Weiting Bollu’s Post

Advisors can be a startup's secret weapon. But how do you show them some love? 🤔 Here’s what founders get right when it comes to advisors: 🤝 Set clear expectations and roles: Don’t leave things vague. Be upfront about what you need—what roles they’ll play, the time they’ll put in, and what they’ll deliver. Get it in writing (even a quick email works). 💸 Give them equity: Giving advisors a slice of the pie 🥧 is a smart move. It values their input and keeps them invested in your company’s future. Typically within the 0,1-1% range. Plus, it’s easier on your startup's wallet in the beginning. 📅 Check in regularly: Set some dates to review—whether it’s based on time or milestones. Make sure both sides are still getting something out of it. What else has worked well for you? Share the stories! 👇

65% of start-ups fail because of this reason: Issues between the co-founding team. Having solid chemistry between co-founders is one of the main things investors look for when funding. But sadly, the number of start-ups I have seen failing because of this issue is shocking. You need : - Trust - Transparency, - Adaptability & - Positive attitude All the members involved need a similar value system and vision. Any disconnect in these areas leads to the eventual failure of the company. How to prevent this: - Sign a stakeholders agreement. - Clearly state what happens if the founding team splits. - Spend time knowing people first. - The length and depth of the relationship matter. - Define roles and touch base consistently. - Don’t assume everyone is on the same page. - Instead, touch base regularly to discuss priorities. - Find partners with complementary skill sets As a non-technical founder, it is key to have co-founders who has the technical know-how to steer the product. Do a test project or have an expert vet the CTO candidates. - Know their strengths and weaknesses. If you don’t know much about coding use assessment tests like Codility or Hacker Rank. Are you a non-technical founder looking for a technical partner to launch your SAAS product? We have helped multiple founders like you launch and succeed. Get in touch to see if we are a good fit. #startuphelp #startuptechfounder #saasdevelopment #technicalpartner

4 pieces of advice for early stage founders. (to some degree, I F’d most of these up as a first-time founder) 1. Don't create a solution for a problem you think exists. Deeply understand the problem and understand if your ICP is willing to prioritize paying money to fix the problem. 2. Stay focused on your core business. If it aint core, there’s a high 99% chance its a distraction. 3. Hire on values, not just experience. This next one, actually helps solve for one and two above. 4. Spend as much time as possible in the trenches with prospects and customers.  Fundraising and feature expansion follows revenue. So to my first time or early stage founders traversing your first million, please take a second to internalize these. Do these, and you'll have de-risked your startup journey in a meaningful way. Peace and love. Happy Thursday, ya’ll.

Your pitch should make investors think 2 things: 1️⃣: "Am I going to be excited about sharing this startup with my colleagues?" 2️⃣: "Am I going to be excited to work with this founder for 10+ yrs?" For the first one, It's about showing investors a simple thing that they can tell their colleagues. Maybe its about you and your background. E.g. "Sarah was 3rd Employee at Uber and built the team to $50m rev" Maybe its your traction. E.g. "This company has a 20,000 waitlist with a pipeline of $5m already." For the second one its a lot more subjective. Here it's about connecting with them on a personal level. Then humble bragging about why you are a great founder. And someone to work with. This is why its so important to build out a proper founder origin story. These 2 points above is why narrative building can be so hard. And why you can't just 'wing it'. So how do you do this right? 5 tips: 1️⃣: Go through exercises on how you build your narrative stories (dm me and we can talk about how to do this!) 2️⃣: Book pitch simulation and practice calls with investors/friends 3️⃣: Look back at the recordings of your practice calls to see where to improve your narrative stories 4️⃣: Work on how you communicate with investors 5️⃣: Rinse and repeat — Now it’s time for me to sell DM me or comment here with “RAISE” and I’ll share the details of how I can help you. Just like I’ve helped founders raise over $200m. PS - The minimum price of this is £2k. I want to be upfront about it for you.

One of the most rewarding aspects of working at a startup is that there are no clear rules. You can diligently study the industry’s best practices and still come up short. It's a game of outliers. Patterns are often useless. Investors say that a founder-market fit is important but then consider people like Jeff Bezos, Musk, Brian Chesky, Travis Kalanick, etc. Then there’s conventional wisdom advising against starting a business with your spouse, yet look at successes like Eventbrite and Cisco. Others caution against being a solo founder, but then you have cases like Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, and Marc Benioff. You show up every day and tackle new, often unique problems, each seemingly larger than the last. Yet, somehow, you fall in love with the process. Not just for the potential wealth but also because it pushes your limits and lets you reshape the world, even if just slightly, to your liking.

Should you raise a friends and family round when starting your business? In my view, it risks exacerbating (and hiding) several fundamental issues. I highlight them in decent depth below: https://lnkd.in/e_k-4WGw Having really enjoyed following Tyler Denk and beehiiv's rise and recent content explosion on Linkedin. So, I've opened a new avenue for people to connect with my pointless and irreverent (irrelevant...tomatoe/tomato) thoughts on economics, politics, startups and on. This one is an oldie I'd written for Medium, but a goodie. If you want to see more, check it out and give me a tiny dopamine hit by hitting subscribe 🤤

Last week’s story was about resistance & fortitude.  When do you surrender?  What do you do when a business startup goes bad? This can happen for a variety of reasons:  - Wrong product/service - Financial difficulties - Market competition For me, it was because of mismanagement. Read this Saturday’s newsletter to hear more about a business venture that fell apart.  For those of you who missed last Saturday’s newsletter, here’s a link. https://graysonbain.com

distribution > execution > idea

🚀 Top 3 Startup Mistakes to Avoid 🚀 Hey LinkedIn fam! Starting a new venture? Here are the top 3 mistakes to steer clear of: 1️⃣ **Skipping Market Research**: Don’t wing it! Understand your target market's pain points. If you fly blind, you might crash before you even start. 2️⃣ **Neglecting Financial Planning**: Think beyond the initial funds. Budget wisely and have a clear path for revenue generation. Cash flow issues are the silent killers! 3️⃣ **Ignoring Customer Feedback**: Stay tuned to your audience. Your customers are your best advisors, so listen closely and adapt quickly! 👀 Trust me, I've seen many startups fall into these traps. It’s all about being prepared and proactive. What do you think? Any other mistakes you'd add to this list? Share your thoughts below! 🚀👇

Ever thought about ditching the fundraising playbook? I did, and it led me to some wild ideas. Look, we all know the usual drill: network, pitch, follow up. But when you're after those top-tier investors, sometimes you gotta shake things up. So I came up with three off-the-wall approaches that might just work. Or they might crash and burn. But hey, that's startup life, right? First up: handwritten letters. I know, sounds like something your grandma would do. But picture this - your letter sitting on their desk, standing out from the email avalanche. Here's how to make it pop: 1. Dig up their business address. Northdata's a good place to start. 2. Pour your heart out on paper. Be real, be you. 3. Make it eye-catching. Use color, get creative with the layout. 4. Throw in a surprise. Maybe a sample of your product or a quirky gift card. Next idea: tap into the founder network. But with a twist. 1. Reach out to founders they've already backed. 2. Offer something in return. Could be a fancy dinner voucher or even a sliver of equity. 3. Be crystal clear about why you want this specific investor. 4. Do the heavy lifting for them. Draft up an intro email they can just forward. Last one's a bit out there: call their workplace. 1. Most angel investors have day jobs. 2. If you sound important enough, reception might just put you through. 3. Practice your pitch till you can do it in your sleep. 4. Be ready for objections. Have answers locked and loaded. Now, I'm not saying these are surefire wins. They could totally backfire. But sometimes in this startup game, you gotta roll the dice. Always keen to hear how others are navigating this crazy startup world.