February 27, 2006
Every great NBA basketball team has a ”glue guy”. The Pistons have Ben Wallace. The T’wolves have Fred “The Mayor” Hoiberg. The Showtime Lakers had Kurt Rambis. The glue guy is usually not the most talented player on the court, but he brings value to the team because he holds the team together with his hustle, passion, toughness, selfnessness, and – above all — endless energy.
A few weeks ago when I was at my favorite burrito joint, I noticed the effects of a manager who is obviously his team’s glue guy.
The guy never sat still. He was a pure hustler. In the time that it took me to place and receive my order, he had wiped up at least a football field’s worth of countertop space, greeted and thanked every customer who placed an order, helped fill every order, mopped the floor and took a couple phone calls. It was unreal.
The coolest thing about it was the effect that this manager had on his team. Every burrito in the place was folded and stuffed by hands moving faster than a Las Vegas card dealer’s; and every employee did it with a look on their face that made me believe that they LOVED doing it. These people had obviously been infected by a glue guy, and had thus become glue guys themselves.
Start-ups need glue guys. You know the type — they come into the office ridiculously happy every day, sincerely ask how everyone is doing, and spend most of their time trying to make everyone’s job easier.
Glue guys can make their impact from anywhere on the organizational chart. Our glue gal at FundingUniverse.com is a part-timer named Sophie Barth who comes in for two hours a day. She immediately infuses the office with a boost of energy that leaves everyone energized after she leaves. Nice work Sophie!
Bottom line: Entrepreneurs, go find yourself a glue guy or gal. When you’re up to your neck in debt, on the verge of making your first big sale, or trying to forget all of the times your friends/mom/husband/wife has told you to get a real job, you’ll be greatful that you have a little extra energy — thanks to your glue guy.
February 22, 2006
Most entrepreneurs look forward to writing a business plan the way a vegetarian looks forward to a Big Mac.
Let’s face it: It’s obvously not a fun-filled task, but it is obviously not an optional one.
Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs post their business plans on FundingUniverse.com with proposals like this:
“I have a fantastic new product that I just received a patent for. All I need is $2,000,000 for marketing and hiring and this thing goes through the roof! Contact me a.s.a.p!”
Proposals like this will not attract investors — no way, no how.
If you want your business plan to catch the attention of investors, here are a few things you can do before your post your plan on FundingUniverse.com:
- Learn – If you don’t know what should be in a business plan, its going to be tough to pound one out. Talk to your local SBA, university business school, or check out the FundingUniverse.com resource center. SCORE also provides a lot of great resources
- Ask for help — Never written a business plan before? Don’t worry. there are alot of people out there who have. Network with other entrepreneurs and find out what has worked with them. FundingUniverse.com has a huge collection of free sample business plans from real, successful companies. Download a few and see what other entrepreneurs have done to raise money.
- Edit, edit, edit — Once you have written your plan, have at least ten people that you respect review it for you. Get as much feedback as you can.
There is obviously much more to writing a good business plan, but these three steps are a good start.
February 15, 2006
If you are close to closing a deal with an angel investor, the book Term Sheets and Valuations is a must-read! In this book, Alex Wilmerding goes through the details of how to value your company and what to look for in a term sheet. Of course, legal counsel in recommended — but if you are interested in getting a quick overview of what to expect, this is a definite read.
February 9, 2006
We were very lucky to get an hour of Bill’s time for our pod-cast series. Bill Payne is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. During his time there, he has been very active in the development and delivery of a full-day seminar on angel investing. Over his lifetime as an angel investor, he has made over 30 early-stage investments and served on the board of dozens. In other words, he is an expert.
I met Bill about 6 months ago at one of the conferences I attended. Of course, he was the keynote speaker teaching a seminar to a room full of angel investors. He has high energy and is very friendly. Thanks, Bill!
Blog readers (aka…our LOVE group), we are always open to other suggestions of people that you would like to hear from. Let us know if you have any ideas!
February 6, 2006
Last Thursday, we hosted a very successful Speedpitching Luncheon in Salt Lake City, Utah. We had about 40 active investors in the room that included representatives from the Utah Angels, Olympus Angels, Grow Utah Ventures, vSpring Capital, Esnet Group, Cache Valley Venture Accelaration Club, Provo Labs, GH Peterson Holdings, and others.
The quality of entrepreneurs that presented was also terrific! Many investors gave great feedback after the event — one even mentioned that he was planning to follow-up with 5 out of 10. The entrepreneurs/companies that presented were:
AtTask was voted the top presenter at the event. As a result, they will be featured in the April issue of Connect Magazine.
We are excited about the opportunity to move into other markets to help other entrepreneurs and angel investors connect. We are planning our next event for Southern California on March 9.
We are excited to announce the FundingUniverse.com BLOG! In our blog, you can expect to see company announcements, new updates, exciting news, industry happenings, and tips for both entrepreneurs and angel investors.
At FundingUniverse.com, our goal is to help connect entrepreneurs and angel investors. Entrepreneurs are allowed to post their business plan to our site (FREE!) for angel investors to view, listen & learn from our podcast series, see and use sample business plans to help you write an A-grade professional plan, get tips from our FundingUniversity Resource Center, and make pitches to many investors at our Speedpitching Luncheons.
Accredited angel investors are also allowed to register to our site (for FREE) to view the hundreds of business plans that are posted on each state site. Upon interest, the investor may then contact the entrepreneur to find out more specific information regarding an investment. In addition, FundingUniverse.com provides a very useful collaboration tool for angel groups called the DealFlow Suite. This innovative software helps to organize, collect, and rate plans among the entire group.
If you ever have any questions or comments, please feel free to respond to our blog, email us, or call 877.638.3616.
