Early stage is the defining period to build winning companies. Display early aptitude. Work hard, have fun, but maintain a sensible balance so that you don’t burn out. It’s a long run.
Leave the comfort of the small pond to compete with the big fish for the first time. Be humbled, realize how much more work there is still to be done.
Work hard.
Have your angel/seed investors who are not only supportive of your goals, but will put you back on your feets after failures, and help guide you during the most trying moments of your startup.
Work hard.
Early stage is tough, improvements are narrowed, and yet, the amount of work that goes into it continues to escalate. …
The funding gap at the early stage is real, pre-seed and seed are left wide open, as you can read in Flavio Lobato’s article: “The VC unicorn obsession is creating an early stage funding wasteland” both angel and seed round activity has been on target for their lowest year since 2014.
Having VCs moving to later stage doesn’t only pose a funding problem but early-stage tech entrepreneurs are left high and dry when it comes to mentorship and true assistance as explained by John Vrionis in his article: “Venture Capital Is Losing Sight Of Its Most Important Investments: Seed-Stage Entrepreneurs.”
As John, We believe pre-seed and seed-stage investors are making an enormous difference. …
The basic of a new startup is to do something disruptive that very few people can see as viable or even feasible. You are here to disrupt the status quo, so what seems an obvious opportunity for you, won’t be for the rest of us.
That’s why fundraising at early stages is so hard. You have no metrics to backup your vision, barely a viable product and a nascent team.
So getting rejected is normal, all you need is to find someone who understands and believes in your vision, not only that but also believes your team is the one who can execute it.
Your job as founder is to get that yes, the one that will make the others follow.
One yes from a respected / credible Angel investor or VC, will make the rest of the pack raise an eyebrow, and start believing as well. …
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