Startups

#RandomCall

Garth Beyer

Zachary Lukasiewicz and I connected over LinkedIn and ended up recording our Google hangout for your pleasure. It was the first time we talked other than a few private messages to set up the hangout. Scott Herren was also with Zachary. We chatted about entrepreneurship, startup communities, how students need to take advantage of opportunities and how to stay positive. There were technical issues at the start of the talk, jump to the 4-minute mark to start.

You can watch it here. Enjoy.

 

Stay Positive & Making Connections Is Everything

Breaking Down Your Startup To Get Fully Funded

Garth Beyer

The most successful Kickstarter projects are funded for between $1,000 and $9,999. If you have determined it will cost $25,000 to get your startup going, is it worth pitching something that only adds up to 10 percent of all successfully funded projects?

Perhaps it’s better to break you startup down into pieces that can fundamentally work alone and only require between $1,000 and $9,999 of investment per piece. Not only does it make it easier for you to get community funding (low investment on their part), it also allows you to make sure every leg, arm and torso of your startup works properly.

In addition, for the public it also plots out exactly what you offer. Instead of selling it as a package (you will once all parts are funded), you get to sell each individual part of your product or service. Now the public has become a part of the process. If they’ve invested in the leg of your startup, it is in their best interest to invest in the arm too.

If you can get angels to invest in the whole of your startup, fantastic. If you find it difficult, it might be better to dismember your startup and get support for each piece. In the long run, you find out quicker (and with less personal investment) what works and what doesn’t. You just may find out you need a bionic arm, not a flaccid organic one.

 

Stay Positive & There’s Always A Way To Get Funded