Ryerson 6th August
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This document provides advice on starting a technology company and taking investments. It discusses developing an idea, bootstrapping to build a prototype, gaining traction to grow the business, and eventually taking investments. The key steps are developing an idea, building a minimum viable product to prove the concept works, gaining customers and visibility through social media and events, and then seeking angel investments once traction is established. Investors want to see a working prototype, real customer data, and that the founders are aligned before providing funding to help scale the business.
Ryerson 6th August
- 1. Starting and running a technology company & taking investmentsBy: Alex BlomTwitter: @alexblomWeb: www.alexblom.comE-mail me: [email protected]
- 2. Agenda.Who am I?On TechnologyStarting a technology company:IdeaBootstrapTractionTaking investmentOn Social Media
- 3. Australian Citizen, living in Canada and selling to Americans (confused).Nominee for YAA Young Business Person of the Year, winner of numerous YAA marketing titles, awarded Shoalhaven Young Citizen of the Year.Regularly profiled as a digital media influencer.Who am I?
- 4. First company at 14. Door to door selling websites through offshore lab Within two years had 7 employeesAt this point have founded / sold four technology companies.Co-founded not for profits, trouble-shooted retail operations and worked as a Sales / Marketing Manager.
- 5. What I do.Digital Media ConsultingLive seminarsAngel InvestingStrategy consultantIdea no.5
- 6. And of course I blog on Digital Marketing & Technology entrepreneurship.http://www.alexblom.com
- 7. On technology.Things move fastMost barriers to entry are gone Push to remove software patentsCore technologies are freeTechniques and KPI’s are common knowledgeEverybody is savvy
- 8. The ‘consumer’ internet is only around 12 yearsold, it is not even a teenager. We are still in the pioneering days.
- 9. Getting started in technology.IdeaBootstrap to a prototypeGain tractionGrow
- 10. Idea.You will not get investment for ideas, prototypes are expectedBecause of competition you almost always need traction too.You are probably not important enough for stealth mode. Ring up potential customers and ask. Get feedback.
- 11. All you need is a rough business case. Can you make money? Who will buy you? Who are the players? USP?
- 12. Entrepreneurs ‘create’Most have many ideas and need to execute on their bestIt is a huge risk to move forward. There is no safety and no salary. If you don’t like the risk don’t take it.Idea.
- 13. Bootstrapping.
- 14. 1-2 people; sometimes 3-4All members add to core valueNot necessary for a business person yetBut they can add value (I am non technical)Culture is as important as skillStructure a team.
- 15. Rules of Bootstrapping.Just do itYour projections are meaningless (hence 1)It shouldn’t cost any more than $10,000 to prototypeOnly do things that add to your core value.
- 16. Everything will be happening all at once. Can you keep up?
- 17. Traction.
- 18. Now is when we go traditional.Fill out companyAdd real data for realistic projectionsFormalize business plan / investment proposals and shop aroundIs this idea still worth it?
- 19. Traction is hard, you are trying to get users into something ‘new’It is unlikely you have a budgetThis is why social media has become so huge
- 20. Figure out where your customers are and target them:Are they on Twitter? Facebook? Or something more obscure.Leave comments on blogs and forums.Don’t blast press releases but talk to journalists.What is your cost of acquisition? Look into PPC.Get to as many events as possible.
- 22. Bring on somebody non technical.Bring on somebody non technicalYour struggle will be staying afloat, scaling and adding new featuresEngineers, even co-founders, should not be doing anything elseLet the business guy do the business stuff
- 23. This is why a non-technical founder early on is useful. You should have already built relationships, lined up media and spoken to customers.
- 24. Angel Investing: I won’t bore you with Term SheetsBrad Feld has a solid, practical summary: http://bit.ly/feldtermsheetOn Taking InvestmentsTaking Investments.Wait for a good deal For technology companies, a minimum of $1.5m postPlease do not mention Dragon’s DenInvestments are like marriagesAre you aligned with your investors?
- 25. On Taking InvestmentsTaking Investments.Investors rarely get a proposal in the post and say ‘yes’Even if your idea is good they want to get to know you firstShop around for investment before you need it and take more than you need
- 26. Pivoting.Sometimes users end up doing ‘b’ when we were expecting ‘a’Don’t fight it, go with the flowI wrote a very simple article on Pivotinghttp://bit.ly/pivotingsmb
- 27. Technology & ecommerce start-ups are like teen sex. Nobody is entirely sure what to do, but you get the hang of it eventually.
- 28. On Social MediaSocial Media.2/3 of the Global population (and ¾ of Americans) use social technology.93% of users think you should have a presence.85% of these users think a presence is not enough. They want you to interact with them.
- 29. Social Media is not a new thing
- 30. Two high growth areasSmall business SaaSGeo-local commerce
- 31. Thanks. Do get in touch.By: Alex BlomTwitter: @alexblomWeb: www.alexblom.comE-mail me: [email protected]