Up until around 2010, many startups would raise pre-product seed rounds using only an investor deck, idea, and the spark in their eyes. Those times are long gone. Today investors know that the cost of reaching a viable product (in many sectors) is low enough that serious founders will create their product, and initial traction, before seeking external funding. Continue reading “The Angel Investor Manifesto: why and how to invest in pre-product startups”
Lessons from 10 years of writing business plans (part 2)
It’s been ten years and 300+ business plans since I started writing business plans and looking back I have gained some insights about the process (and art?) of creating these ubiquitous document, no matter their form: executive summary, one-pager, investor presentation or strategic plan. Specifically, I have come to believe that a successful business plan comes down to nailing three (it’s always three, huh!?) major aspects: balance, storytelling, and attitude. I covered all matters of balance in part 1. This means it is time to talk about storytelling. Continue reading “Lessons from 10 years of writing business plans (part 2)”
Lessons from 10 years of writing business plans (part 1)
I’ve recently looked back on my career (so far) and was somewhat surprised to discover that I have been in the business of writing business plans for almost a decade now (even more if you take into account business plans I wrote for myself for businesses I started 15 years ago). This seemed like a great opportunity to think about what the process of writing business plans has taught me over the years, and how it has changed both for me and for the industry as a whole during this period. Continue reading “Lessons from 10 years of writing business plans (part 1)”
