We are doing a retrospective on my blog on Seed Capital from Angel Investors as part of the 1M/1M project. As we speak with a variety of angels in different regions, what strikes me is the number of startups out there looking for seed capital. Read the full article »
By guest author Karen E. Wilson
A new book from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) looks at seed and early stage financing for start-up companies and notes the impact of the recent economic crisis. With banks reluctant to provide loans to startups and venture capital firms preferring to invest in later stage companies, a growing class of experienced entrepreneurs and business people are stepping in to fill this funding gap. These “angel investors” not only provide funding but also leverage their expertise to provide mentoring to the entrepreneurial teams in which they invest, according to a new OECD report. Read the full article »
By guest author Irina Patterson
Who doesn’t appreciate great PR? It leads to brand recognition and more business.
Let me use a case study to explain how simple it is with 1M/1M. One of our partners, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT, KGP), held a custom roundtable with us in January 2012. Read the full article »
By guest author Irina Patterson
Which kind of entrepreneur do you want to be?
Great entrepreneurs always find the time to study even when they are very busy. They find the time to fill the gaps in their knowledge of how to build a business.
Weak entrepreneurs keep doing the same thing over and over again. They repeat the same mistakes that thousands of others have made before them and in doing so put themselves out of business. Read the full article »
By guest author Irina Patterson
One of our partners asked me for an overview of 1M/1M in a letter form. He wanted an easy way to explain 1M/1M to a government agency that he is part of. Read the full article »
By guest author Irina Patterson
Have you seen this? Entrepreneurs labor for years on their ideas and can’t sell their products because they have no customers.
They essentially work for free, drawing on their savings or their family and friends’ support. Read the full article »
By guest author Irina Patterson
Have you seen this? Entrepreneurs seek funding year after year, only to never get funded. Have you wondered why? It’s simple: Most likely, it is because their business is not fundable.
What does this mean? Some businesses will just never be venture fundable, no matter what their entrepreneurs do. The only way to build them is by alternative financing. Read the full article »
By guest author Irina Patterson
One incubator manager came up with a brilliant idea.
He said, “Irina, I’ll select one entrepreneur – the most suitable for 1M/1M from my incubator, and I will let you talk to him. If he signs up, we’ll have our 1M/1M pilot entrepreneur. He will share his 1M/1M experience with the rest of our entrepreneurs and off we’ll go.”
“Brilliant,” I said. “My cell is 786-301-2456 and my Skype is irina_patterson. I am standing by, ready to talk … most important, I am ready to listen.” Read the full article »
