ASPECTS TO MASTER BEFORE ASKING FOR FUNDING.

The competition is getting stiff; investors are holding onto their pocketbooks as many options to invest flood the market. Investors are also sharing how they are more hesitant to invest because they are not seeing any return on money for startups that don’t have significant traction, ventures that didn’t make it, or ones hanging on by a thread.

It will take an incredible idea, a killer team, and mastering these 5 Aspects before you ask for funding and to capture attention.

#1 Clear Value Add for Customer. If there is not a clear, real value for the customer, getting them engaged and keeping them for the long run will be an uphill battle. Mastering the Value add and hitting home the Problem/Solution combo and how your App is going to make a real difference for someone, you’ll jump ahead of the pack.

#2 Does your App Simplify Life & Easy to Understand? When it comes down to it, some people want easy and simple; they don’t want anything that makes life complicated. Think of the “Easy” button and whether your App falls into that category? When things get complicated, people usually won’t use it. It’s that simple.

#3 Team Works Great Together & Open to Suggestions. Almost every investor we’ve spoken with is looking at the team as the #1 investable asset of a company, not just the idea. Remember, they view it as a business commitment, a “marriage,” and they want to know you and your team will be a good fit for them. Most of the time, investors are looking for a coachable team, who is in sync with each other, open, enjoyable to work with, and want to have dinner with on a social level. If you are not willing to be open, take suggestions, or always on defense, they can smell it a mile away. We suggest asking those you work with and close friends what you can improve on, maybe do some self-work through workshops or reading, etc. You might get one chance to impress and connect, so listen first and then talk.

#4 You have Paying Customers or Customers Willing to Pay. Money talks. If your App, business, or venture has paying customers, one of two things can happen; you may not need an investment, or you have negotiating power. When you can show evidence of money made and projections based on clients, users, and company experience, your idea is now real and a fundable option.

#5 Clear Engagement/Re-Engagement Strategy. It’s one thing to have 100 paying clients, and it’s another for the potential to have millions. You’ll want to master the skill of acquiring new customers and generating leads with a clear plan of action on how to do it. Remember that it takes a lot of effort to gain a new customer, and it is worthwhile to re-engage with customers that downloaded your App and maybe not using it or not using it regularly. If you are “on it” in both areas with an action plan, your mastery of this will only get better, which investors can see what has been done, what is being done, and what will be done. Results are Powerful.

Now it’s up to you to master these 5 Aspects or work with our 100×100 Launchpad Team, so you’re learning these five throughout the Launchpad Process. Unique to 100×100, we offer a personal Demo Day for our startups after they’ve acquired 100 Users with 3-5 investors that are interested in their industry or type of platform. We also work with our founders to have an eye-catching Pitch Deck and Coaching to go along with it. If you plan to go it alone, at least master the five aspects shared, and we wish you all the best in your funding endeavors.

Written By:
Amanda Bar,
Startup Coach & Ideation Specialist,
100×100 Launchpad

Will my App Succeed or Fail?

One of the biggest question’s entrepreneurs face is, will my idea be a success, or will it fail?

What if we told you there are a few crucial steps you can take to create greater possibilities for your idea? What if you could find a way to validate your app’s success before spending substantial amounts of money or investing in a “hope”? As you may know, hope is not a strategy.

Since 100×100 Launchpad believes in putting the odds in the court of our founders, we developed a strategy to ensure a higher chance of success and wanted to share a snapshot of it with you.

Taking our founders through a detailed process of Ideation through Design, we unfold the heartbeat behind your project, and if it’s something that can live beyond an idea.

• Step One, Detailed Ideation Process with the purpose of breaking down the problem, solution, customer, revenue model and bringing all necessary players of the game together to discuss and whiteboard the if’s, and’s and but’s.
• Step Two,Validating the Problem.Finding out what the actual problem faced by your customer is is vital, then identifying that the problem is significant enough that the customer wants to solve it. Hence, the solution to their problem lies in the app created. If the problem is not substantial enough to spend money on to solve, you might have a great idea but a lack of urgency or engagement.
• Step Three,Put it to the Test.Talk to your potential customers to see if they connect with the problem, solution, features, user experience to hear what their suggestions are and if they would use it, and what would they pay to use it?

There seems to be this desire to be stealth with no one knowing about your idea and then being first to market. Due to all the unknowns, plus time and effort put in by the founder, they sometimes can have tunnel vision and miss great openings by going through the Ideation process to refine and create a path to success. It’s important to note that even with the customer feedback and an intense Ideation process, it still might not be a success due to factors beyond your control.

Being flexible to pivot and listening to your customers throughout the process might be the simple change that could make it a home run. So, if you are ready to put yourself in the lane to success, schedule your Ideation Session with 100×100 Launchpad, and let’s see how we can make your App a Success.

Written By:
Amanda Bar,
Startup Coach & Ideation Specialist,
100×100 Launchpad