Category: Articles and Journalism

I am a strong believer that empowering business owners and entrepreneurs to succeed creates a stronger local economy. I myself provide digital services that lubricate the gears of startups and help founders find financial independence. Inasmuch I like to support tools that further that agenda.

Alexandra Lysik, a local business woman in Wilmington, NC, has a special talent for networking. She is energetic, outgoing, and creates strong relationships based on reciprocating referrals. It stands to reason she often gets asked about where networking events in town and surrounding areas are, when they are, and who she connects to. Of course, a busy woman only has so much time to address these questions, but naturally she wants to help. She decided to shed light on her secrets by letting the Sunshine in.

On Tuesday January 12th, Alexandra hosted a website launch party co-sponsored by Mike Hunter of Pivot Launch Coaching. She launched a new site focused on providing tools for network marketing individuals in the Coastal area. It’s called My Sunshine Adventures, branded after her personal mascot Little Miss Sunshine, and provides useful tools and resources for any local business person or entrepreneur looking to spread their reach.

Features on the My Sunshine Adventures site include a “spotlight business of the week” section which provides a detailed overview of local companies and a blog updated with powerful information for anyone in the network marketing field. Perhaps one of the most valuable features, however, may be the calendar that lists nearly all networking events in the county. Seriously, go to the site and add those events to your calendar. You’ll keep yourself busy.

My Sunshine Adventures encompasses the entrepreneurial spirit without the bleeding edge technology normally associated with it. She identified a series of problems, then, once she did, she solved them and made the solution digitally available.

I would like the community of NHC [New Hanover County] and Brunswick County to be able to use the website as a resource in planning their next sales strategy. Grow in networking partners, learn new networking skills and nurture their grass roots approach to sales. — Alexandra Lysik

Lysik’s vision is to strengthen the potency of the ecosystem by providing success tools to its members. Her website provides exactly that service. You can support Alexandra as she supports the community by asking her about insurance services at alysik@allstate.com.

Originally posted – https://medium.com/@bluefission/local-website-shares-network-marketing-opportunities-40c80215f8b4#.ggg6878ye

Four VC, startup and finance experts spoke to entrepreneurs in Wilmington last week to share tips and tricks on building and funding startups.

Last week, a Networking for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW) event featured four roundtable speakers who each offered tips for bringing a startup from seed to exit. The four speakers were David Jones of Bull City Venture Partners, Doug Ellis of M&A advisory Decision Point International, Sean O’Leary, former CEO of the recently acquired StrikeIron and the interim director of NC IDEA, and Peter Meath of the venture bank Square 1 Bank. Each speaker’s particular role in the business-building process offered a unique and valuable perspective.
The event was titled VIP4 and covered a total of nine topics each beginning with the letters V, I and P (the four signifies the four speakers). 

The Vs: Valuation, Venture Banking, and Validation of Market Need

Valuation

Tech investor David Jones took on valuation, explaining that the process of valuing a business occurs at three main points: when raising funding, offering options and upon exit. While he emphasizes that many aspects of the valuation process are “more art than it is science,” he makes it clear that there are techniques to the process. 

There are certain qualities of a business that can be evaluated for the sake of valuation. For instance, David mentions that the entity’s cash flow is a good, real world indicator of traction. Its comparables— qualities or aspects that compare to a similar and already valuated entity—also plays a part. How does your business compare to another in the same industry or to a company that provides the same service?

If what you offer seems obviously more valuable than the competition, that plays well toward valuation. Another common measure used in determining the valuation of a company is the experience of the team. Bringing in a strong individual who’s already worked with a successful startup or is a leader in the industry is a powerful indicator of your business’ value, but more on this later.

The valuation becomes highly important when considering dilution, particularly to the owners and founders of a business. On average, about 15-25% of a business is sold during each round of funding or investment. This becomes more important to consider when calculating your business’s option pool, which itself will be about 15-25% of your business.

David warns prospective entrepreneurs not to get too tied up in the valuation process, however. There are many techniques one could apply to attain high seed valuations above $3 or 5 million, but a high valuation is not the goal.

“The financing is not the win…The win is when you exit the business,” he said.

It’s also wise not to seek too high a valuation—an over-generous valuation can be dangerous. Investor-share preference—the policy that investors are the first in the ownership chain to be paid back if the exit is below the valuation of the company—can hurt startups if they set valuation too high. In such an event, the founders may never see positive capital gains. In short, build your business, get a fair valuation, then get back to work.

Validation

Serial entrepreneur Sean O’Leary spoke on validation of your business model—the key to determining it is separating fact from fiction. An investor looking at your startup will need to feel certain that your business can perform in the real marketplace. There are several aspects of your business used to determine this. 

The amount of traction: This refers to your startup’s relative momentum. A startup that already shows positive signs of growth will obviously be more attractive to an investor, as it comes with an argument towards its own validation already. 

Sales: For startups that are already in the market, the amount of revenue earned and the rate at which it was earned can help provide testable evidence to rationalize an investment. 

Users/customers: A business’s users or customers are another measurable indicator of its traction. Having reached an existing audience or gathered a fan base willing to do business with you indicates validation proven against at least some fraction of the market. 

These factors, Sean says, absolutely have to be measurable and truthful. Collect actual data on your business, such as your key performance indicators or KPIs, and convert these into facts to put toward your valuation.

From this, we can read that the stops on the road to presenting a validation the startup is to bootstrap, then gain audience traction, earn revenue, and get a fair valuation.

While the above are affected largely by past and present activities of your business, there are validation factors that involve future activities as well. An example is the plan your business has for its capital, including the equity from its valuation. 

What expenditures will this capital go into? Equipment? Team members? Marketing? Why? Ask what these expenses add to your product or service. Again Sean urges the business owner to make certain that these expectations, and the rationalization behind them, are based in measurable and truthful reality.

Startup banker Peter Meath reminds us that one of our primary jobs is to convince others that you know what you’re doing. Certainly, Sean’s advice on real and measurable facts can go a long way toward this effort. Either way, you should be able to present a case for what creates your business’s value. Further, when creating the answer to this question, consider what an investor might think of that answer.

Venture Banking 

Peter delivered an interesting anecdote regarding his own Square 1 Bank. During its startup phase, leaders had to present the case for starting a venture bank, that is, a bank that loans money in one of the riskiest investment arenas that exist. 

There was two-fold value to his story. On one side, it explains how a successful and mainstream venture collected data and made plans in order to present a validated model. On the other, it reminds us that banks are granular to value building. Venture bank-backed value is a debt, which is all the more reason to have a valid business model since the debt will have to be repaid.

The Is: Introductions, IPOs and Exits, and Intellectual Property

IPOs and Exits 

M&A expert Doug Ellis opened with some advice for weighing IPOs, mergers, and acquisitions. He mentioned that it is important to start building your business with the end goal in mind. That is, do you want a lifestyle business or an exit with equity value? This end destination should largely determine how you run the business and which hoops you will jump through toward the goal that will ultimately satisfy you. 

Buyers will further want a predictable revenue stream that fits your business model, whether that’s subscription-managed services, licensing or rental. In short, your company would benefit from having some method or strategy to hold your customers captive. Your growth rate also factors in, Ellis mentions. There is somewhat of a revenue-to-valuation ratio. Sean also adds that you can think of acquirers as partners and vice versa; the partners you work with provide validation to your business.

Once you have determined and set your trajectory, you can consider who might want to potentially acquire your business. This exercise can help avoid many problems during an acquisition. Five to 10 years from now, your business and all if its activities will be scrutinized under a microscope, so make decisions, build a team and gain the traction that will be favorable to that event. A wildcard on your founders team, a nondisclosure breach, or a red flag in your books at the founding of your startup could become an obstacle to exit years after its occurrence. 

In the end, Doug says, the results of your exit are largely based on what the market is willing to pay.

Intellectual Property 

What the market is willing to pay, however, also depends on what you have to offer. Peter mentions that intellectual property has always been important in underwriting, but during the dotcom bubble the game changed quite a bit.

IP isn’t a magic pot of gold. You must ask yourself if your Intellectual property is actually defensible. In a semiconductor, high tech or biotech industry, it may likely be so, but otherwise, it may be best to focus on the market, Peter says. In other words, simply owning IP might not add to your business’s traction. You should focus on intrinsic uniqueness before securing patents. Doug notes that with a technology startup, you either need to begin with a unique technology or with an existing technology that is stacked into a denser product.

Introductions

David Jones gives some advice about meeting and talking to investors. Generally, the question is not how to introduce yourself, but if you can get introduced. Often with small business and startups, it is in the best interest of your lawyers, bankers and other professional partners, to introduce you to potential investor opportunities. After all, if you make more money, so do they. Investors get hundreds of propositions a year and have to filter out startup noise. They want their connections to vet you. It is proof that you can be “scrappy” enough to work up the chain to them. 
Peter points out that investors can provide the most expensive but most valuable capital in a startup’s life. Since you are going to be considered against your entire ecosystem, you want to nurture it with strong partners. 
“How do your service providers measure up?” should remain a question you ask yourself. Do they add value to your business? Find the best ones to work with and grow into teams and partnerships that help lead to your success. 

The Ps: Profit, Persistence and People

People 

We promised to get back to the subject of bringing strong people onto your team, and the actual role of people in building a business from startup to exit. David says that 80 percent of an investor’s decision is based on the people that surround a product or service. Sean adds that it is best to work with experienced people. Experience on your team is beneficial, not only because of the answers and foresight those team members bring to your company, but because of the perceived value they bring to your entire startup.

It isn’t your internal team alone that can influence the value and exit of your company. Doug says that your clients might become your buyers. Since it is better to be bought than to be sold, be compelling to those to whom you are providing service and a great business strategy and value. These clients already respect the value you provide, and, if you fill a whitespace in their business, they will likely utilize your product or service. That may be a good opportunity for a potential acquisition. 

Persistence 

When it comes to people, there is the question of whether talent or passion is more important. While the jury is officially out, talent generally wins. If you go to a pitch event or an entrepreneur event, no one will talk about the passion they have. Passion is assumed, but talent is what will differentiate the quality of your business. 

But it doesn’t have to be either or. It’s definitely best to exhibit both. Fill all the gaps. That said, persistence is a key factor in each facet. An investor is going to expect a successful founder to be able to surround her or himself with a powerful team and instill within them a persistence toward building a successful company.

Profit 

So how does the team itself profit from an exit? Doug mentions that there is a dichotomy after an exit, in which some team members are more valuable than others to investors or acquirers. In a product industry, more valuable will be developers or engineers. But in a service industry, the C-suite members would be critical. Investors want to make sure your team gets a decent earn-out to incentivize them to stay on the team and be focused on success, even after the exit.

The journey from startup to exit is an exciting although risky one. There are many things to consider and many things to learn from different individuals that interact with your business at each point of its growth, from funding to selling.

The primary goal of a founder looking to take his idea to exit should be to gain momentum and never lose it. Create a compelling and obvious case for the value your company provides, and make it easy and desirable for others to get involved. In culmination, Sean reminds us that entrepreneurs are crazy to begin with. It’s important to stay grounded in reality—stay smart and self-aware.

As a good follow up to this event, Bull City Venture Partners is hosting a Venture Capital outlook panel in Raleigh on Jan 19, where investors will share what they’re looking forward to in the new year.

Originally posted – http://www.exitevent.com/article/startup-entrepreneurship-valuation-venture-validation-151218

Wilmington-based WALE invests in a Wilmington pet technology company, fills coastal North Carolina funding gap.

There are many hurdles and hardships for an entrepreneur trying to succeed. Among those is the ever constant need for capital, particularly from outside investors.

Coastal North Carolina areas don’t have the same density of startups as Raleigh/Durham or Charlotte, but several organizations have been working to change that by gathering and supporting startup business owners. And there have been some big successes with Next Glass and nCino raising large amounts of capital and grabbing national headlines.

Early stage investment dollars remained a clear need until recently when a new investment group was announced. Wilmington Angels for Local Entrepreneurs (WALE), a network formed by a handful of entrepreneurs in and around the region, provides opportunities for early-stage startups to secure what would be otherwise out-of-reach seed money along with mentorship. And it has already made its first investment in a pet technology company called Petrics, founded by the manager of the Elite Innovations makerspace in Wilmington.

It can be very hard for a new tech business in Wilmington to raise money. Factoring its traditionally conservative economic climate, some founders may find themselves pitching to investors who are uncomfortable with certain technologies, business models and propositions. This often leads to a dance of introduction after introduction before founders are matched to willing funding sources. This process is a lengthy gamble that does not suit the iteration and growth requirements for early startups in these industries.

WALE Founder Jim Roberts, an experienced organizer of entrepreneurial investment groups and committees, envisions WALE as a network comprised of investors who have played the role of startup entrepreneur themselves and can not only provide financial support but mentorship. With a little handholding and some small bets on these more nascent companies, the investors can prepare businesses to stand before larger investors and VCs.

Roberts expects to help train his investors on how to best support entrepreneurs. He has experience doing just that at various statewide organizations, most recently the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

WALE does not intend to compete with existing investing entities such as the Wilmington Investor Network (WIN) or IMAF Cape Fear but instead invest at much earlier stages of a business. And in fact, Roberts hopes to work with entrepreneurs to make them ready for investment by other local groups. In addition, a partnership between WALE and 12 additional angel groups could provide more capital to qualified founders. If the sum invested by WALE members into a Wilmington startup is at least $50,000, the deal will be considered by other groups in the network. Given enough well-suited opportunities, WALE hopes to make between four to six investments a year.

WALE will mostly invest in tech and life science—its investors hail from those fields and most new Wilmington startups operate in those industries. Roberts’ experience with organizations such as the Center of Innovation for NanoBiotechnology (COIN) positions him well for these industries too.
Petrics will be the network’s guinea pig. The company has created a device and software that helps pet owners ensure their pets are eating the right amount of food at the right time. The system promises to be affordable and to accurately portion pet food, avoiding many avoidable and costly pet illnesses caused by overeating.

Roberts hopes to source additional deals through his other initiative, Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington or NEW. For the last six months, he’s held startup events and (often Triangle-based) speakers at Ironclad Brewery in downtown Wilmington in hopes of better connecting Raleigh and Durham entrepreneurs with those in his town. NEW formalizes that event series. The next one, coming December 10, focuses on the topic of venture capital and includes several Triangle investors.

This relationship is one Roberts refers to as the “Coastal Corridor,” and with NEW as a focal point, he forms a gateway between the small business economies from the coast and the regions deeper into the state. Roberts hopes to give coastal entrepreneurs an advantage by introducing them to leaders from the Triangle—they’ll have a warm introduction when they network in Raleigh or Durham and won’t feel like they have to move inland to make those connections. Roberts hopes Wilmington entrepreneurs can act as ambassadors for their town, presenting themselves as part of an active and thriving entrepreneurial community. And that inspires others to start companies, and to pitch to WALE to invest.

WALE could be a catalyst for more investors to get involved in Wilmington. It promises to help close a difficult-to-jump gap in the growth process of most startups. This, along with developing connections between growing business communities across the state, can create a firm foundation for both existing and soon-to-be-founded Wilmington businesses.

Originally posted – http://exitevent.com/article/wilmington-angel-network-launches-makes-first-investment-petrics-151124

If you’re anything like me, your mornings generally begin as a sprint. Bookkeeping followed by a general assessment of business strategy. Several email and phone conversations to make sure any teams or projects you are involved with are in order. Document drafting in order to close some deals either in the bid or proposal stages. If you’re further anything like me, you are probably not a CPA & MBA with a double major in sales and marketing.

While we generally still respect the “renaissance man” image, it’s widely accepted that the “multi-tasker” and the “jack-of-all-trades” are well meaning ways to be highly ineffective. It remains the case, however, that many small business owners and entrepreneurs recognize the title CEO as meaning “wearer of many hats,” and this is particularly true among founders. This is certainly true for me as owner of Blue Fission, a software and technology agency. Whether or not this is a necessity or inevitability, I won’t debate. I simply want to touch on one important but easy to forget point: any number of hats all have to go on the same head.

I’m not saying to write a list of every secondary task you do and hire out for it. There is a true value to staying lean, and a very real cost to scouting, training, and on-boarding. I do, however, believe in the power of starting strategic business partnerships early on in business. This is particularly useful when a vital task in your business can best benefit from a specialist.

This means no one person on my team needs to be a content writing specialist because we’ve formed local alliances that allow us to share resources. These business partnerships prove useful when you have the option to pay for a training seminar to integrate your new invoicing solution to your eCommerce site – or pay a fraction of that to a company like ours to complete the task correctly.

Great strategic partners allow Blue Fission to stay focused on being a great technology agency, not a mediocre anything else. Form these in your business so you can get your head out of those hats and into the game.