Notes from our April San Francisco Bootstrappers Breakfast
How to manage advisers:
- Spell out exactly what you are looking for in an Advisory Board
- Have a meeting with them monthly or quarterly to have constant communication with them
- Have them all together face to face or phone to hear a difference of option and understand different way to look at your issues
- If they are investors as well as advisers have them do something.
- Don’t give away equity unless there is a return for that equity.
- Ask potential advisers if they have advised for 3 other companies and ask to talk to those companies
- Fire them if they don’t achieve goals If you have an adviser because they have network connections with a potential customer, consider going to the corporate website of that customer and pitching to their marketing team.
- Its their job to get clients on board. They get commission for adding products. For example Walgreens.
Leveraging Investors
There are 2 ways to fund an initial company so that the company has power over its development.
- Generate your own revenue add major customers crowd investing customers are more valuable than investors
- Have investors compete over you. This way, they do what you want instead of the other way around.
Finding Foreign Investors
- Print free education
- Go to consultants to get $$ to fund trips abroad
- Go through the chamber of commerce in specific cities in the USA (i.e. LA, San Jose)
- Every country has a ministry of Foreign Affairs. These Organizations are meant to make you succeed as a foreign company in their land. Become a US Company.
- Bundle your software with a US Company
- Embassies have regular tech fairs.
Recruit people to join your team
- Make backwards plans to a date.
- Start with goal and work back to present with individual markers of accomplishment
- Mercenaries vs. Missionaries – Appeal to them either with how you will make money together or how you will bring impact to an issue
- Its hard to get a deal done when you need a double sided deal. i.e. when you have to have a customer and and buyer like ebay
How to use the true believers?
- Testimonials
- Testimonial videos
- Testimonial video trees where you click on a link that is your issue and it takes you to subtopic pages. Each page in this topic tree has a one or more videos
- Make a TED Talk When are they most excited about your product.
- Use that peak enthusiasm.
- Introduce a special offer