The recipe for startup success includes a great idea, an equally great team and enough capital to bring it all together. You may start with funds from your family and friends. But as your company grows, you will require more financing. Enter funding.
The United Nation’s 26th Climate Conference, “COP26”, came to a close on November 12, 2021. The UN, itself, wasn’t fully pleased with the outcome. Besides weak commitments made by countries within, the conference also witnessed protestors opposing “greenwashing” and demanding “system change, not climate change” outside.
We all know about Apple’s success. With a US$2.4 trillion market capitalization and a range of tech and applications under its belt, the company has been consistently topping the charts in terms of sales. One of their most popular products, the iPhones, has earned Apple US$191.9 billion in revenue in 2021, with the company’s other tech following suit as well.
When it comes to raising funds for the business, bootstrapping, venture capitalists and angel investors are the standard choices in every entrepreneur’s mind. However, with each investment option, there is a fear of losing control due to outside influence.
As our places and styles of work change, employee benefits need to change accordingly. All through 2020, companies have had to operate virtually, and some have even decided to never go back to working from the office ever again. Around 30% of people across the world work fully remotely as of last year.
When you start a business, you want to stand out from the crowd and show your customers how your product is different from others in the market. This is where a unique value proposition (UVP) comes into play. UVP is a statement that tells your customers exactly how your product or service will benefit them.
If you are looking for ways to raise funds for your startup, SAFE (simple agreement for future equity) and convertible notes are two options at your disposal. But what do these terms mean? And what do they look like in practice?
In 2018, footwear giant Nike released an ad campaign to celebrate their 30th anniversary. One of the faces of their campaign was Colin Kaepernick—the former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers who, before a match, kneeled in solidarity with African-American people who were being wrongly targeted by the American police force. Kaepernick had faced backlash for his public protest against racism; Nike faced backlash for supporting him. Nevertheless, Nike won more hearts than it lost.
Shoppers today want glowing skin, but not at the cost of the environment. That’s evident in the way they are shopping. A study by Wella’s weDo/Professional revealed that more than half of customers prefer buying sustainable beauty products. A Partner at McKinsey, Emma Spagnuolo, shared in a podcast, “Since we started doing our generational research in 2016.
When people tell you it is time to slow down, to focus on yourself, and to relax for a few minutes, do you often become angry at them for not understanding how important your business is to you? You can’t possibly relax. There is too much to be done and not enough hours in the day, right? Wrong.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is about making your website stand out in search engines. With the right SEO strategy, you can rank among the top sites visible to users on Google search.
Collaboration is integral to business success. Startups collaborate with investors, employees, customers and various internal departments. Some kick it up a notch by collaborating with the big guns—billion-dollar corporations. Critics of this collaboration might label startups as “sell-outs”, but why should they pass on the opportunity to tap bigger resources? And why should corporations deprive themselves of unbridled innovation? Well, they shouldn’t. Here’s why.
Sales is integral to a company’s success. After all, it dictates how your business offering reaches and convinces your target audience. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, companies with a defined sales process earned 18% more revenue than companies with none. What’s more? Companies that used three sales pipeline tools efficiently had a 28% higher revenue growth! Building and maintaining a sales pipeline can make a huge difference to your business growth.
Education is no longer just about textbooks and chalkboards. And, rest assured, it’s not limited to students. With EdTech—technology that makes education more engaging—the education landscape is changing, and so is the demand. In 2020, the global education technology market was valued at US$89.49 billion.
As an entrepreneur, you must keep in mind that you can’t fulfill your dreams alone. Be it to scale operations or even just to hit the ground running, startups need investments, and that’s where fundraising comes in. Fundraising refers to the process of seeking financial investment from investors or other sources of capital.
Cyberport, the FinTech hub of China, will be hosting the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (CVCF) from November 2, 2021, to November 3, 2021. With the theme of “Venturing for Success: Resilience, Growth and Opportunities”, the community’s annual premier venture forum will shine a light on the urgent conversation surrounding the tech and venture ecosystem post the pandemic.
