fewer than 500 employees are more likely to already be using AI than those at larger companies.
• The biggest concern PR pros have about AI is that the output will be used without first scrutinizing it and therefore lower the quality of conversations in the field.
-
@unicornholding
Join Unicorn Mafia community
2200+ Top Startup Accelerators, Incubators, and VCs Worldwide
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Browse 15,533+ venture capital firms, startup accelerators and incubators worldwide. Filter by city, focus area, and funding stage. Updated listings, deadlines and offers.
How long it took them to go from idea to product-market fit
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👉 12 Tips for Startup Fundraising Process
*1. Start with clear one-line description.* Test it on 20-50 people. Ask them to repeat it back to you. Would your parents understand this one-line description?
*2. Find a hot trend you can attach yourself to.* Find a new space that's currently popular with investors that is related to your work. Can you teach investors something new there? Ask other founders what trendy topics you should align with.
*3. Write a paragraph description.* It should include your one-line explainer, alignment with a popular trend, and your key achievements.
*4. Develop your investor materials.* Can be a deck or text summary. Share in chats with other founders and get some honest feedback.
*5. Start your investor list.* Look what investors backed similar companies on Angel List, Crunchbase and NfX Signal. Look for new funds announcements. Your initial list should have at least 50-100 lines. Use Google Sheets or Airtable for sharing and collaboration.
*6. Connect with other founders.* Look for startups in your field who raised venture funding before. Ask for advice, not intros. Give them more context, in writing. Don't ask for calls, ask for answer to one specific question. Find founders in your space in industry chats, e.g. "AI Founders".
*7. Develop your target investor persona.* Don't aim for world's most famous investors, unless you have an insane track record or traction. Instead, look for funds and angels who are specialists in your field, share your country of origin, are new to investing, love your mission, etc.
*8. Ask for investor leads.* Share your current investor list and target investor persona with other founders. Ask them what funds and angels can they recommend adding to your list. Your expanded list should have at least 100-200 items.
*9. Finally, ask for intros.* Go to founders you've developed relationships with, give them your paragraph description, longer materials, and the investor list, and ask for warm intros.
*10. Run high-volume process.* Ideally, try to have up to 10 meetings per day. Initial meetings can be 30min each, with extensive chat follow-ups and, when needed, longer second meetings within 3 days.
*11. Keep investors on schedule.* Combine chats and calls to make the process moving as fast as possible. After each step, ask prospective investor "what will be your process from this point to the final decision?"
*12. Back-channels with other founders.* Ask about investor's reputation and any unusual terms in the deal.
*1. Start with clear one-line description.* Test it on 20-50 people. Ask them to repeat it back to you. Would your parents understand this one-line description?
*2. Find a hot trend you can attach yourself to.* Find a new space that's currently popular with investors that is related to your work. Can you teach investors something new there? Ask other founders what trendy topics you should align with.
*3. Write a paragraph description.* It should include your one-line explainer, alignment with a popular trend, and your key achievements.
*4. Develop your investor materials.* Can be a deck or text summary. Share in chats with other founders and get some honest feedback.
*5. Start your investor list.* Look what investors backed similar companies on Angel List, Crunchbase and NfX Signal. Look for new funds announcements. Your initial list should have at least 50-100 lines. Use Google Sheets or Airtable for sharing and collaboration.
*6. Connect with other founders.* Look for startups in your field who raised venture funding before. Ask for advice, not intros. Give them more context, in writing. Don't ask for calls, ask for answer to one specific question. Find founders in your space in industry chats, e.g. "AI Founders".
*7. Develop your target investor persona.* Don't aim for world's most famous investors, unless you have an insane track record or traction. Instead, look for funds and angels who are specialists in your field, share your country of origin, are new to investing, love your mission, etc.
*8. Ask for investor leads.* Share your current investor list and target investor persona with other founders. Ask them what funds and angels can they recommend adding to your list. Your expanded list should have at least 100-200 items.
*9. Finally, ask for intros.* Go to founders you've developed relationships with, give them your paragraph description, longer materials, and the investor list, and ask for warm intros.
*10. Run high-volume process.* Ideally, try to have up to 10 meetings per day. Initial meetings can be 30min each, with extensive chat follow-ups and, when needed, longer second meetings within 3 days.
*11. Keep investors on schedule.* Combine chats and calls to make the process moving as fast as possible. After each step, ask prospective investor "what will be your process from this point to the final decision?"
*12. Back-channels with other founders.* Ask about investor's reputation and any unusual terms in the deal.