Financing Your Startup
In 2016 women and founders of color received less than 2% each of venture capital funding.
Shark Tank watchers might think that getting attention and funding from venture capitalists is the only way to fund your startup. I’m here to tell you it’s not.
If you’re in the very early stages of your endeavor, you might be able to get by with bootstrapping. But if you’ve been in business for a while and have hit a growth stage, you’re probably going to need some extra cash to scale operations and expand your market. And in the age of information overload, there are a lot of funding options available to you: debt or equity, venture capital or grant funding, accelerator or loan? It can feel completely overwhelming.
In this week’s episode of Do What You Can For The People, I chat with Sahana Zutshi (one of my favorite financial wizards) about accessing capital for your startup. We break down all the funding opportunities available to startups and the pros and cons of each. There is no one way to finance your startup, but having a solid understanding of all the different paths you could take is the first step to figuring out which method or methods works best for you and your unique business needs.
Huge thanks to Sahana for sharing her expertise - now I’m off to raise a cool million for this talk show.
THINGS MENTIONED
Challenges in Accessing Capital: https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/business-financing/business-financing-challenges
Venture Capital: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/venturecapital.asp
Bootstrapping: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bootstrap.asp
Credit Unions: https://www.cusolution.com/credit-unions-an-entrepreneurs-secret-weapon/
Startup Funding Stages: https://www.cloudways.com/blog/startup-funding-stages/
Angel Investors: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/angelinvestor.asp
SBA Loans: https://www.sba.gov/partners/lenders/7a-loan-program/types-7a-loans
Amalgamated Bank: https://www.amalgamatedbank.com/
Accelerators: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrocremades/2019/01/10/how-startup-accelerators-work/#49e3365d44cd
MassChallenge Accelerator: https://masschallenge.org/
National Science Foundation: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/
Crowdfunding: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crowdfunding.asp
Non-Accredited Investors: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nonaccreditedinvestor.asp
WeFunder: https://wefunder.com/
Proof of Concept vs. Prototype: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307454
Lending Club: https://www.lendingclub.com/
Kiva: https://www.kiva.org/
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/
Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/
GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/
Startup Competitions: https://grasshopper.com/blog/startup-competition-guide/
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
15 Best Accelerators in the US: https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/10/these-are-the-15-best-accelerators-in-the-u-s/
7 Startup Accelerators in the US: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/300026
Top 10 Equity Crowdfunding Sites: https://www.moneycrashers.com/equity-crowdfunding-sites-investors-entrepreneurs/
GET IN TOUCH WITH SAHANA
BE MY GUEST!
If you or someone you know would like to be featured on the show, please get in touch!