Feel the Boot

🚀 Why Startups Fail: Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid 🚀 🎥 In this podcast, I dive into the common pitfalls that cause most startups to fail within their first few years. Based on my decades of experience in the startup ecosystem, I share invaluable insights and practical tips to help you navigate these challenges effectively. 👉 What You'll Learn: Market Needs: Understand how to validate the real demand for your product. Running Out of Cash: Strategies to prevent running out of cash before hitting your key milestones. Gaps in the Team: Tips on assembling a team that can pivot and adapt as needed. Competition: How to stand out in a crowded market. Pricing Mistakes: Aligning your pricing with the value you deliver. Prototype to 1.0 Transition: Avoiding the pitfalls of technical debt. Timing Your Launch: Identifying the perfect market entry point. Maintaining Focus: Keeping your startup on track amidst potential distractions. Go-to-Market Strategies: Ensuring you can reach your customers cost-effectively. Co-founder Dynamics: Preventing conflicts that could derail your venture. 💡 Bonus Insight: Learn about "zombie corporations" and how to avoid becoming one. 🔗 Stay Connected: 📘 Read the full article for a deeper dive into each topic: [Link to article] 💬 Join our community discussion below and share your startup experiences and questions. 👍 Like, Subscribe, and 🔔 Ring the bell for more insights from Lance. 🌟 Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned founder, this video is your guide to avoiding common startup mistakes and steering your venture toward success. Let's get your startup on the path to thriving, not just surviving! #StartupAdvice #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy #LanceCottrell #StartupSuccess Read the blog https://ftb.bz/106B Watch the Video https://ftb.bz/106V Subscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/Join

In this episode of 'Feel the Boot,' Lance Cottrell shares essential advice on crafting an effective elevator pitch to capture the interest of potential investors or partners quickly, stressing the importance of brevity, clarity, and engaging storytelling. He emphasizes that the goal of an elevator pitch is to spark interest for further conversation, not immediate commitment. Drawing from his experience and common mistakes observed, Lance provides practical tips on avoiding overly rehearsed or jargon-heavy pitches, suggesting instead to focus on conveying the unique value proposition plainly and compellingly. He highlights the versatility of elevator pitches across various contexts, from investment pitches to hiring and product sales. Throughout, Lance shares examples to illustrate key points, including how to structure a pitch, the significance of opening questions, and the importance of practicing pitches to ensure they are understood and engaging. Read the article https://ftb.bz/105B Watch the video https://ftb.bz/105V Talk to Lance about your startup https://ftb.bz/advising Subscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/join 00:00 Introduction to Crafting an Impactful Elevator Pitch 00:59 The Essence and Purpose of an Elevator Pitch 02:12 Applying Elevator Pitches Beyond Investment 02:45 Common Mistakes in Crafting Elevator Pitches 04:15 Effective Strategies for Engaging Elevator Pitches 07:28 Crafting Your Elevator Pitch: A Step-by-Step Guide 10:46 The Importance of Practice and Feedback

This podcast is tailored for startup founders looking to enhance their negotiation skills. It emphasizes the importance of negotiation in various aspects of running a business, including dealing with investors, vendors, customers, employees, and co-founders. I know that many founders may lack experience or feel conflict-averse, so here I share practical advice and strategies to turn negotiations from potential conflicts into win-win situations. In the episode I discuss understanding everyone’s needs and priorities, adopting a collaborative and creative approach, and aiming for equitable outcomes to facilitate ongoing positive relationships. Read the blog https://ftb.bz/104B Watch the video https://ftb.bz/104V Get one-on-one advising https://ftb.bz/advising Subscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/join Book Suggestions: Never Split the Difference https://amzn.to/3VTix4S Negotiate Anything https://amzn.to/4azwQA4 00:00 Negotiation Skills for Startup Founders 01:40 Negotiation Challenges and Strategies 03:26 Diving Deeper into Negotiation Tactics 06:21 Framing Discussions and Preparing for Negotiations 08:13 Adopting a Healthy Negotiation Philosophy 10:00 Creativity in Negotiation: Finding Win-Win Solutions 12:01 Conclusion

In this episode of Feel the Boot, host Lance Cottrell delves into the significance of understanding and presenting your startup's market size to investors through the concepts of Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM), and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM). He emphasizes the importance of achieving a plausible market opportunity, critiquing the TAM, SAM, SOM methodology for its arbitrariness and complexity, and suggests a more dynamic approach through a bottom-up analysis. Cottrell walks through hypothetical examples to demonstrate how startups can realistically project their growth and market potential. He also covers common pitfalls in market size estimation and offers insights on how to conduct effective market research, ultimately guiding founders toward a more credible and compelling representation of their market opportunity to investors. Read the blog https://ftb.bz/103B Watch the video https://ftb.bz/103V Subscribe the newsletter (for free office hours) https://ftb.bz/Join The episode explaining why angels and VCs need such big exits https://ftb.bz/92V 00:00 Unlocking the Secrets of Market Size in Your Startup Pitch 00:33 Welcome to Feel the Boot: Navigating the Startup Journey 01:09 Why Market Size Matters to Investors 02:29 Decoding TAM, SAM, and SOM: The Basics 04:09 Common Mistakes in Market Size Presentation 05:39 A Real-World Example: The Acme Clothing Company 08:19 Bottom-Up Analysis: A More Accurate Approach 09:36 Finding the Data: Tips for Accurate Market Analysis 14:56 Presenting Your Market Size: A Strategic Timeline Approach 20:49 Conclusion and Next Steps

Testing Startup Ideas and Assumptions ⚖️ John Li of PickFu Interview In this interview, John Li, the co-founder of startup PickFu, discusses the innovative concept of his company as a digital focus group for businesses. He walks us through their transition from a physical product to a software solution after observing a growing need for unbiased design feedback. John also shares interesting customer success stories attributing to their product's efficiency. He emphasizes on the importance of regular testing in business and discusses their company's decision to employ a fully remote work model, the challenges faced, the tools used, and the benefaction of current technology to their work. Towards the end, John yields advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on testing and patience in realizing a startup's success. Read the transcript https://ftb.bz/102B Watch the Video https://ftb.bz/102V Follow John on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnli Find PickFu at https://PickFu.com PickFu.com discount code FEELTHEBOOT for 50% off your first paid test. Guest Bio: John Li is the co-founder of PickFu, a consumer research platform for getting instant feedback from target audiences. Thousands of global brands rely on PickFu to help them make better data-driven decisions about their products and marketing. John is passionate about building systems that help others succeed. He has degrees in computer science from UC Berkeley and the University of Washington. John and his family live in the San Francisco area, where he shuttles his kids around in his dream car (a minivan).

In this discussion, Michael Regnier, founder of Sales Design & Delivery, shares vital insights into sales strategy tailored for startup founders, particularly those with a technical background. He explains that a company's sales strategy must encompass every aspect of the go-to-market message, including the target audience and the route to reach them. Smith articulates the importance of defining value propositions, pricing, and delivery models while underlining the necessity of iteration. He emphasizes the need to think from the customer's perspective and pitches the idea of 'if I were you selling'. Smith discusses adopting a sales strategy that proves one's belief in their product, building credibility for the customers. He also covers key points like avoiding paralysis and the significance of designing and delivering the sales process in a controlled manner for effective market feedback. Mike Regnier has been an executive sales manager for small companies for twenty-five years and has helped many entrepreneurs "crack the code" in unlocking their rapid and sustained growth. As a result of his successful exits, he was encouraged by several Private Equity and VC groups to create Sales Design & Delivery, his sales-scaling consulting firm, in 2012 and has been helping small companies achieve their potential ever since.

In this milestone episode, host Lance Cottrell dives deep into several critical topics inspired by his recent heart attack. First, he compares a heart attack with a financial crisis in a startup, emphasizing the need for recognizing early warning signs and taking immediate actions. He discusses how to identify critical situations where your venture is at risk and how to handle them effectively while sharing his personal experiences with his own startup. Then, he talks about the need to reassess one's priorities and the importance of aligning personal goals with the way we spend our time. He urges all founders to question their inherited societal goals and reflect on their passions. Lastly, as a public service announcement, he shares early warning signs for heart attacks and strokes, drawing parallels between them and potential dangers facing startups. He ends by stressing the urgency of immediate medical attention and action in such health crises. Read as an article https://ftb.bz/100B Watch the video https://ftb.bz/100V Schedule advising with Lance https://ftb.bz/Advising US Government Subsidized Health Insurance https://www.healthcare.gov/

The 10x rule 🌟 Why better is not enough Having a superior solution is not good enough. The special barriers startups face force you to build at least ten times better products. Why Your Startup Needs to Be 10x Better In this episode of 'Feel the Boot', host Lance Cottrell breaks down why startups need to be substantially better than their competition, particularly in the B2B context. He explains the elements such as the high cost of switching, the immaturity of a startup product, and the typical risk of a startup failing, that force a startup to deliver a solution ten times better than the competitors. Read the article https://ftb.bz/99B Watch the video https://ftb.bz/99V See the rest of the Founder Insights https://ftb.bz/Insight Schedule advising with Lance https://ftb.bz/advising

Startup Fundraising Facilitators 🐍 Surviving the Pit of Serpents! You might want to ask for help when you need to raise capital. Take care, most of those people are useless or actively harmful. Quoth the AI describing this episode: In this episode, Lance Cottrell, an experienced startup advisor, shares insights on the challenges of fundraising, focusing on the role of fundraising facilitators in the process. He offers a candid look at the pitfalls of working with unskilled or unethical fundraisers. The episode provides crucial pointers about operational red flags and underlines the importance of maintaining realistic valuations. Additionally, it explains the logistics of fee models and advises on how successful fundraising can be approached. Moreover, it includes a brief discussion on the regulations surrounding fundraising and the need for facilitators to be registered. The episode concludes with advice on selecting the correct people to work with and setting adequate standards for partners. Read the article: https://ftb.bz/98B Watch the Video: https://ftb.bz/98V The episode on the Startup Fundraising Paradox: https://ftb.bz/94B

🤯 Exposing the top reasons for fast angel investment rejections Investors only take a few seconds to decide if a startup is worth a serious look. These eight factors lead to most of the fast NOs ☠️ In this episode, I discuss the screening process for companies seeking funding from angels and VC. Out of over a hundred applicants to my angel group, we only select about 20 for detailed consideration. We drop the rest after only a few moments' consideration. A handful of reasons dominate why investors eliminate companies in under a minute. If you can avoid those traps, you can force investors to take the time to understand your startup. At worst, you will get feedback to improve your business and your pitch. At best, you will get the funding you need to grow. Read this as an article https://ftb.bz/97B Watch the Video https://ftb.bz/97V Get advising for your startup https://ftb.bz/Advising Subscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/Join Check out the whole Fundraising Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgMU_ie96T-LoIvSK3hHFF0AmySuQjbKe Watch the video on valuation methodologies https://ftb.bz/66V

Startup Privacy Policies 🥷 What you need to know about GDPR, CCPA and beyond! In this interview, Sabir Ibrahim, an attorney and entrepreneur, provides valuable insights on the implications of privacy and privacy policies for startups. He emphasizes the importance of privacy laws, particularly highlighting the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and explains that these laws apply to all companies, regardless of their size. Sabir advises startups to prioritize privacy policies, starting with a comprehensive privacy policy that includes information about data collection, usage, and sharing. He also recommends engaging an attorney to ensure compliance with relevant regulations. Sabir highlights the potential risks and consequences of non-compliance with privacy laws, such as regulatory enforcement actions and lawsuits. He suggests implementing a plan for data privacy as companies grow, including the concept of privacy by design. The discussion also explores the relevance of privacy issues in specific sectors, such as Medtech, Fintech, and AI applications, mentioning the need to consider industry-specific regulations. The interview concludes by emphasizing the importance of engaging legal counsel, budgeting for legal expenses related to privacy policy creation and compliance, and treating privacy compliance as an investment rather than a cost. Read this as an article https://ftb.bz/96B Watch the Video https://ftb.bz/96V Subscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/Join Get personal advising https://ftb.bz/advising 00:00 Introduction to Sabir Ibrahim 02:24 Evolution of privacy laws and regulations 04:43 Implications of privacy laws for startups 07:14 FTC enforcement actions on smaller companies 08:08 Importance of starting with a privacy policy 08:58 Key elements of a privacy policy 11:15 Considerations for international users and GDPR 14:22 Key data privacy laws to be aware of: GDPR and CCPA 17:54 Planning operations to ensure compliance 19:28 Privacy by design and value proposition 23:43 Privacy concerns in specific verticals 25:54 My Health, My Data Act and regulatory gaps 32:22 Cost considerations for early-stage startups 37:48 Privacy compliance on a limited budget 38:34 Avoiding conflicts in privacy-related terms Sabir Ibrahim’s Bio: During his 15-year career as an attorney and technology entrepreneur, Sabir has advised clients ranging from pre-seed startups to Fortune 50 companies on a variety of issues within the intersection of law and technology. He is a former associate at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, a former corporate counsel at Amazon, and a former senior counsel at Roku. He also founded and managed an IT managed services provider that served professional services firms in California, Oregon, and Texas. Sabir received his BSE in Computer Science from the University of Michigan College of Engineering. He received his JD from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was an article editor of the Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review. Sabir is licensed to practice in California and before the USPTO. He is a Certified Information Privacy Professional. His website is: https://www.optimedge.legal You can also find him at: https://linkedin.com/in/sabir-ibrahim-a9505b1 https://medium.com/@optimedgelegal https://youtube.com/@optimedgelegal https://tiktok.com/@optimedgelegal https://instagram.com/optimedgelegal

You’re delivering your pitch deck ask slide wrong! What you should say instead. Learn the right and wrong thing to ask for. How to handle hard questions during your ask. I was listening to several founders deliver their pitches. Most of them did their “ask” wrong and seriously damaged their chances of success. In this episode, look at their mistakes and how they could improve this critical step in their pitches. You need to understand the whole angel and VC investment process. You pitch to get the next meeting, not for an immediate investment in your startup. Read this as an article: https://ftb.bz/95B Watch the video: https://ftb.bz/95V Subscribe to Boot Prints: https://ftb.bz/Join Get Advice for Your Startup: https://ftb.bz/Advising

Escape the Startup Paradox 😬 MVP Without VC Can’t Build Your Product Without Funding But Can’t Get Funding Without a Product In the newest episode of Feel the Boot, we're diving headfirst into the world of product development sans angel investment. I provide strategies for startups to navigate the challenges of raising funding pre-MVP. Consider the paradox that most startups face: they need money to build their product, but struggle to obtain funding without a product. I lay out three strategies to overcome this challenge. The first is to build a cheaper version of the product by using off-the-shelf tools and proving its success. The second strategy is to validate the business by conducting interviews, surveys, and gathering evidence of customer interest. The third strategy is to explore alternative funding sources beyond traditional equity investors like: friends and family, grants, partnerships, or bootstrapping. By following one or more of these strategies, you can find alternative ways to build your minimum viable product (MVP), enabling you to progress towards your business objectives. Read this as an article: https://ftb.bz/94B Watch the Video: https://ftb.bz/94V Subscribe to Boot Prints: https://ftb.bz/Join Get Advice for Your Startup: https://ftb.bz/Advising

Branding is far more than just a logo and color scheme. Learn how to leverage both positioning and branding in your startup buisiness In today's fiercely competitive business landscape, effective branding and positioning strategies are crucial for startups to stand out from the crowd. However, many founders underestimate the true scope and importance of these concepts. In this interview, we heard valuable insights from branding and positioning expert Mara Rada, shedding light on why these elements are vital for emerging companies. By understanding the multi-faceted nature of branding and the emotional factors that drive purchasing decisions, founders can create stronger connections with their target audience, ultimately leading to long-term growth and success. In the interview, Mara mentioned a few resources that will help founders learn more about branding and positioning: - 42Courses.com has many lessons on these and related topics. - Anything written by George Tannenbaum formerly with Ogilvy, and R/GA https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgetannenbaum/ - Anything written by Manoj Jacob Creative Director at Crayons. Formerly at Ogilvy, DDB Mudra, Soho Square, & Havas https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobwriter/ Get this as an article: https://ftb.bz/93B Watch the video: https://ftb.bz/93V Join Feel the Boot: https://ftb.bz/Join Get advising from Lance: https://ftb.bz/Advising Mara Rada is a feral thinker, a brand whisperer, and a category positioner. She helps companies create the beast brands of the future without selling their souls. She has worked with some of the world's most remarkable startups, Fortune 500 corporations, and the world’s best advertising agencies (Ogilvy). She is also a veteran public speaker and keynote presenter who talks about topics such as brand naming, category design, perceptual positioning, and nin-cliche-istic branding. She is the founder of FERAL, a strategic consultancy that specializes in untamed thinking and identity commercialization. Mara is not a guru and detests the word. Maybe as much as the dreaded “digital transformation”. But she sure knows how to transform lemons. https://LinkedIn.com/in/mararada https://ThinkFeral.com

How to create an angel investment portfolio for maximum returns. Learn what drives the returns for your angel investments. Read this as an article: https://ftb.bz/92B Watch the Video: https://ftb.bz/92V Subscribe to BootPrints: https://ftb.bz/Join Angel Investing 101 series: https://ftb.bz/angel In episode, I delve into the economics of angel investing, emphasizing the need for a significant number of investments to increase the chances of success. Research shows that most angel investments result in losses or minimal returns, but a small percentage can yield substantial profits. To improve the likelihood of hitting those winners, you should make at least 20 angel investments. Diversification across different sectors is also crucial to mitigate risks associated with market fluctuations and sector-specific downturns. I then discuss the importance of planning an investment budget. Startups typically prefer pre-seed investments of at least $25,000 to avoid numerous small investments on their cap table. For investors with smaller check sizes, you might explore options like crowdfunding or syndicates. Syndicates involve a lead investor selecting an investment, while crowdfunding platforms allow for lower minimum investment requirements, enabling diversification through multiple smaller investments.

Non-monetary Startup Rewards and Recognitions. Eight employee incentives that work better than cash. In this episode of "Feel the Boot: The Science of Startups," I, discuss seven highly effective motivators and rewards for employees that founders can use to attract and retain top talent. These motivators include having a strong vision, giving employees equity, providing public recognition, delegation and employee empowerment, giving personal attention, tailoring rewards to the individual, and unique “wow” rewards. I emphasize the importance of understanding what motivates individual employees, as what works for one may not work for another. I share two examples of "wow rewards" that have had a significant impact on employees, such as handmade plaques and giving solid gold coins to employees who have put in a "gold medal performance." Access all my content on Running your Startup https://ftb.bz/running Get this content at an article https://ftb.bz/91B Watch the Video https://ftb.bz/91V Sign up for advising https://ftb.bz/advising

How to quickly eliminate the losers, and identify companies worthy of further due diligence. As an angel investor, you will need to look at many startups. This guide provides a framework for quickly analyzing deals to see if digging deeper is worth your time. This is part of a series on Angel Investing https://ftb.bz/Angel Subscribe to Boot Prints and access office hours https://ftb.bz/join Learn about advising from Feel the Boot https://ftb.bz/advising Watch the Video https://ftb.bz/90V Read as an article https://ftb.bz/90B Make a Quick First Cut Is the Company Angel Investable? Competition Valuation Problem/Solution Validation Business Economics Defensibility Intellectual Property Need for Additional Funding What is There? Churn Assumption Validation Is This Possible? (bonus) Team

Non-Dilutive Fundraising 💰 SBIR Grants for Innovation Get cash for your startup without giving up ownership. Government grants can fund your development from idea to MVP and beyond. Read the transcript: https://ftb.bz/89B Watch the Video: https://ftb.bz/89V Subscribe to Boot Prints: https://ftb.bz/Join Get FTB Merch: https://ftb.bz/merch Join the Founders Alliance: https://ftb.bz/Alliance In this interview, Caroline Arzoo, Director of Partnerships at OmniSync, and I discusses the different options for funding a startup. She emphasizes that federal grants and contracts can be a great alternative to conventional angel and VC investment. However, she notes that the application process can be difficult, with over 80% of people who apply for federal funding on their own getting rejected for non-compliance. To help founders access non-dilutive funding, OmniSync has created an AI-powered platform that simplifies the process of finding and applying for federal funding. In addition to federal grants and contracts, Caroline also suggests considering crowdfunding and pitch competitions as creative funding avenues. She highlights the importance of community, transparency, and being open to change in order to navigate the complexities of growing a startup. We also also touch on the emotional toll of the founder journey and the importance of building a support system. Caroline Arzoo Bio: Caroline Arzoo is a passionate advocate of innovation, supporting early-stage founders through her community-building work at OmniSync Inc and as a mentor for Founder Institute. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara’s Technology Management program, Caroline has supported hundreds of early-stage startups in accessing non-dilutive capital from the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. In addition to her work supporting founders, Caroline also works to empower and build innovation ecosystems, partnering with universities, small business development centers, accelerators, and more to support their entrepreneurial initiatives. Find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinearzoo/ Check out OmniSync’s grant application tools at https://www.turbosbir.com/

Your earliest investors are probably unsophisticated. You must help them understand how startup investing works. When you are at the idea stage, almost no angel or VC investors will back you, but people who know and care about you might. Unfortunately, this is usually all new and very confusing to them. You must ensure they understand what they are doing and paint a realistic picture of the possible outcomes. This video is for you, the founder. It explains your options for structuring the deal and how to communicate with them about this opportunity. I created another video to share with your potential investors that tells them what they need to know. https://ftb.bz/friends-and-family-explainer Read this as a blog: https://ftb.bz/88B Watch the video: https://ftb.bz/88V

💸Get Angel Investor Dealflow You need to look at a lot of startups to find good investments Learn several ways to uncover quality startups Our Angel Investing 101 series teaches new Angel Investors how to invest in startups. This episode focuses on Angel Investor dealflow. You need to source a lot of potential deals to identify those few worthy of investment. Where to list yourself as an angel investors: https://LinkedIn.com/ https://signal.nfx.com/ https://www.angellist.com/ https://www.crunchbase.com/hub/angel-investors Syndicate sites: https://AngelList.com https://TheSyndicate.com Crowd Funding Sites: https://Wefunder.com https://Republic.com https://Seedinvest.com https://Fundable.com https://StartEngine.com https://MicroVentures.com Read the blog version: https://ftb.bz/87B Watch the video: https://ftb.bz/87V Get access to Boot Prints & Office Hours: https://ftb.bz/Join Feel the Boot Merch: https://ftb.bz/Merch