Is there really a way of failure-proofing something as a startup?

Corporates today are not worried about what the other corporates are doing. They are instead worried about what startups are building in garages and hence, after trying to do everything to keep up with their pace, are now funding them.

In the highly interactive session, Stressed on what startups should focus on and where they are going wrong.

Customer co-creation

“Instead of focusing solely on the product, startups should think about doing other fundamental things right from the idea stage. This can be summarised in six points, namely co-creation, pricing relevance, ease of use, market acceptance, identifying customer needs, and tech-friendliness.”

Startups know what they are building and desperately want to sell it but what they need to know before anything else is why they made it. Believing in why you did what you did is pivotal.

Products have rationales and customers have emotions; tap that! If you think rationally in business, you will have a hundred people doing the same thing, but if you capitalise on emotion, you will be different.

If you are building a startup, there are certain questions which you need to ask yourself. They include:

* What need are you addressing?
* Are you satisfying a REAL need?
* Is your product impacting the lives of your customers?
* What is your competition doing?



Investor Co-creation

Most startups toil for years together, build a product, and then begin hunting for investors. This is a flawed method.

“You know how important an investor is to your startup. So, why wait for him? Involve investors from the idea stage so they know what you are doing from the start. People like to do business with who they are familiar with. Also, interacting with investors from the start gives you a lot of additional insight on what’s happening in the ecosystem and lets you understand what exactly they are looking for.

Traction: This is not about how much you have made but how much you are likely to make.

Mentor creation: People who can bridge the gap between customers and investors with their experience.

Their own passion is important, but obsession is not. Understand, if it has to be a commercial enterprise, it has to solve the problem of customers.

But what after a successful launch and a few great years of operations? How does a startup continually do well?

It’s not about getting it right at once. As long as people keep evolving, you cannot stop working. Every day is a new day.

While we are all aiming at achieving success and avoiding failure, They are both results that are not under our control. However, what we can control is our actions, and the more the precision with which we carry them out, the further we go in avoiding failure.

Disclaimer: - Following article come from YourStory

Business on a Budget: 5 Money Saving Tips for Every Startup Entrepreneur.

The failure rate of startup businesses is not news to anyone in the world of entrepreneurship. And it's equally sad to know that if you sift through the carcasses of these dead businesses, you will definitely find startups that were founded on great business ideas.

You may wonder why businesses built on brilliant ideas still fail. The answer is usually fairly simple. Having an idea for a business and having an idea about how to run a business are two entirely different things. The reason most startups fail centers around two things -- management skill and financial skill. A dearth of any of these two can kill your business.

I want to focus on the latter reason, financial skill. Let's say your capital base is robust enough to deal with all your business expenses. If you do not know how to be disciplined and frugal with spending, the amount of money you have in your business’s kitty will not do you any good.

If you are a startup entrepreneur, here are a few tips to help ensure that you maintain your capital base, and enhance your profit margins as soon as possible.

1. Postpone personnel rewards.
Starting and running a business is already a herculean task on its own. Think of how much worse things will be if you start dolling out exorbitant amounts of money on unnecessary employment benefits and expensive salaries. You can avoid depleting your capital by avoiding these practices. Set your employee salaries reasonably and augment it with performance bonuses.

If you must have employee benefits, limit them to only those that are critical to motivating employees to achieving the set goals and objectives. Beyond helping you save money by breaking even and turning profit sooner, this practice will help you develop a culture of frugal and disciplined spending in your business.

2. Keep personal and business finances separate.
You are the founder of your business. This implies that you own the business. The problem comes up when you mistake this to mean that you are the business. No  successful business can be run with such a mindset.

Always keep your personal and your business finances separate. Money made from the business is for the purpose of maintaining and growing the business. If you do not separate these two, you will soon find yourself dipping your hands into the business’ coffers for reasons that are only of personal benefit.

It helps to have you on the payroll of the business like every other employee. This ensures that you are making money from your business while also preventing you from depleting business funds.

3. Spend cheap with coupons.
Don't ever buy stuff because you can afford to. Having enough money to make a purchase does not mean that you should make it. Develop the habit of looking around while shopping -- especially online -- to ensure that you get the best possible deal.

One way to spend cheaply is by using coupons. You will be amazed how much you can save. I have always used coupons whenever available for important business purchases. When I purchased the first set of PCs for my ecommerce startup, I was able to save a good amount of money by using the coupon codes I got through Promocode watch. The fact is, coupon codes have remained one of the main reasons some businesses have been able to start up and stay afloat.

4. Skip the real estate.
You do not need a corner office to run a successful business. Many businesses that are successful today started in awkward locations. Just ask the founders of Google.



Do not spend money on real estate that will not directly benefit the business. You can turn part of your house or any other free space you have into an office. From there, you can run your business with your small band of employees.

Let the business grow and expand organically so that when the time to spend on real estate comes, you will know about it and better still, you will be able to afford it without putting a financial strain on your business.

In essence, drop off whatever won’t be missed if they are taken out. You can start cheap, and scale up later. I started my first six figure ecommerce business on free WordPress themes. I scaled up from there.

5. Purchase key person insurance.
In every business, you will find that there are certain people who are invaluable to its success. One way to protect your business is to purchase key person insurance on such a person. As a business owner, you certainly belong in that category.

Key person insurance is a fancy way to describe life insurance on you, co-founder or key employee on whom the continued successful operation of your business depends. The business is the beneficiary under this policy. This insurance coverage is important because it ensures that if anything should happen to the key person, rendering him/her incapable of working, the business will have other options available to them besides filing for bankruptcy.

The business will be able to use the insurance payoff to cover operating costs and pay off debts until they can find a replacement for the key person.

The ability to adequately align your business with strict budget discipline is critical to its survival. Since finance is the life-wire of most businesses, every startup entrepreneur should focus on how to efficiently manage his/her business budget.

Disclaimer: - Following article come from Entrepreneur

Octopus To Raise £70m For Start-Up Venture Investments.

Conventional wisdom is that investors’ appetite for risky smaller businesses is diminished during periods of economic uncertainty and market volatility – they’re supposed to prefer safer bets. Well, tell that to Octopus Investments, the specialist smaller companies fund manager. It’s just announced a £70m fund-raising for its Titan Venture Capital Trust (VCT), with the rider that there is also an option to raise a further £50m should there be sufficient demand.

Venture capital trusts, for the uninitiated, are collective investment funds that attract a special tax status from the UK government – the idea is to cushion the risk of investing in very small businesses with a generous array of tax breaks. So investors get 30 per cent upfront tax relief on their money as long as they hold their VCT shares for five years, are entitled to tax-free dividends, and don’t have to pay any capital gains tax on profits.

Despite these perks, however, VCTs are risky – all the more so since the Government was forced to change the rules of the scheme last year in order to avoid falling foul of the European Union’s State Aid rules. At least 70 per cent of the fund must be invested in companies that are no more than seven years old, have no more than 250 employees, and have assets worth no more than £12m.

In other words, these are businesses at the riskiest end of the market – many are effectively start-up ventures.

Dreaam Big! And Make It Happen With Success

So why does Octopus think it can raise such significant sums for Titan at a time when investors are so nervous? Well, a combination of factors are in its favour. The tax breaks certainly help, particularly since the Government has recently reduced the tax incentives on offer to wealthier pension savers, who are therefore looking for other efficient ways to invest. But it’s also important to stress the attractiveness of the underlying asset class, particularly given that investors get access to it via a diversified portfolio that is professionally managed.
The reality is that in a market place where growth capital is in relatively short supply, VCTs have some great opportunities to choose from. Even talented entrepreneurs with impressive track records don’t have too many options when it comes to raising equity finance – VCT managers are well placed to pick and choose.

In fact, Titan has a good record of doing so. The portfolio consists of around 50 companies at any given time and boasts a number of success stories. This year alone, for example, Titan has sold its investment in SwiftKey to Microsoft and Twitter has bought its holding in Magic Pony Technology.

This is not to suggest that the fund is a sure thing, or that there won’t be portfolio setbacks. The nature of investing in start-up ventures means there almost certainly will be failures. Despite the risks, however, Octopus is confident investors will support its fund-raising, even in this post-Brexit era of anxiety.

As for entrepreneurs themselves, this fund-raising is good news. It suggests the market for equity capital in start-up companies remains open for business – and raises hopes that the best ventures will be able to secure the finance they need to scale up.

Disclaimer: - Following article come from FORBES

Dubai Government Seeks Blockchain Projects for Startup Fund

A technology initiative backed by the Dubai government has launched a $275m startup investment fund (1bn AED) organizers say will likely back blockchain projects.

Announced last week, the Dubai Future Foundation officially opened the Dubai Future Accelerators initiative, a 12-week startup program based in the United Arab Emirates that will seek to encourage innovation in "strategically important" sectors.

A partnership with global investment firm Dubai Holding, the effort is centered around promoting the development of business ideas around six "challenges" in areas like transportation, law, education and public utilities.

The program is now accepting applications from companies seeking to prove a product-market fit for their ideas. Approved applicants, in turn, will spend three months developing pilot projects that are then eligible for additional funding.

Organizers said initial applications include efforts centered on smart meters, smart cities and business process improvements using blockchain.

The move is the latest that finds the Dubai Future Foundation promoting blockchain development. The agency has been among the more active government agencies globally to begin examining blockchain technology, most notably through the Global Blockchain Council (GBC) overseen by its Museum of the Future project.

Earlier this summer, the GBC unveiled seven pilot projects built by prominent area businesses and startups.

Disclaimer: - Following article come from CoinDesk

Steve Cohen, Now A Venture Capitalist, Invests In Trading Start-up.

A venture capital fund seeded by Steve Cohen and his employees at Point72 Asset Management is putting up to $250 million into a new fund managed by the start-up Quantopian.

The start-up is a trading platform that uses crowdsourcing to create new algorithms for investing capital.

The deal, which involves a $2 million investment in the start-up, as well as a promise to trade up to a $250 million of Cohen's Point 72's company assets using its algorithms, is the first major public deal struck by Point72 Ventures.

Point72 Ventures is the private-company investing arm launched by Cohen and members of his team in May.

The company — which is separate from Cohen's personal venture capital company, Cohen Private Ventures — focuses on finding new technologies that cater to the financial-services industry.

"There's a tremendous amount of information in the world right now, and if you're a portfolio manager sitting there every day, trying to process all that, that is a huge challenge," said Matthew Granade, Point 72's head of market intelligence and one of the architects of the Quantopian investment.

"So we're really interested in people that are helping you crunch down the information, synthesize it better, help make you more efficient in absorbing it."

Granade, who is also a board member at Quantopian, told CNBC on Tuesday that Point72 traders would begin using the start-up's trading algorithms in the coming months, as soon as both firms could get the technological "piping set up."

Quantopian already has a roster of prominent early investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Partners, and Spark Capital. Founded about five years ago, it has attracted more than 85,000 members, a developer base that includes nuclear-lab researchers, data-company workers, and even some precocious teenagers.

The designers of algorithms who use its platform, referred to by Quantopian as "authors," receive royalties from the use of their models if they're successful at generating returns. But the fact that a money manager the likes of Cohen is putting money into the platform is regarded by Quantopian officials as a key new vote of support.

"Even just the beginning of the conversation was incredibly validating to us," Quantopian John Fawcett said in an interview Tuesday, "that we were on to something and focusing on a problem in the industry."

The problem, as he described it? "Finding talent."

Disclaimer: - Following article come from CNBC

Success Is Not A Matter Of Luck — It’s An Algorithm

How does someone like Jack Dorsey go from a 14-year-old computer science nerd to serial entrepreneur, the co-founder and CEO of Twitter and Square? How does 3M consistently innovate, developing simple but iconic products like post-it notes? It's not a matter of luck. It's an algorithm.

So what exactly is ENGAGE?

ENGAGE is a six-step process for discovering what drives you and using it to succeed in your career. Many people's careers stall because they see strategic, high-level thinking, like knowing what their purpose is or what values drive them, as a "soft skill." They don't prioritize it. But that kind of thinking is exactly what enables entrepreneurs to launch successful startups, executives to get promoted and politicians to be elected. You can progress in your career without following this model, sure. But you'll eventually plateau.

If you want to be not just good, but the best, ENGAGE is for you.

E: Explore your meaning
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't — you're right. — Henry Ford

What's the first step explore your meaning? Identify your top three core values, then define steps you can do each week to embody that value. You value creativity? Set 15 minutes aside to doodle. You love adventure? Visit one new place every week.

N: Narrow your goals
Life is short, fragile and does not wait for anyone. There will NEVER be a perfect time to pursue your goals.

What's the first step to narrow your goals? Even more important than identifying your smart goals and writing them down is knowing the things that you will NOT do. Learn to say no. One key to achieving your goals is being selective with your time so that the bulk of your energy goes to what counts.

G: Generate a plan
A goal without a plan is just a wish. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

What's the first step to generate a plan? Business executives spend 90 percent of their time in meetings and answering emails. Set aside time to center your efforts on the people who matter. Find the one person who can help you accomplish a goal and create a plan on how to reach out to them.

A: Anticipate roadblocks
Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth. — Mike Tyson

How do you start anticipating roadblocks? Break down your goals into steps. Want a promotion? Then you need to 1) complete an important project and 2) bring in new clients. Go over what can go wrong in the process: missed deadlines, only finding one new client, etc. Now remember that even if that happens, it's not the end of the world.

G: Gain persistence
If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done. — Thomas Jefferson 

How do you gain persistence? When you feel like giving up, switch things up instead. Do something totally out of your wheelhouse — it doesn't even have to align with your goal. Are you struggling to get recognized at work? Learn how to cook a new recipe, change the route you take on your commute, try a new sport, or simply spend your lunch break with someone you haven't met before.

E: Elevate yourself
To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. — Eleanor Roosevelt 

How do you start elevating yourself? Start by acknowledging one person who helped you get where you are or who positively shaped your life. Showing respect inspires others and builds influence.


E.N.G.A.G.E. will help you design experiences that promote "successful thinking". However, the formula doesn't work unless you do. Your potential is there waiting to be discovered!

Disclaimer: - Following article come from CNBC

Soon You Won't Have To Be Rich To Back A Startup.

New crowdfunding rules taking effect Monday will let anyone—not just the wealthy— invest in startups. But don't bet on the "99 percent" finding the next Uber overnight. 

The change overrides a longstanding Securities and Exchange Commission requirement that investors backing private companies be "accredited," meaning they make at least $200,000 a year and have a net worth of $1 million or more (excluding their home).

Now startups raising money through online crowdfunding portals will be able to sell shares to people regardless of their wealth or income so long as the founders have submitted annual financial reports to the SEC. In exchange, companies can raise up to $1 million. 

The rules, implemented as part of Title III of the JOBS Act, were four years in the making and the result of industry lobbying to make the process more democratic. The big question is how much the change will transform crowdfunding, which has typically rewarded backers with T-shirts, events tickets and early iterations of gadgets.

While some startups are keen to sell shares to small investors, others are hanging back because they find the rules too onerous and the fundraising limit too low. Meanwhile, Kickstarter, the biggest and best-known crowdfunding site, has no plans to join the party.

It's early days but non-tech entrepreneurs who have trouble attracting venture capital are considered the most likely to take advantage of the option. People like Tom Lix, who's keen to raise $1 million on the Wefunder portal so he can expand his Cleveland liquor startup.

"I would love for my customers to be my shareholders," says Lix, whose Cleveland Whiskey LLC says it can age whiskey in 24 hours.  "I couldn't ask for better fans."

The Successful Person Makes A Habit Of Doing.

Richard Swart, a founding board member of the Crowdfunding Professional Association, says the new fundraising rules could especially appeal to companies outside venture-capital rich California and New York. He says entrepreneurs in theater, food production and energy have expressed the most interest so far, along with minority-led businesses.

"We're hoping crowdfunding can start to equalize the distribution of funding," says Swart, who also serves as chief strategy officer at NextGen Crowdfunding LLC,  a year-old startup that provides information about funding portals, individual companies and crowdfunding regulations.
Still, he and others acknowledge that new funding option could have limited appeal. Jim Fulton, an attorney at Cooley LLP who specializes in corporate and securities law for emerging companies, says many companies, especially in tech, consider the $1 million limit too low and the costs to register and submit annual results too high. He says fewer than a dozen clients have asked about the option. Another potential turnoff: a requirement that companies communicate with investors as individuals rather than as a group.

"If you're not going to raise $5 million," Fulton says, "I don't know why you'd subject yourself to this burden."

The costs vary depending on a company's complexity and how much it wants to raise. Cleveland Whiskey expects to pay between $40,000 and $50,000 to raise $1 million while Anikona Farm, which operates a coffee plantation in Hawaii, expects to pay between $1,000 and $20,000 to raise roughly $100,000, according to owners at each company.

As of Thursday, five crowdfunding portals had been approved: Wefunder Portal LLC, SI Portal LLC. dba Seedinvest.com, CFS LLC. dba CrowdFundingSTAR.com, NextSeed US LLC. and StartEngine Capital LLC. Three dozen more are awaiting approval.

A spokesman for Kickstarter said the company has no intention of adding equity investing to its platform. But rival crowdfunding portal Indiegogo does.

"It was the original goal of the founders when we launched in 2008 and it still is," says Indiegogo Chief Executive David Mandelbrot, adding the company is working out details with attorneys now and expects to launch something later this year. "Limiting venture financing to accredited investors and treating people differently according to their wealth feels very undemocratic. It's sad it's taken this long to change that, but at least these are steps in the right direction."

Disclaimer: Following article come from Bloomberg

FASHION IN KUWAIT

Over the past many years, fashion in Kuwait had noticed a great variety in wardrobe. The lifestyles of many young Kuwaitis are changing due to Western influences. Nowadays we could see most Kuwaiti men and women wear traditional costumes whose style has changed little over the past centuries.

The fashion in Kuwaiti women is splendid than we ought to believe. Their sense of fashion had been radiant from their traditional attire and also from the western couture. Thy do sometimes stuns us in their fashion outlook apart from the principles they follow.

Talking about the traditional attire, most of them wears a long-sleeved, loose, floor length dress or called Abaya over their clothing underneath.  On religious or festive occasions, they wore it with a sheer, embroidered or sequined dress called a Thobe.  However, for daily outings, they prefer abaya as it is a silky head -to- toe black cloak. A multitude of styles and colors of headscarves, called hejab, are worn by many Muslim women in Kuwait.

Women FAshion

Some Kuwaiti women embrace a fuller face covering called the burqa, which is a short black veil that leaves the eyes and forehead exposed, or a bushiya, which is a semi-transparent veil that covers the entire face.  The same is not followed by all, however who are so fiercely proud of their right to be protected from the gaze of men.

The country's customs, laws and regulations remain closely to Islamic practices and beliefs. Kuwaiti’s attire is based on the Islamic belief of simplicity and modesty. Common sense and caution are being applied in their dressing and conduct.

Kuwaiti women prefer to wear what they like among family and female friends, however they make sure that they dress more modestly in public by maintaining a graceful and elegant look. They choose from the demure styles, the latest designs are worn, regardless of the climate or convenience. According to them, they believe what is said by Prophet Muhammad, that modesty brings nothing but to speech and behavior as well.

A startup accelerator for social good.

On a normal day I work with a variety of startups, especially in the fintech, enterprise technology and health tech spaces.

It is an amazing and exhilarating experience. But recently I had the pleasure to work as a mentor with Venturetec, mentoring a group of inspiring UNSW students from the Australian Graduate School of Management who are striving to win the Hult Prize.

The Hult Prize is a start-up accelerator with a major difference. It’s a startup accelerator for social good and it’s the world’s largest student competition.

From the 25,000 global applications received from 500 colleges and more than 150 countries this year, 300 will compete in five cities around the world for a chance to win one of six places to pitch in the finals to secure US$1 million in startup funding.

This is all about social entrepreneurship; bringing together college and university students from around the world to identify and launch disruptive and catalytic social ventures that aim to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

It’s a joint initiative by Hult University and the Clinton Global Institute. Bill Clinton set this year’s challenge to double the income of 10 million people living in crowded urban spaces and will be on stage to present the award.

The judging panel includes some heavy hitters, such as past Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammed Yunus.

Speak Up, Believe in Yourselves, Take Risks.

Introducing Bobbin

Bobbin (formerly solarweavers), comprising Ben Pask, Shalendra Ranasinghe, Lisa Shannon and Dimitry Tran, are the AGSM (UNSW) Hult Prize Finalists that are on their way to London for the Regional Finals in March.

The objective of Bobbin is to connect women in urban slums to a source of sustainable income. There is technology involved in their social enterprise, but this is not your usual high tech.It includes a solar panel (low power), sewing machines (low tech) and a cell phone for connectivity.

Their solution includes micro-financing but they are also exploring micro peer-to-peer lending.

Bobbin’s customers will be able to sew clothes from raw materials sourced locally, with sales into existing marketplaces and a new online solution.

I asked Trey Zagante, Venturetec CEO, to comment on why he was working with Bobbin, which is a departure from his normal enterprisetech focus:

 "We chose to sponsor the Hult Prize @ UNSW to support social entrepreneurs who are driven to make a positive social impact that could potentially change the lives of tens millions people,” he said.

“The Bobbin team have really embraced the lean startup approach of Venturetec’s incubation program, and they’ll be going into the regional finals having rigorously tested and validated their business model”

A new online marketplace

This is about setting up a new marketplace in a country where online is not that commonplace.The product to be sold will be items of clothes. The phone’s camera will be used to snap the item, which will then be placed onto a new online marketplace.

Bobbin has partnered with technology provider Arcadier to develop their marketplace. At first I was surprised that Arcadier, which operates in advanced next-generation marketplaces, would be able to service outside of their comfort zone, but they are clearly comfortable in the social enterprise space, which can require less sophisticated technology.

Clearly there is a major assumption around when a tipping point that will see a move from 2G phones and increasing availability of smartphones. In developing world countries we are starting to see rapid adoption of cheap Android-based handsets.

Bobbin’s other partner is Barefoot Power, which deploys solar panels and has a great existing penetration of markets in countries like Kenya.They are also in talks with the Kenyan Federation of Women Entrepreneurs.

A startup empowering women

There is an underlying belief that education is the answer to breaking the poverty cycle.

The stated goal of Bobbin is to double the income of people living in crowded urban spaces. Bobbin is focused on helping women who are on home care duties with few prospects of working outside of the home to generate an income.

“Empowering women may be the single most poverty reducing factor in developing economies which can lead to significant macroeconomic gains.It is shown that women are also more likely than men to invest more of their income into their children’s education,” says Lisa Shannon.

The model is deliberately simple to ensure that it will work. They create a small craft industry for eight women to work in a sewing circle, with a leader to use phone to manage logistics and sell in the marketplace.

The provision of solar power to use the sewing machines also brings light and power for houses that would otherwise not have them. So the impact of this is remarkable.

The secret sauce

It’s not technology; in actual fact, Bobbin’s secret sauce is ‘care’.

The secret sauce is Bobbin’s connection with community to enable the skills that already exist within these communities.It is also anticipated that when community pride is harnessed the default on microfinance loans will be minimal.

With care and connection, these small steps to create new work will start to change the world one solar panel and sewing machine at a time.

Disclaimer: Following article come from CW

Managing Your Startup In 2016: New Rules For A New Environment.

It’s a new environment for startups in 2016. Financing will get harder. Valuation inflation will dissipate. Profitability will be in vogue again. And old-fashioned business fundamentals will balance out the disruption frenzy of the past five years.

Given the new investment climate, what’s an entrepreneur to do? To answer that, let’s first examine the factors behind Silicon Valley’s climate change.

First, public market valuations for relatively young technology companies have been declining of late — especially for those that remain unprofitable. For example, we’ve seen valuation multiples for unprofitable SaaS companies drop by more than 60 percent from 2014 to today (see below). Valuation multiples for profitable SaaS companies, by contrast, have dropped by less than 30 percent.

Second, recent IPOs (Atlassian aside) have generated less than stellar returns for late-stage investors. Square, Box and Etsy are good examples of this trend, where early stage investors were rewarded with strong multiples on their long-term investments, while late-stage investors suffered mixed results. TechCrunch has referred to recent tech IPOs as the new down round.

Third, we’ve seen Fidelity and others publicly mark down their valuations of private company investments, from Dropbox and Snapchat to Zenefits and Dataminr.

In short, public and private investors aren’t simply discussing bubbles and valuation concerns like they were in early 2015 — they’re taking action.

Given that new world order, here’s my advice for early stage and late-stage entrepreneurs to navigate the shifting sands:

Old Ways Won't Open New Doors.

Accelerate profitability: Build a financial plan that gets the company to profitability on 50 percent as much capital as you may have wanted to raise six months ago. If you were planning to raise $100 million previously, build a plan that gets you to profitability on $50 million. If $50 million, then $25 million and so on. We’re already seeing the profitability premium kick in with public SaaS companies, as outlined above.

Prepare insiders to step up: Over the last two-three years, outside investors did not expect earlier inside investors to participate at any material level in later-stage financings. Early stage investors thus benefited from other firms’ capital in later rounds. In the new environment, I anticipate new investors will expect existing investors to contribute significantly to new rounds, providing up to one-third or one-half of the new funding.

Be willing to have multiple new investors in the round: Beyond valuations, the risk tolerance of late-stage investors is changing. New investors will want to write smaller checks to mitigate their risk and exposure — and to reserve capital if the company does need a new round (because external capital is not a given). As a result, entrepreneurs should be prepared to bring together multiple investors at the $10-$15 million level as opposed to finding one lead investor willing to put in $25-$50 million.

Adjust your expectations: Recognize that a clean deal at a flat valuation should be considered a “win” in this environment. Let’s consider a company that last raised at $200 million valuation on a $10 million run rate two years ago — and has now grown to a $30 million run rate (a super healthy tripling of ARR). Absent the new climate, the company might expect to raise a new round at 10x to 12x multiple for $300-$360 million valuation. However, if you factor in that public SaaS multiples have been cut in half or more, a price of $150-$180 million would more fairly reflect the market. Thus, a flat round at $200 million would be a win despite the company’s fast growth.

Prepare your employees: This may be the hardest challenge, given how actively some startups pursued unicorn status to accelerate recruiting efforts. Now, despite two years of massive progress and growth, you need to tell employees that the next round may be flat — and convince them the company isn’t losing market momentum. Professional investors understand all too well that external financings will fluctuate — two years ago, the price was probably too high; today, it may reflect market reality; in the future, it may be too low. It’s important that your employees understand the cost of capital will go up and down based on market dynamics (not just company performance).

The silver lining

The climate change in late-stage private markets will cause some challenges for entrepreneurs and their teams — and result in a higher cost of capital. However, history tells us there is a silver lining for the smart startups that adapt, focus on fundamentals and extend their runway.

That silver lining is a “flight to quality” that typically occurs during periods of multiple compression and financing downturns. As a result, the financing arms race will hopefully subside — and the best startups in each category can grow more efficiently knowing it will be tougher for the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 companies to raise capital.

Disclaimer: Following article come from TC

E-Commerce Startup Hubba On Track to Raise $45 Million.

TORONTO—Hubba Inc., an e-commerce startup, is on track to raise $45 million in new venture-capital financing as it looks to expand the use of its consumer product-information platform beyond North America to the U.K., founder and Chief Executive Ben Zifkin said.

Toronto-based Hubba’s platform offers marketing and other information on a vast array of products—everything from Unilever PLC’s Dove brand soap to Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s Budweiser beer. Clients including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and others use the site to ensure the product information they provide to their customers is complete and accurate. Hubba’s technology also distributes companies’ product information to Amazon.com Inc. and other online shopping sites.

“We are a little bit like LinkedIn for products,” Mr. Zifkin said, in reference to the professional-networking site.

Toronto-based Hubba launched its platform about 18 months ago and has since lined up more than 10,000 companies, mostly U.S.-based, to list their products on its site. The system features close to a million different products, Mr. Zifkin said. Hubba is targeting the U.K. as its next major market, betting it will benefit from the growth in e-commerce activity in that country, which is home to many global brands and retailers. The latest financing will help that effort, Mr. Zifkin said.

Hubba’s fundraising also offers an early sign that the strong growth in venture capital investment in Canada-based startups last year could continue in 2016. That sign comes amid an uncertain outlook for early-stage companies in North America, where some startups have fallen short of expected valuations when they went public or were sold to a strategic buyer.

Department-store operator Hudson’s Bay Co. agreed earlier this month to buy New York-based Gilt Groupe Inc. for $250 million, below the Internet retailer’s private valuation of $1.1 billion in 2011. And in November, BlackBerry Ltd. acquired Good Technology Corp. for $425 million, less than half of Good’s $1 billion valuation in 2013, based on funding Good had raised privately.

Hubba expects its $45 million deal to close by the end of March, Mr. Zifkin said. That would follow year-over-year gains in both the total value and number of deals in Canada for the first nine months of last year, according to the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. The financing would also rank as the fourth-largest venture-capital financing among publicly disclosed investments over that period, according the industry group. The association hasn’t yet published full-year data for 2015.

Mr. Zifkin said consumers’ growing use of smartphones and other digital devices both to buy products online and to access information about brands is driving interest in Hubba. In 2013, consumers used digital information to help them buy an estimated $1.1 trillion worth of goods while visiting a U.S. retailer, and that trend is growing, according to Deloitte Consulting LLP.

The executive declined to comment on Hubba’s valuation based on the latest financing or to identify investors in Hubba, except to say the group includes venture-capital firms from Silicon Valley, New York and the U.K, as well as some of Hubba’s existing investors. The latter include Canada’s Canso Investment Counsel, Brightspark Ventures, Real Ventures and Kensington Capital Partners.

Disclaimer:- Following article come from TWSJ.

Startup PR Mistakes To Avoid In 2016

January is a time for New Year’s resolutions and so drawing on my experiences of a year spent networking, hearing pitches at events like the HoxTech Angels, Hipster Hackers & Hustlers speed-pitching (everyone should try this event!) and many others, as well as helping companies spread their gospel, I want to air my feelings about what startup companies doing PR for the first time should urgently try to avoid doing. Plus a few things I believe they should be doing.

London’s tech scene is booming with nearly $10 billion of venture capital investment being pumped into the city since 2010, and it’s all thanks to the efforts of entrepreneurs, who make the startup scene so special. So stay bold, make time, keep strong, and read on.

Make sure to get your timings right!

Every new business should have a clear set of internal milestones; and a clear idea of when they will be achieved. First 1,000 users, first paying customer, date of app release, first hire. But because they are internal, these timelines are not set in stone – it may take more or less time than you envisaged, and that is ok – no harm done.

Any timelines that a business communicates externally however – to investors or customers for example – must be achieved before or on deadline. Imagine the brouhaha if Tim Cook announced the launch date of a new iPhone – and then subsequently announced he was moving the date back one month. Questions would be asked, speculation would be rife – what are they playing at – stock value would plunge, and competitors would jump at the opportunity to stick the knife in.

The same goes for a startup launching a new app or product – in fact failure to stick to a public deadline will be received even worse because a startup doesn’t have a track record of success to fall back on. It’s absolutely crucial that your first interaction with the outside world goes smoothly. The world is waiting to see if you as a business can do what you say you will do – trapped in your own world scrapping with a back end teething problem you may not notice the attention you are getting– you may not feel the growing anticipation. It might be clear to you the reasons why you need to delay – so you can release a better, less buggy version of your product – but your audience will not see it like that.

And there’s really no excuses – after all you get to set the deadline – so make it achievable, factor in delays, talk to as many of your staff as you can. Give yourself the leeway you need. You set the expectations – so make them realistic.

Disclaimer :- Following article come from Forbes

8 Startups Disrupting Multiple Industries From The World's Largest Startup Accelerator.

Startup Insider is a series of articles with the goal of helping aspiring founders and entrepreneurs understand the ins and outs of starting a startup. You can sign up to stay up-to date with this series here.

Startup Insider got to visit Mass-Challenge, which is said to be the world's largest startup accelerator. Each year, Mass-Challenge takes in 128 startups and provides them with resources that allow them to take their startup to the next level. During our visit, we sat down with 8 different startups from this year's batch. These startups were tackling problems in various industries from healthcare and education to art and media to agriculture and food.

MIT PhD Students turned 3D Entrepreneurs 

Matthew Hirsch, Tom Baran and Daniel Leithinger were all Ph.D. students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before they ended up meeting at a bar and discussing their research projects. Then they asked the big question, 'what if we combined all our research projects?'

This is where their startup Lumii was born. Lumii has created the first commercial light field glasses-free 3D display engine. They hope to take 3D displays mainstream by replacing optics with software intelligence.

From Startup Weekend Latin America to Mass-Challenge

The next founders I got to interview were Saul Gonzalez and Luz Ynfante who came all the way from Latin America to join Mass-Challenge with their startup Quiro, which uses video game technology and design to deliver realistic and interactive medical training worldwide.

Saul and his first co-founder Robert Valerio had met through the Startup Weekend program, which they ended up winning. Luz then joined the team as well to provide more support in the medical part of the company. This gave them enough momentum to join Wayra, which is one of the top accelerators in Latin America. After finishing that program, they decided to chase the American dream and apply to Mass-challenge.

Saul emphasized the importance of the mentors they have gained access to by joining Mass-challenge. He shared, "Success is one thing in Latin America and success here is completely different. Mass-Challenge has opened so many doors for us here."

Using Stories of Hope to Help Empower Artists 

Liz Powers had been working with homeless and disabled artists in Boston, running art groups in local women shelters. After noticing how art works in these types of programs were you usually thrown away, she decided that she wanted to help tell the story of these people---this led to the birth of ArtLifting.

Starting out with just four artists, ArtLifting quickly got a lot of traction and press with the artworks of these four artists being sold for thousands of dollars. ArtLifting continues to help artists in these shelter and disability programs showcase their work through their website and exhibitions. Artists receive 55% of each sale.

Powers shared, "The reason why we're able to get so much press is because of our artists' stories. It's just such powerful stories of hope." She gave the example of one of the artists named Frank who was formerly a homeless veteran but was able to overcome these challenges and find himself in art through Artlifting.

Nobody Is Expert At Everything, Ask Questions.

Bringing Data Analytics to the Farming Industry in the US

When you think about the farming industry, you don't really think about disruption and technology, but the rise of big data and Danilo Leao's background in agriculture and business was enough to lead to the start of Bov Control, a data collection and analysis tool that improves performance on meat, milk and genetics production.

Bov Control hopes to utilize data analytics to increase food production and help farmers improve their operations. Bov Control uses technologies like cloud computing and RFIDs to track different factors and data points which are then translated into information that allows these farmers to make better decisions.

While Bov Control initially started out in Brazil, Hannah Raudsepp joined the team this year to help bring Bov Control to the US, which is the second largest commercial herd in the world.

Increasing Access to Oral Healthcare

Hitesh Tolani was goin0g through dental school in Harvard when a lot of his undergrad friends would ask him if they could read their X-rays. He even had friends from Botswana who started asking him for his help. As he started digging deeper into why he had so many friends asking for his help, he realized that first, the increased access to the Internet allowed his friends to send these X-rays to him. But more importantly, telehealth wasn't really being used yet in the dentistry industry.

Hitesh wanted to lead the revolution especially because of the fact that oral healthcare is a growing problem that people don't really care about. He shared, "Oral health care is actually tied to a lot of systemic problems and it's a 250B problem. It's like a silent epidemic."

This revelation led Hitesh to decide to start Virtudent with the help of the Harvard Innovation Lab. Virtudent helps increase access to oral health care through telehealth technologies and pop-up dental clinics

Creating a Support System and Network for Teachers

David Meyers had been in the education sector for the longest time as a teacher, principal, professor and thought leader when he decided to make a slight shift and become a founder and CEO of a startup. The only catch? It's still in the education space.

After seeing the challenges a lot of young teachers face, David decided to create TeachersConnect, which is an online support network that gives new teachers a platform for them to ask urgent questions and get answers from a network of fellow teachers and mentors.

He shared, "A lot of teachers would describe their first year teaching as absolutely overwhelming. A lot of times they also feel isolated and lonely so we want to help them have a support network." TeachersConnect also works with teacher preparation programs, providing these programs with a platform that allows them to continue helping teachers and monitoring their progress.

A B2B Marketplace for Food Waste

MIT has become a startup hub especially for graduate and post-graduate students working on interesting research problems. This was the same case for Ricky Ashenfelter who was finishing his MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management where he was concentrating on the cleantech and food industry.

Ricky would team up with fellow MIT MBA graduate student Emily Malina in starting Spoiler Alert, an app that helps businesses manage surplus food and organic waste.

Ricky shared how being at MIT with a full course load actually helped him build out Spoiler Alert. He shared, "I was able to tailor my coursework to something I was passionate about. I knew quite a bit about the food industry but I've learned so much more about how food is distributed and so when I had the opportunity to make a difference and dig deeper, I decided to take the leap and see what would happen."

Financial Education for the 21st Century 

Rebecca Liebman was a senior at Northeastern University when she decided that she wanted to help other people overcome their fear of finance the way she did with the help of her brother who had worked in finance before he decided to join Rebecca in starting LearnLux, a startup that makes online learning tools to teach personal finance skills.

Rebecca's brother and co-founder Michael Liebman was a bank teller at the age of 15 and is still currently attending Bentley University where he majors in Finance. Rebecca and Michael would always have these conversations about finance and they would eventually start a blog talking about finance, entrepreneurship and other things young people don't usually learn in school--this would be the genesis for the idea behind LearnLux.

Rebecca shared, "The challenge is we're creating the product that we wish we had and unlike anything ever created. We're creating educational pedagogy that people want to use because there are so many deterrents so we have to give you a reason to."

Disclaimer:- Following article come from Huffingtonpost