So  you’ve  got  a  great  (validated!)  idea,  tested  your  business  model,  and  you’re  ready  to  launch  your  new  startup…  

Now  you  need  money  (and  lots  of  it)!  

Bootstrappers’  Hall  of  Fame  

   

•  Starting a business with little capital or formal investment""•  Using your own finances (savings, credit card, loans) or

‘friends, family and fools’""•  Selling your time/expertise on the side (consulting)""•  Selling an early product to fund company development""•  Leveraging other sources of funding (government grants,

crowdfunding)"""

•  Bootstrapping is the only option for companies that won’t grow quickly or provide a significant ROI to investors"

"•  Even companies who will get investment later may need to

reach certain milestones/levels of traction on their own first""•  Some entrepreneurs choose to bootstrap to maintain

control/full ownership over their company"

•  Forces you to focus on priorities and leverage what you have (time, expertise, money)"

""

Start-up capital is NOT the leading predictor of success: ""•  Companies started with <$1000 as likely to be profitable as those

starting with >$100K""•  Companies launched with <$10K achieved almost as rapid a

median growth rate as those that were loaded with start-up capital before company’s first sale"

But size affected: ""•  Companies with >$100K seed capital employed on average 150

people and had $21M in revenue; <$1000 seed capital had 56 employees and $13M sales"

"

•  Keep overhead low!•  Share office space or work from home"•  Use QuickBooks, Wordpress. etc. and other affordable technology solutions"•  Low fixed costs; keep costs variable""

•  Leverage relationships!•  Tap network for discounted services/deferred fees"•  Use advisors and mentors"•  Find employees who will share the risk (and upside)"•  Leverage suppliers to only get paid when you make money"•  Paid product development: customer that needs your solution badly""

•  Do-it-yourself marketing and hiring!•  Use interns and contractors to keep costs flexible"•  Pay commission-only for sales people"

"•  Money management!

•  Line up credit before you quit your job"•  Look for service opportunities related to your business"•  Focus on sales not just product development""

•  Pick the right business (short selling cycles, recurring revenue)"

"

A search tool on the MaRSDD website to help entrepreneurs connect to more than $30 billion in 4,500 government funding programs

•  $26B in grants and $4B in tax credits. "•  Average grant size among the top 500 recipients is about $1.8M. "•  About 1.5% of grants are over $10M"•  76% of grants are paid to companies and about 95% of these are paid

to SMEs"•  28% of recipients are based in Ontario "•  Top sectors are manufacturing, media, and tech""" "

marsdd.com/funding !!

•  Kickstarter: Passed $1 billion in pledges from 5.7m people in 224 countries; Canada: 1400 projects had $44m in pledges raising $14m"

" PROS   CONS  

Validate  an  idea   Lots  of  failed  campaigns  

Pre-­‐sales/Sell  first  product     Launch  too  early  

Build  market  awareness   UnderesFmaFng  cost  of  fulfillment  

No  equity    

Wrong  price  point  

Works  well  for  NFT/arts  ventures   Wrong  product  

Pg 13"

The Crowdfunding Success Pattern!"Learn how your startup can leverage and maximize crowdfunding from Brian Meece of RocketHub. "

Crowdfunding Change: Tips and tricks for social innovators from Indiegogo!"Amy Lesnick, Head of Social Innovation and Non-Profits, Indiegogo, discusses how crowdfunding has become a transformational tool for social innovators.""