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6 Due Diligence Goals When Vetting Business Partners

Startup Professionals Musings

Business partners can be co-founders in a startup, multiple owners of an existing business, or a joint venture. You need to do the due diligence to make that decision before you sign away your equity. I was pleased to see this approach highlighted as well in a new book for startups, “ Zero to IPO ,” by Frederick Kerrest.

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6 Due Diligence Concerns Before Outside Contracting

Startup Professionals Musings

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of discussion about bringing the work back home, since costs have gone up in less-developed countries, there are issues with intellectual property, and time zone and language differences make management difficult. It’s easy to find companies in certain countries that will quote cost reductions up to 75 percent.

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4 Keys To A Successful Integrity Check With Investors

Startup Professionals Musings

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal.

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7 Due Diligence Checks On Your Idea To Save Some Pain

Startup Professionals Musings

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. Passion, optimism, and determination are necessary but not sufficient to assure a successful startup. Check for intellectual property barriers in your way.

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Startup Metrics

TechEmpower

When talking to startup founders or other innovators, we always ask questions to better understand their business as a core. How does it meet customers’ needs? One way to approach that last question is to use this simple model: Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) How will your business reach prospects? What does the business do?

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How Smart Startups Survive Investor Due Diligence

Startup Professionals Musings

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal.

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5 Steps To Finding The Best Investor For Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor. It’s no fun for either side.