Start-up Blog
There was a time when borrowing money to start a business meant one thing: a bank and its often byzantine and bureaucratic approval process. But markets change, as does technology, and early stage companies seeking capital no longer have to turn to skeptical and onerous loan committees to get the funding they need to get […] Read more “5 Alternative Funding Sources for Start-Ups”
When you are living and breathing your start-up dream, when it seems like everything you do and every thought you have is about how to build and grow your company, it can be easy to lose focus on other things. You may not exercise as much as you should, eat poorly, or not spend as […] Read more “5 Personal Savings Tips for Start-Up Founders and Entrepreneurs”
Quick tips to help your startup maintain healthy cash flow. If your brilliant ideas and strategy are the brains of your start-up, and your entrepreneurial passion and vision are its heart, then cash flow is the blood running through your company’s veins. If that flow is too weak or stops entirely, or you fail to […] Read more “3 Cash Flow Management Tips for Start-Ups”
Reddit. Dropbox. Airbnb. These are just three of over 1,400 startups which have obtained early-stage funding, guidance, and support from West Coast tech accelerator Y Combinator since 2005. In 2013, Y Combinator began utilizing a new and novel instrument for many of its seed-stage investments: the Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE). Since then, SAFEs […] Read more “Playing It SAFE: Should Your Start-Up Consider a Simple Agreement for Future Equity?”
Sales may be booming at your small business, but if you are not complying with your obligation to pay Illinois state sales tax, your hard-earned revenues could be at risk. Collecting and paying state sales tax is a legal requirement for many – but not all -companies doing business in Illinois. As such, it is […] Read more “Illinois Sales Tax for Small Businesses: Do You Know What You Owe?”
Just as cash comes in different denominations, the money that funds your start-up can come from many different sources. You can invest money from your own pocket (“bootstrapping”) and you can lean on your friends and family to buy into your dream. But things can get more complicated when you seek capital from folks you […] Read more “Angel Investors v. Venture Capital: Where Should Your Start-Up Look for Funding?”
His name is not on the 20,000 restaurants around the world that sell french fries, Egg McMuffins, and Big Macs to tens of millions every day. But Ray Kroc is the reason that a bus driver in Philadelphia and an accountant in Berlin can dine on the exact same food served exactly the same way […] Read more ““The Founder”: 3 Nuggets of Start-Up Wisdom from Ray Kroc”