The 12 metrics that founders need to measure to succeed.
Successfully building something unique requires knowing what yields results, what doesn’t, what to measure, how to measure it, and knowing what to change. This is true in startups and all other aspects of life.
Take, for instance, professional athletes — we all know they’ve been measuring performance since the invention of the stopwatch.
On 2 May 2016, Leicester City Football Club won the English Premier League title for the first time in their 132 year history, which was branded one of the biggest upsets in sporting history. At the start of the season, the odds of them winning was 5000–1. Anyone remotely interested in football knows that Leicester City is by no means a favourite to take out the title during any season. …
The Need For Diversity and Inclusion Doesn’t Go Away During a Pandemic
Much to the relief of many British startups, the UK government launched its £500 million Future Fund on 20 May 2020 to support venture-back companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government will co-invest £250 million in high-growth startups alongside private investors, and in particular, within technology and life sciences verticals.
The need for a scheme such as the Future Fund for early-stage startups is undeniable. As a result of the COVID-19, the flow of new investments in the market has been directed to later-stage startups as investors try to mitigate their risk. …
Everything Startup Founders Need to Know About Setting-Up a Board and Running Board Meetings
You’re a startup founder. You’ve spent days, weeks, and months building out your minimum viable product. You’ve pitched countless venture capital investors (VCs), and now secured your Series A round of funding. Should you set up a formal board of directors?
The board of directors (the ‘Board’) is by far the most integral part of a startup’s internal management structure. A startup’s strategic direction is almost entirely dependent on the decisions of the Board — this includes fundraising, acquisitions, IPOs, hiring and firing of C-suite executives, budgets, new product lines, etc.
It’s often said that startups should think about setting up a Board only once they’ve raised their first round of funding. However, the benefits of forming a Board earlier in the lifecycle of a startup, irrespective of raising funds, are undeniable. Among the many potential reasons for a startup’s failure are those which are self-inflicted. Disagreements between the founding team, overconfidence, and lack of expertise — these issues can all be avoided with a strong and supportive Board. …
A Guide for Startups in a COVID-19 World
Startups are typically familiar with venture capital investment as a source of funding. However, the concept of ‘venture debt’ is quite foreign to most founders, despite recent increases in the number of startups tapping into this source of funding.
It’s the traditional view that startups and debt don’t mix — a combination of little to zero cashflow, no tangible collateral, no credit rating, and an uncertain business model could not be further from what is required to obtain traditional bank debt. …
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