MATTHEW BUCKLAND: What a successful startup needs
Investors will be looking for certain things
There is a lopsided power balance between entrepreneurs and investors, with startups getting rejected for funding at a high rate. Venture capital company Edge Growth says 70% of all startups that receive funding still fail, and just one in 100 startups actually receive early stage funding. This figure may even be lower in emerging markets, pegged at just one in 200. With odds like these it is clear that it is actually exceptionally hard to organise funding for small businesses. The big headlines and stories about startups receiving millions in funding and entrepreneurs doing big exits can create a skewed perspective: that it is easier to raise funding than it really is. In fact, you may have a better chance of becoming a rock star. But being an “investible entrepreneur” changes that power balance, and in fact it is the investors who will approach a startup begging to have the privilege of funding it. Wouldn’t that be nice? An entrepreneur may have a great idea, and his or her busine...
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