How To Show Investors Your Startup Is Worth Their Money....

Image Credit: Nina Helmer / Flicker

I am a big fan of the entrepreneur.  But what can you do to advance your idea?  Scott Issen, CEO and Co-Founder of the Future Founders Foundation shares great ideas for the new business.

As a startup, you have to bring a fresh perspective to get your business noticed. However, it will take more than a good idea to convince a potential investor to write you a check.

After more than a dozen years of pitches that number in the thousands, here are the recurring themes that define a great investor pitch strategy.

Build a relationship with investors before you need investment.

The best funding relationships are ones that grow organically. Get to know potential investors before you need capital. Do your homework on them. Investors have different preferences in terms of business stage, industry and risk threshold. They also may have experience or passions in certain areas and only want to invest in those. Get them invested in your mission and vision first, and then show your progress over time. Establishing a relationship early-on minimizes your need to act out of desperation. You have more power to negotiate terms. Investors should offer more than money, they should become partners and open their networks to you.

Sales validate your business model and make you more credible.

The best form of capital is sales. Sales validate your claim that people want what you are selling. Having a notable client that is paying for your product -- even as a pilot or in beta -- will help attract other customers. It informs investors that market demand exists. Projections are important because investors want to see the upside potential, but projections are just that -- an indicator of what could be. Having hard sales data that shows increasing demand is key.

Explain who your audience is and how you will reach them.

Marketing matters. If you cannot describe who will buy your product and how you plan to reach people, then you have not done sufficient research. Even more problematic? No one needs what you are trying to sell or you have not identified realistic ways to market to potential customers.

Know your numbers and return on investment.

Investors want to know that you have a clear business model and understand the finances of your businesses. Creating a financial structure is crucial but being able to articulate it is even more important. Investors need to know how your business will make money, in what time frame and what the return on their money is before giving you funds.

Provide details about the potential investment. 

Most startups are cash-strapped and could benefit from additional funds. Investors want to know exactly how their funds will be used -- whether for hiring, marketing, product development, technology or something else. They will evaluate whether those expenses will lead to exponential sales growth and if the right time for their investment is now. The more you can clarify the use of funds and urgency of the investment, the more successful you will be.

Show that you are invested in your business.

Investors like to see that you have invested cash, not just time, in your business. That shows you have something to lose if things do not go well. Investors want to see that you are fully committed to your business. While it may make personal and financial sense to keep your day job and work on your business part time, investors want to see that you are dedicating all the time necessary to make your business a success.

Anticipate challenging feedback.

No matter how well thought out an investor pitch is, gaps or unanswered questions will exist. Investors will raise potential issues to test your knowledge and see how you deal with difficult situations. The most successful pitches are the ones in which the entrepreneur has anticipated questions and has answers for them. Even better is if you have already faced those problems and have overcome them. That shows commitment to an idea that will not be easily abandoned during a difficult time. Also know who your competition is and how your business is different from theirs. You also will be questioned on who your team is, how long you have partnered and what level of success have you achieved together.

Crafting a compelling pitch is hopefully the catalyst for a successful partnership with an investor who can elevate your business. The pitch is just the beginning. Make the time and effort to nourish the relationship as the investment cycle can take time.

False Dreams and Small Expectations

False Dreams and Small Expectations

A great post by Seth Godin

Ask a hundred students at Harvard Business School if they expect to be up for a good job when they graduate, and all of them will say "yes."

Ask a bright ten-year old girl if she expects to have a chance at a career as a mathematician, and the odds are she's already been brainwashed into saying "no."

Expectations aren't guarantees, but expectations give us the chance to act as if, to trade now for later, to invest in hard work and productive dreaming on our way to making an impact.

Expectations work for two reasons. First, they give us the enthusiasm and confidence to do hard work. Second, like a placebo, they subtly change our attitude, and give us the resilience to make it through the rough spots. "Eventually" gives us the energy to persist.

When our culture (our media, our power structures, our society) says, "people who look like you shouldn't expect to have a life like that," we're stealing. Stealing from people capable of achieving more, and stealing from our community as well. How can our society (that's us) say, "we don't expect you to graduate, we don't expect you to lead, we don't expect you to be trusted to make a difference?"

When people are pushed to exchange their passion and their effort for the false solace of giving up and lowering their expectations, we all lose. And (almost as bad, in the other direction) when they substitute the reality of expectations for the quixotic quest of impossibly large, unrealistic dreams, we lose as well. Disneyesque dreams are a form of hiding, because Prince Charming isn't coming any time soon.

Expectations are not guarantees. Positive thinking doesn't guarantee results, all it offers is something better than negative thinking.

Expectations that don't match what's possible are merely false dreams. And expectations that are too small are a waste. We need teachers and leaders and peers who will help us dig in deeper and discover what's possible, so we can push to make it likely.

Expectations aren't wishes, they're part of a straightforward equation: This work plus that effort plus these bridges lead to a likelihood of that outcome. It's a clear-eyed awareness of what's possible combined with a community that shares your vision.

It's easy to manipulate the language of expectations and turn it into a bootstrapping, you're-on-your-own sort of abandonment. But expectation is contagious. Expectation comes from our culture. And most of all, expectation depends on support—persistent, generous support to create a place where leaping can occur.

There are limits all around us, stereotypes, unlevel playing fields, systemic challenges where there should be support instead. A quiet but intensely corrosive impact these injustices create is in the minds of the disenfranchised, in their perception of what is possible.

The mirror we hold up to the person next to us is one of the most important pictures she will ever see.

If we can help just one person refuse to accept false limits, we've made a contribution. If we can give people the education, the tools and the access they need to reach their goals, we've made a difference. And if we can help erase the systemic stories, traditions and policies that push entire groups of people to insist on less, we've changed the world. 

The Squeaky Wheel DOESN'T Get The Grease....

The Squeaky Wheel Doesn't Get The Grease.....

I love Isaiah Hankel's article in Entrepreneur magazine as he states, your problems are proportional to the amount of time you spend complaining about your problems:  The less you complain, the fewer problems you will have. This is because complaining about your problems keeps your attention on your problems. And attention generates force.   

Complaining also negatively affects your brain functioning and overall health. A study in the journal Developmental Psychology reported by the American Psychological Association found that people who vent to one other about their problems for long periods of time are more likely to develop depression and anxiety.  Other studies reported by Stanford University News have shown that exposure to complaints lasting 30 minutes or more peels away neurons in your hippocampus, the part of your brain responsible for problem-solving.

Complaining lowers self-esteem.

The squeaky wheel doesn't get the grease. The squeaky wheel breaks down and gets replaced. 

If you want to attract failure, talk about your problems. If you want to attract success, talk about what makes you happy. A study published in the journal Psychological Science and reported in Science Daily examined how people responded to positive versus negative social media-status updates. The researchers ranked random survey subjects as having high or low self-esteem and collected a set of 10 status updates from each person. The researchers then asked strangers to read the updates and rate how much they liked the person who wrote each set.

An example of a positive status update was, “[I am] looking forward to a great day tomorrow.” An example of a negative update was, “[I am] upset b/c my phone got stolen.”

The study found that people with high self-esteem were more likely to post positive status updates than those with low self-esteem. The study also found that strangers liked people who posted positive status updates more than people posting negative ones.

People with low self-esteem complain, which makes them less desirable to others and lowers their self-esteem further. It's a vicious cycle. The way to stay out of this cycle is to actively build up your self-esteem by practicing habits that prevents complaining. 

5 STEPS That Will Change Your Financial Condition

We all need money.  

At times we seem not to have enough.   

While the U.S. Treasury prints billions to be shuffled through our economy.  Governments and corporations move assets like game pieces.  Malls and stores capture billions of consumer dollars.  Money is readily available.  But why does it seem to escape many of us?

Mental tension is created when what you believe is in conflict with what you do.  The mind attempts to fill these mental potholes with rationalizations.  Negative habits can corrupt your ability to think clearly in the future.  We need to eliminate as much conflict tension as possible.

Use this understanding to begin changing your habits before they generate negative thinking.  A finanical choice is like a fork in the road.  Your decisions determines which road you will follow.  If you find yourself on the wrong road, initiate these five steps to re-route your travel plans.

Step 1: Determine your current position:  When you take a trip you identify your starting point.  Use a cash flow analysis, and an asset/liability assesment to determine current location.   Cash flow tracks the money movement in and out.  The asset/liability will give you a picture of past financial decisions.  It will also help identify potential assets that can be used to create wealth.

Step 2:  Determine your destination:  You never leave for a trip without knowing where you are going.  Determining where you are going, create success that leads to other successes.

Step 3:  Start shaping:  This is a technique where you set a series of short-term milestones that will get you closer.  Small accomplishments will give you momentum for reaching larger wealth dreams.

Step 4:  Customize your wealth plan:  Before making investments, evaluate what is in your hand, what is in your ability, and what is in your house.  

There is a story in the Bible of a woman who came to the Elisha the prophet.  She told him, my husband has died; I am burdened with debt; I have a poor FICO score and my financial condition is about to destroy my family.  Elisha, asked, "what's in your house."  She said nothing but a little oil.  He gave her a strategy that caused what she did not value to create value.  She paid off all her debts and she and her family lived off the rest.  

On The Millionaire Journey I use these biblical principles to discover an individual's wealth potential that will unlock a cycle of wealth creation that is specific to their personal financial DNA.

Step 5:  Celebrate your progress:  Reward yourself as you improve your financial standing.  

Just as the excessive wear and tear on your tires will hinder your journey, so will the misalignment of money.  Take these steps and re-route your plans to arrrive at your new desired destination.

5 People That Can Help You As An Entrepreneur

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245948

Happy Mother's Day

How to Transform Your Life in 6 Minutes a Day

How to Transform Your Life in 6 Minutes a Day!! 

Oh, you’re busy? Weird, I thought it was just me. 

No matter where you are in life at this moment, there is at least one thing that you and I have in common: We want to improve our lives and ourselves. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with us, but as human beings we’re born with a desire to continuously grow and improve. I believe it’s within all of us. Yet most people wake up each day and life pretty much stays the same.

Hal Elord, the author of Miracle Morning writes about transforming your life in 6 minutes.  I got great results implementing these actions but dedicating 5 minutes to each action had a greater impact on my day.  If you are pushed for time, start with just 6 minutes.

If success and fulfillment were measured on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s safe to say that everyone would want to live every aspect of their lives at a Level 10.

Here’s the catch: To create the Level 10 life that you ultimately want, you must first dedicate time each day to becoming a Level 10 person who is capable of creating and sustaining that level of success.

Enter the life SAVERS, a sequence that combines the six most effective personal development practices known to man. While someone could invest hours on these practices, it only takes one minute for each -- or six minutes total -- to see extraordinary results.

Just imagine if the first six minutes of every morning began like this:

Minute 1: S is for silence.

Instead of hitting the snooze button, and then rushing through your day feeling stressed and overwhelmed, invest your first minute in sitting in purposeful silence. Sit quietly, calm and peaceful and breathe deeply. Maybe you meditate. Center yourself and create an optimum state of mind that will lead you effectively through the rest of your day.

Maybe you say a prayer of gratitude and appreciate the moment. As you sit in silence, you quiet your mind, relax your body and allow your stress to melt away. You develop a deeper sense of clarity, purpose, and direction.

Minute 2: A is for Affirmations.

Pull out and read your page of affirmations -- written statements that remind you of your unlimited potential, your most important goals and the actions you must take today to achieve them. Reading over reminders of how capable you really are motivates you. Looking over which actions you must take, re-energizes you to focus on doing what’s necessary today to takeyour life to the next level.

Minute 3. V is for visualization.

Close your eyes and visualize what it will look like and feel like when you reach your goals. Seeing your ideal vision increases your belief that it’s possible and your desire to make it a reality.

Minute 4. E is for exercise.

Stand up and move your body for 60 seconds, long enough to increase the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. You could easily do a minute of jumping jacks, push-ups, or sit-ups. The point is that you raise your heart rate, generate energy and increase your ability to be alert and focused. 

Gwen and I have found a great 60 minute cardio workout that we can do together.  It's amazing the stress release and energy it creates that makes for a creative and productive day.

Minute 5. R is for reading.

Learn a new idea, something you can incorporate into your day, which will improve your results at work or in your relationships. Discover something new that you can use to think better, feel better and live better.

Minute 6. S is for scribing.

Pull out your journal and take one minute to write down something you’re grateful for, something you’re proud of and the top one to three results that you’re committed to creating that day. In doing so, you create the clarity and motivation that you need to take action.

Start today.

How would you feel if that’s how you used the first six minutes of each day? How would the quality of your day -- and your life -- improve? We can all agree that investing a minimum of six minutes into becoming the person that we need to be to create the lives we truly want is not only reasonable. It’s an absolute mus