What Kickstarter Means to You — Maybe

By Tim Berry

I’ve had several visits to Kickstarter.com in the last week. First because some friends of mine are looking to launch a project there. Second, because I’m getting so interested in crowdfunding. Third, because of the Three Years of Kickstarter Projects infographic on NYTimes.com. At kickstarter, I saw the Pebble project that’s raised more than $8... Read More »

Is There a Tech Bubble? We’ll Know If It Pops

By Tim Berry

Earlier today I posted disruption vs. revenue and the tech bubble on the gust.com blog. I’m suggesting in that post that some special-case web-based startups have to choose between disruption or revenue, because they can’t have both. That may or may not be true, but I’ve been guilty of suggesting it is to a couple... Read More »

Blaming Angels and VCs for Choosing is Like Blaming Up for Down

By Tim Berry

I was happily reading Sramana Mitra’s The Other 99% of Entrepreneurs on Read/Write Web, agreeing with every detail, when I ran into a snag. It’s in italics in this quote from Sramana’s post. Over 99% of entrepreneurs who seek funding get rejected. Yet, the entire world is focused on the 1% that is “fundable.” The media,... Read More »

Is Your Startup Positioned in The Funding Gap?

By Tim Berry

Nice post by Bill Payne called The Funding Gap on the Gust.com Blog. Here’s the summary: It is clear from this table that Friends and Family, Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists provide 95% of the capital for new ventures. Friends and Family typically invest a few thousand to perhaps $10,000, and only a small number of... Read More »

You Can Take Your IRR and Shove It

By Tim Berry

In pitches and presentations everywhere, bright young entrepreneur tells cynical skeptical investors, usually with great pride and flourish, about their fabulous IRR for their great new startup. I get a gag reflex. IRR stands for internal rate of return. You can check wikipedia or investopedia for what that’s supposed to mean and how it’s calculated.... Read More »

Long-Term Successes Don’t Leave Out Investors

By Tim Berry

For an investor in a startup, return on investment is as simple as writing a check now and depositing some related money later.  And since startups are risky, you’d expect to hit big when you win because you’re so much more likely to lose. Does that make sense? So when the angel investor writes a... Read More »

Mark Suster: Be a Line, Not a Dot

By Tim Berry

This morning I added Mark Suster’s Both Sides of the Table to my blogroll here because his post Invest in Lines, not Dots reminded me that I’ve been meaning to include his blog for a long time. His idea here is something everybody should understand. His single line chart here,combined with his title, makes the... Read More »

How Much Money Do I Need for My Startup?

By Tim Berry

It’s an obvious question. And if you’re looking for startup investors you’d better be able to answer it well, and quickly too. No wandering eyes. No doubt. If you’re doing a pitch, have a slide for it. And be specific. I liked this from Ben Yoskovitz’s Instigator Blog on Use of Funds: …most descriptions of... Read More »