The Funding Guru

Funding Academy is LIVE!

Andrew — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:06:24 +0000

After months of work – reaching out to all our readers and members with one goal in mind…

Find out what are your key challenges, to determine exactly what you need so you can go out and get you your ideal investors ~ Fast!

Based on your great feedback – we created and just launched “Funding Academy”.

Yes – its true! 3.37pm last night – the doors opened and we watched, open mouthed as people walked through…

Here’s a bit more info for all those who want to go out and raise real money for their businesses…

Find out about Funding Academy

Funding Academy Is LIVE!

Push the Button

Andrew — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:37:34 +0000

Watch Then Push the Button!

Entrepreneur? PUSH!

Funding Academy Early Bird List…

Andrew — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:04:58 +0000

Funding Academy Early Bird List

Get on the List!

Funding Academy Video #3 is Live!

Andrew — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:51:33 +0000

Funding Academy Video #3 Is Live!

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the emails, youtube comments and retweets! You are awesome!

So just a quick one to give you the heads up the Video #3 for Funding Academy is now live.

Can’t believe this past week – the number of people watching and giving feedback has been humbling.

The launch is going to rock!

Watch the latest video~!

Funding Academy Video #3 Is Live!

Getting Funding for your business — Make it happen

Andrew — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:19:02 +0000

Funding Academy

Can 1748 people be wrong?

Just in case you didn’t get the memo ( )….we will soon be launching Funding Academy to founders and entrepreneurs who are committed to raising funds for their business, startups or ideas.

Just wanted to let you know as one of our readers how its going – a sort of ‘behind the scenes’ or opening the kimono just in case you’re interested,

So because of the launch we’ve been giving away some great content to help people start the fast funding process (free report, videos, MP3s etc) (click here) and as a backup I uploaded the first and then second video to YouTube.

And what happened?

In the last 6 days, 1722 people have downloaded the report (Click here), 1691 people have watched video #1 (Click here), 1748 have watched video #2 (Click here), the comments, subscribes & emails have been digitally overflowing my email box.

And btw – these numbers are for the youtube videos – the same magnitude of people have been watching via the main website which are not youtube videos.

It’s mind blowing for just the last 7 days no? What do you think? Is this normal?

Really thankful that people are getting value and amazed by the response. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

If there’s someone you know who might benefit from these free videos – pass them forward.

Who do you know who would benefit from videos and tools to raise money for their business or startup / ideas?

best to you and yours

Andrew

PS Any questions – just ask.

Funding Academy

Critical Mindset Shift Needed for Fast Funding

Andrew — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:36:02 +0000

Fast Funding Video

Hey Guys

So over the last week or so I’ve been putting the finishing touches to a set of videos to respond to the 220+ survey responses you gave me. Thank you!!!!

For those who don’t know – about two weeks I asked you, my readers, to send me the #1 question you have on finding investors and raising money for your business.

About 10% of you answered (not a bad turnout…!)

Having the pleasure of going through them, I was absolutely blown away by the thoughtful questions, the breadth of information people needed and in many cases, just how much pain is often involved in being rejected over and over again by potential investors. (Are they mad????)

Chatting and emailing with many of you, you gave me some insights into many of the super cool businesses you’re working hard to get off the ground

As a side note – I’m amazed these would be investors don’t seem to be able to ‘Get it!’ and start working with you right now….

So how about we change that together? Your business, your vision and your ideas together with my funding know-how….got to be a winning combination right?

To that end I’m putting the finishing touches to some videos which cover powerful techniques that, when you deploy them, should start getting you the investor traction you want and need.

You can watch the first video by clicking below. The biggest deal for me is to get your emails and your comments.

After you watch the video – shoot me a note or add you comments directly below the video.

Best

Andrew

PS – A weird thing happened with this video….

I uploaded it to the site to test it and as a backup added it to Youtube at close to midnight yesterday. I didn’t bother mentioning it to anyone because it was bed time…

…but when I woke up a few hundred people had already watched it. Weird – some crazed sleepless entrepreneur must have sent it to his buddies – is there an Insomniac Entrepreneurs Video Club I don’t know about?

Right now, still under 24 hours and close to 300 folks have watched it…is that a record given I’m not Paris Hilton, Britney Spears or Megan Fox?

Fast Funding Video

Free Report for limited time

Andrew — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Free Report

Hot of the Press!

Just completed a new report showing you the critical startup success factors you HAVE to know to realize your Startup Vision and How Important a Unique, Winning Startup Idea is to that Success. Come Grab it!

CLICK HERE

Fair warning – this report is free right now but with a few tweaks will soon be added to Barnes & Noble, Amazon etc.

Go grab this report while its still free! And after you’ve read it, come back and add your comments by clicking this post headline (top of page) or sending me a note.

Here’s to your startup success!

Andrew

PS – here’s the link to the free report again. HERE

PPS – I’ll soon be launching Funding Academy – grab the report and I’ll let you know more soon…

My last report on the One ‘Magic’ Ingredient for Startup Success is now on : Amazon Barnes & Noble

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Free Report

New Family Member delay’s launch

Andrew — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:27:46 +0000

Hey guys

Some of you were let into the secret that I’ve been working hard on preparing to launch a product….well, this weekend blew up because we gained a new family member.

The back story is my daughter has been working hard on her math after we told her if she knocked it out of the park – we’d get her our families first (and only…) puppy.

Well, after consistently delivering HIGH test results – we gave in and went ‘just to look’ at puppies this weekend.

My daughter is obviously better at this ‘selling stuff’ than me as she had figured out….

…get us playing with a cute puppy and it would be impossible for us to give him back to the breeder.

So – a good two months earlier than planned – ‘Coconut’ joined the family.

Here’s a quick 60 second video to show you why we couldn’t give him back…

So apologies that the product launch will be a few days delayed – I’ve already had a lot of emails from many of you asking for more details…all will be revealed soon…

But given I have to walk Coconut every hour or two and keep getting diverted, it may work out to be a day or two more…but have no fear…

I’ll be able to get out the tools and step by step techniques for raising the money you need for your business soon.

Stay tuned and if you have a comment for Coconut….click the post header at the top of the page and leave your comment.

Best to you and your family.

Andrew

PS – as I type this coconut is literally stretched across my feet under my desk completely asleep – who ever said a dog’s life was a bad thing??

Puppy

Product Launch Formula 3.0 Review

Announcement and Quick Favor

Andrew — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:31:24 +0000

Quick Favor

Hey there

So this morning I sent a short email out to my subscribers and I think I hit a nerve…more than a hundred people have already completed my two question super quick survey.

Here’s the email I sent a few hours ago….:

“Andrew here, I’ll be sending you more updates in just a little bit, but first I need to ask you a favor.

I am very close to finishing my course work for “Funding Academy”. I’ve been working on this for the past eighteen months and will be releasing the product in early April, but before I do, I have to ask you a couple of really
quick questions. Can you help me out?

You can answer the questions here and get a little more detail on Funding Academy here.

http://www.thefundingguru.com/QuickQuestion“

All of the responses have been awesome! Really great questions that most entrepreneurs are probably asking themselves such as…

“What mistakes must I avoid as I take $$ from an early investor that might unnecessarily constrain my degrees of freedom down the road?

“…How do I protect my future CapTable when taking those early bucks?…”

“…the best way to catch potential investor’s attention & security of the investment?…”

“…how to match myself w/ the right investor?…”

“…how to structure a simple seed deal?…”

“…How do you pitch to potential investors when you are still in start up w/o revenues, but your idea and timing are excellent?…”

“…What is the precise written format most investors want to see from start ups? Are there intermediaries who are better able to introduce start ups to investors?…”

—

And the questions keep on coming – every time I login I get a whole bunch more….fantastic!

So – here you go – do me a favor and answer this super quick survey….

Here’s the survey for you: http://www.thefundingguru.com/QuickQuestion

I’ll follow up in a few days with more results.

Feel free to add your comments below too…just click through to the post via the headline.

(Weird thing on my site is that comments can’t be added via the home page. Don’t ask me why…I just work here and I’m a tech dunce )

Andrew

http://www.The FundingGuru.com

Quick Favor

Angel Investor Quick Tip

Funding Case Study: Brayola

Andrew — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:48:02 +0000

Funding Case Study: Brayola

Here is a quick Funding Case study focused on a new cool company called Brayola.

In other words, if Brayola asked me how to get funded, here are a few thoughts and recommendations for them.

Snapshot:

Brayola is a new online service which leverages crowd sourcing so women can recommend their favorite bras to their friends and others.

A women joins the community, creates a Brayola drawer (a virtual drawer) where they can enter their size details along with favorite brands and products.

These product recommendations include a link to the relevant products on Amazon and Bare Necessities.

Business Model:

The initial business model seems to be affiliate based. In other words, when recommendations lead to purchase through the Brayola links at Amazon etc, Brayola should (or could if they don’t…) gain an affiliate commission.

Given, according to the website, 10K women have already created Brayola draws, one significant challenge of most startups has been overcome, namely customer adoption.

Future Business Models:

There are a number of potential business models Brayola could explore….

Potential Business Model Ideas:

Other products added to the drawers
Their own products
Customer Designed Product lines in the bra category
Consumer Data collection for brands
Product Innovation for brands
and the list could go on for another ten pages or more….

Strategic Questions:

Given the current business model, the technology has already been built. In other words, the ability to scale the current model is not dependent on technology development and is more a factor of marketing, public relations and increased customer adoption. As there are ‘viral’ elements built into the marketing model, this customer adoption should be fast and inexpensive.

Why is this an important point? Because how much money is required to take Brayola to the next key milestone?

Is the next key milestone X# of customers?

Maybe, but if I were the founder, I would be thinking big picture….i.e. where can I take Brayola next?

Is it geographic expansion? Is it expansion of product line? Is it new revenue models?

My gut tells me I would focus on geographic expansion and if so, additional languages may be where I’d focus.

Funding Suggestions:

The further Brayola can go in proving its business model, the better valuation they are likely to get when (if?) they take onboard investors.

My initial thought was for Brayola to focus on a few strategic investors, i.e. companies in the clothing / bra industry…especially as the potential exit here is through acquisition.

One concern with that strategic investor approach is the potential customer perception of ‘bias’ – somewhat mitigated by the fact that customer recommend brands and Brayola does not.

I believe Brayola also has the potential to get some seed Venture Capital companies interested in backing them given they a) have fast customer traction b) there are multiple business models c) the potential for a strong brand and d) their is a likely path to acquisition. The challenge will be finding venture capital investors who see the potential vision of where Brayola can be taken and that its aligned with where Orit Hashay wants to take it…

Long story short

I would focus on…

Determining and pursuing the next big expansion area for Brayola (Global domination?)
Strategic Investors – potentially from the relevant fashion houses or if there are concerns about bias – strategic investors / advisors with strong fashion industry experience
Seed Venture Capital companies – the usual cast of characters, the initial traction of Brayola should make this simple but not easy…

Thoughts?

If you’d like to find out more about Brayola – go here: http://ww.Brayola.com

Brayola Founder: Orit Hashay

Funding Case Study: Brayola

Free Report for limited time