As someone who is deeply involved with startup studios, here are a few hints. 1. First, calculate your optimal scale of operations. In our startup studio this was about 12-15 people core team + dedicated ceo-s for each startup experiment 2. Raise funds for the studio, for at least 12-18 months. Y...
An investor will put money into a business that they think will give them a profitable return. To convince then you will need to explain why or prove that people with use your app in large enough numbers to make it investment worthy. Who are your target users? Why will they use use your app over...
I haven't seen a deal structured this way. Usually they get 6-10% equity I exchange for some small amount of money ( ~ $25k ) and tons of mentorship. 15% for $20k seems high ( you are valuing your company at $133k ) but there might be more to it. Accelerators are great specially for unknown foun...
Hi, I currently work at Idealab and the body of knowledge and level of support for entrepreneurs is outstanding. I worked at 3 start-ups prior to joining Idealab and feel like I've learned as much in the past year here as I did at any of the start-ups. Plus the people here truly want to help an...
I've used UserTesting (and its service Peek), as well as other user behavior analysis tools like HotJar, Crazy Egg, etc. To answer your questions: 1. Do you use such services? If so, what do you choose? // I use them to either confirm or reject hypotheses I have about my product's/business' pe...
Typical pre-seed (100-500k) is 5-15% Seed (500k-2M) is up to 25% And over depends. The "potential of the next FB...." is just that, a potential. Don't fight over equity early but make sure you never give up more than 15%, don't offer board seats too early and no "right of first refusal" or "ri...
you are on the right track mate, i have been working with apps for over 4 years, and only recently been working with paid advertising - there is a lot you can do for free marketing - just google it, and keep trying and learning - this is great learning tool for understanding the entire App marke...
There are many things to consider, and nobody can advise you on everything. 1 thing I would emphasize is this: Brand names outside China are VERY different from website or company names inside China. In order to communicate effectively with a global audience, you should be careful to choose th...
The best idea is the one that A) you are passionate about B) people want C) is scalable See below for further discussion: "A" is useful because it helps ensure that you'll stick with your startup over time and through difficulties, and that you have an above average knowledge of the field to ...