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Clarity

Michael Downing

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and start-up veteran - Founder of 7 killer tech companies since 1995, 3 acquired, 1 IPO - active advisor and angel investor in big ideas and passionate teams

$8.33/min

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4 Reviews

34 minutes
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Growth Hacking Start-ups Product Strategy Marketing Strategy Venture Capital Digital Media Software Early-stage Startups New Media Angel Investor

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Start-Up Funding

There are very specific keys to getting your start-up funded, very few people outside of Silicon Valley understand or even know these steps - whether angel or VC - you have to "check the right boxes" in order to successfully raise funding.

Product Market Fit

Before you raise a dime - making sure you establish a solid foundation of verified product-market fit, that you can build your business on.

Raising a Seed Round for Your Start-Up

How to "get it right" the first time when you set out to raise the first funding for your start-up.

Successfully Launching a Start-Up

How to make sure your setting your self up for success as you define and build your product and start-up

Validating There's a Market for Your Start-Up Product

The little-known absolute #1 reason start-ups fail...there is no real market for the product. As simple as this sounds, over and over again founder's hunches are not validated early-on and start-ups fail as a result. This is a discussion of how to definitively quantify the demand and existence of a real market BEFORE you raise a dime.

Answers 8
Reviews 4

Answers

Michael Downing answered

I co-founded an online newspaper/entertainment blog in NYC with a writer and we can't find a way to monetize it.

The realities of media and publishing are such that it requires massive audience to effectively monetize any content.

It's awesome you guys have built up 25-50K in visitors monthly , but realistically the cost of actually building a 10-15MM unique user audience (profitable) monthly is WAY out of the range of possible for most people/start-ups.

Your sweet-spot and skill so far has been to CREATE CONTENT, and arguably content that a group of people (25k-50k) want to consume.

You will need to look elsewhere for audience - you need to syndicate your content and get paid by larger trafficked properties who are looking for solid programming around specific topics your covering.

This is a very real and tangible way to create predictable revenues month-2-month from your publication.

Happy to give you examples.

-MD

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Website Monetization

Monetization

New Media

Michael Downing answered

If the goal is to be an entrepreneur, given the digital age we live in, what skills should sales professionals develop?

To be an entrepreneur successfully is essentially to be a great communicator and motivator of people, to identify great opportunities and relentlessly pursue them while enlisting other smart people to join you in the adventure.

- I learned more about sales, human psychology and human nature from selling cutlery door-to-door in high-school than just about anything else ( i know sounds crazy)

- The basic notions of how to convince, motivate and "sell" people will apply no matter what technologies come along - so these are crucial

- But if you don't have a strong command of basic technological tools necessary to build a business, the struggle will be harder (email, CRM, CMS, Demand-Gen, Analytics, and the world of software development - Lean, Agile, Scrum, etc)

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Sales

Customer Acquisition

Growth Hacking

Michael Downing answered

What is the best project management tool for a startup developing and scaling a mobile application?

Pivotal Tracker, no question.

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Project Management

iOS Development

Scrum

Michael Downing answered

How much equity should I ask as a CMO in a startup?

Likely you should only be getting 1-4% max as a CMO in a tech start-up.

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Marketing

Start-ups

Entrepreneurship

Michael Downing answered

At what point should an entrepreneur give up on their venture?

Never. If you go into a startup with any other mind-set than your going to make it work "no matter what" you will never survive the grind.

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Entrepreneurship

Fundraising

Michael Downing answered

When should the founders lose majority control?

Having done over 35 different financing rounds over 7 companies I've built in Silicon Valley - you should be giving up 15%-25% dilution in each round with a plan to never raise beyond a Series-C.

Investors get equity for money invested, don't start doing "special deals" or it could poison the well for future investors. If you want to "slightly" sweeten it for a truly early investor , then put them on your advisory board for 1/4 a point equity ( vesting over 2 years). Then they have to deliver some value for that equity.

-MD

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Fundraising

Early-stage Startups

Angel Investor

Michael Downing answered

I'm looking for health care business angel investors for my startup. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to look?

There are 3-5 healthcare specific crowdfunding platforms - I would start there.
-MD

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Fundraising

Angel Investor

angel investing

Michael Downing answered

How do you determine if a business idea is worth pursuing?

99% of the time Start-ups fail because there is no tangible "market" for what they are creating...this is why it is SO important to validate that the market demand truly exists and can power a business. I see over and over again this is the mistake a HUGE number of entrepreneurs make in the first 90-Days. You have to be diligent about testing your hypothesis and quantifying market demand - before you tae a single step.

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New Business Development

Entrepreneurship

Business Ideas

Reviews

Michael and I worked closely as a team crafting the strategy and business plan, raising funds, and building GoFish from a few rough ideas into a company. Michael has a keen sense of the trends and directions in digital media.

Ted Casey Source: LinkedIn

Michael is one of the most experienced Internet visionaries and entrepreneurs in the industry. I recommend him at the highest level as a valuable resource in the online marketplace.

Tal Turner Source: LinkedIn

MD understands and has fine tuned radar of where the digital media industry is headed and the intersection of Internet, media players and that of content providers.

Too bad musicbank was ahead of its time by about 10 years.
GoFish should do just fine.

Arman Khalili Source: LinkedIn

Michael is a pioneer of online entertainment years ahead of all the major networks. He was one of if not “the” first to develop made-for-internet programming. Bottom line one of the smartest people I know!

Dennis Baker Source: LinkedIn

Member since January 2014