Building a High Growth Startup in Buffalo
Survivalist Entrepreneurship
What do you need?
Money, Power, Respect.
Money
OPM
Grants
Savings
Other People’s Money
Friends and Family
• Bank of Mom & Dad
• Part-Time Contracting
Incubators
• Z80 Labs
• STOR (UB)
• D!G (BNMC)
Other People’s Money
Angels
• Western New York Venture Assoc.
• Buffalo Angels (part of WNYVA)
• Rochester Angel Network
Venture Capital & Banks
• You’re probably not ready -- yet.
Other People’s Money
Vocabulary
• Equity
• Liabilities (Debt)
• Assets
• Pro Forma Financial Statements
• Common stock
• Preferred stock
• Break Even Point
Other People’s Money
Vocabulary
• Convertible Promissory Note
• Seed Round
• A-Round
• Term Sheet
• Exit
• Acquisition (M&A)
• Initial Public Offering (IPO)
• Out of Cash (OOC)
Grants
New York State
• Startup-NY
• UB Center for Advance Technology
• National Grid
• 43North (Not really a Grant)
Federal
• SBIR
• STTR
Savings
Pros:
• Maintain Equity
• Skin in the game
• You’ve already done the work
Cons:
• 100% of nothing is less than 30% of something
• 3 out of 4 - Startups Fail
Power
People
Place
Planning
Promotion
Monopoly on Violence
People
Founders:
• Friends
• Family
Partnerships are likely to fail.
People
Contractors:
• Lawyer
• Book Keeper
• Developers
• Designers
• Product/Project Managers
If it’s not your core competency and you have cash, outsource it.
Trade with people.
Place
Co-working
• Co-Work Buffalo
• The Loft
• D!G
Incubators
• Z80
• STOR
• D!G
Planning
Internal Documents
• Strategic Plan• Mission
• Vision
• Values
• Whatever people with money ask you for.
External Documents
• Business Plan Summary (6 Pages)
• Pitch Deck (10 Slides)
• Executive Summary (1 Page)
• Elevator Pitch (30 Seconds)
PromotionPublic Relations
• Buffalo News
• Business First
• Art Voice
• Block Club
• Spree
• Networking Events
Marketing
• Social Media
• Trade Shows
Advertising
• SEM
Monopoly on Violence
Taxes
• Federal
• State
• Estimated Quarterly
• Self-Employment (15.3%)
• Sales
Get a Tax Lawyer – “There’s no such thing as accountant-client privilege”
Monopoly on Violence
Types of Entities
• S-Corp • Taxes Pass-through & <100 shareholders
• C-Corp • Possible Double Taxation & >100 shareholders
• Benefit Corporation• Maximize Social Good not necessarily Shareholder
Value
• Limited Liability Company(LLC)
• Doing-Business-As (dba)
Get a Lawyer. All of these have assorted fees, requirements, benefits, and drawbacks.
Respect
Mentors
Advisors
Customers
Other Companies
Additional Reading
Me
Respect
Mentors:
• Tell you what to expect
• Review your work
• Connect you with their networks
Advisors:
• All of the above
• Invest in your company
Customers
Customers:
• Tell you why you suck
• Break your products in new and
interesting ways
• Are your Boss/Gods
• Pay you money
• Allow you to exist
Other Companies
Startups:
• Commiserate with you
• Allow you to learn vicariously
• Give you hope
Strategic Partners:
• Are bigger than you
• Use your product or resell it (OEM)
• Are better than you at building a part of the solution you’re selling
• May acquire you
Additional ReadingBooks:
• Finance for Non-Financial Managers
• Dead on Arrival: How to avoid the legal mistakes that could kill your start-up
• The Lean Startup
• Four-Hour Work Week
• Crush It
Blogs:
• TechCrunch
• StartupBuffalo.org
• Seth Godin
• Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 True Fans”
Education:
• UB’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership
Slides available:
slideshare.net/clarkdever