Why Your Startup Needs A Founder’s Agreement
Building a high-growth tech startup is a team sport that requires a variety of people with different skill sets. While most of your core team can be acquired/hired, having one or more co-founders can be very helpful, particularly in the early days of the company. It’s not uncommon to see a founding team made up
Hiring a Development Firm, Part 1: Vetting Candidates
So, it is time to hire a development firm…are you sure? You have a solid understanding of product-market fit for your target customer. You know the minimum amount of functionality you need to deliver to get them to use your product, keep using it and pay you something for it. Does that sound like you?
4 Keys To Incorporating Customer Feedback In Your Product Roadmap
Now that you have a product in market (and it is in use) you may find yourself at a critical juncture—continued evolution of your product based on proof of product-market fit. If you’ve followed the guidance we’ve laid out over the course of our roadmap approach, you’ll have created a grounded Product Roadmap and built
5 Personality Traits Of Successful Startup Employees
On the Entrepreneurial Talent Team at JumpStart, we pride ourselves on being able to identify those unique individuals who will thrive in the startup environment. Early-stage companies aren’t the right fit for everyone, and it’s important to know what you’re looking for when you’re thinking about adding new team members. Below, you’ll find the five
How to Refine Your Pitch Deck for the Next Fund Raise
You’ve managed to come this far. You have a compelling product in the market, a good sense of who wants to buy it and how to reach them. You’ve hit some impressive milestones and decided it’s time to press hard on the accelerator and raise the next round of capital. Time to refine your pitch
Work Smarter, Not Harder: Implementing & Enhancing Your Internal Tools
No one is born with the innate knowledge of what it takes to start and run a company. It is a learned experience that cannot be taught in a book. In that vein, there is no magical list of internal tools, processes and software that you would know of or have used that let you
Growth, Retention & Relationships Make the Dollars Flow
If you are following the Entrepreneur Roadmap as laid out, you’ve developed a launched a product, and are reaping the fruits of your hard work. New customers are rolling in, and you are getting great feedback on your product. You are keeping a close eye on all your KPIs, and you’ve had some great conversations
5 Things To Think About When Expanding Your MVP’s Features
You’ve launched your MVP and its working like you expected. You’re satisfying a need for your users, collecting tons of data and analytics and likely generating some revenue. How do you capitalize to get the most of this data and your early-stage traction? If you have dedicated users for your product, they are likely willing
When creating sales material, always answer the prospect’s question, “What’s in it for me?”
You’ve done it—you’ve completed this crazy sprint through the Entrepreneur Roadmap Methodology to Develop a product and get it out to the masses. Your weeks and months of hustling are done, and you can now sit back and watch as the customers fly in the door. Oh, if only it worked that way. Building a
When It Comes to Startup Success, The Market Is King
Entrepreneurs and investors alike often haggle about which is the more important ingredient for startup success, the product or the team behind it. Is the idea the sun around which everything else orbits? Or, are there truly rock star personalities out there who can turn even mediocre ideas into strong startups? Almost everyone I’ve met
Understanding and Analyzing Financial and Operational Metrics
As a business begins to grow at a higher and higher growth rate, ie. changing growth rates quarterly or monthly, management must pay close attention to the financial statements and key metrics used to measure business performance and manage cash. These metrics are called key performance indicators (KPIs). These statements, metrics and trends help determine