Mon.Jan 25, 2021

article thumbnail

Building a Monthly Business Plan

StartupNation

While it’s important to create a 10-year business model, your real focus should be on your business plan for three years, two years and one year. Once that’s set, reverse engineer it to the quarter and then down to the month. StartupNation exclusive discounts and savings on Dell products and accessories: Learn more here. How? Look at everything from a quantitative standpoint: Remember that every single thing you do, positive or negative, compounds consistently over time.

energy 107
article thumbnail

The Four Tenets of Conscious Capitalism

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Contributed to EO by Kent Gregoire. Kent Gregoire is an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member and founder of Symphony Advantage, which helps CEOs achieve ongoing success through strategic thinking, advice and planning. Kent recently became the seventh certified Conscious Capitalism consultant globally.

capital 278
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Early-stage African VC firm, Microtraction reports portfolio boom despite the weight of COVID-19

TechCrunch

In a year marred by the coronavirus pandemic, it seems that early-stage startups on the African continent are continuing to see some notable growth, both in terms of their business and from investors looking to back them. . Microtraction , an early-stage venture capital firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, saw funding nearly quadruple for its portfolio. In a review of the year published last week, the firm noted that 21 companies in its portfolio have raised more than $33 million in funding.

VC 138
article thumbnail

RVI’s New Model 1 year in: 3x the members, 2x the investments, more diversification

Paul G. Silva

One year ago the angel group I have the honor to lead pivoted to a substantially different model. Like all pivots, it wasn’t easy. In fact, it was scary as hell. But thanks to the incredible involvement of our members and our assistant manager Ethan Ferris, 2020 was our best year ever. Membership tripled , pulling in people from a much larger geography than conceivable before.

article thumbnail

From Curiosity to Competitive Edge: How Mid-Market CEOs Are Using AI to Scale Smarter

Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage

This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.

article thumbnail

Unpacking Chamath Palihapitiya’s SPAC deals for Latch and Sunlight Financial

TechCrunch

This morning, investor and SPAC raconteur Chamath Palihapitiya announced two new blank-check deals involving Latch and Sunlight Financial. Latch, an enterprise SaaS company that makes keyless-entry systems, has raised $152 million in private capital, according to Crunchbase. Sunlight Financial, which offers point-of-sale financing for residential solar systems, has raised north of $700 million in venture capital, private equity and debt.

More Trending

article thumbnail

Goalsetter raises $3.9 million to teach financial literacy to kids

TechCrunch

Goalsetter , a platform that helps parents teach their kids financial literacy, announced the raise of a $3.9 million seed round this morning, led by Astia. PNC Bank, Mastercard, U.S. Bank, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Elevate Capital, Portfolia’s First Step and Rising America Fund and Pipeline Angels also participated in the round. The round also saw participation from a handful of individual investors including Robert F.

education 108
article thumbnail

50 Actionable Things You Can Do to Expedite Your Entrepreneurial Success

Entrepreneur's Handbook

This will help you build a startup, become a solopreneur, or finally turn your passion or side hobby into a real, monetizable gig. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

article thumbnail

Virtual social network IMVU raises $35M from China’s NetEase and others

TechCrunch

The line between social networking and gaming is increasingly blurring , and internet incumbents are taking notice. NetEase, the second-largest gaming company in China (behind Tencent), is among a group of investors who just backed IMVU, an avatar-focused social network operating out of California. Menlo Park-based Structural Capital among other institutions that also joined in the strategic round totaling $35 million.

article thumbnail

A Quick Guide to Hiring a Business Coach [And Tips to Get Most Out of Your Coach]

Smart Hustle Magazine

Do you feel stuck growing your business? Do you struggle to maintain a work-life balance? Or do you feel overwhelming to run day-to-day business operations? If your answer to these questions is YES, then my friend, you need a business coach. [Tweet “From product development to customer acquisition to financial planning, there are tons of tasks you need to handle daily.

advice 115
article thumbnail

State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

article thumbnail

Kenyan insurtech startup Pula raises $6M Series A to derisk smallholder farmers across Africa

TechCrunch

Pula , a Kenyan insurtech startup that specialises in digital and agricultural insurance to derisk millions of smallholder farmers across Africa, has closed a Series A investment of $6 million. The round was led by Pan-African early-stage venture capital firm, TLcom Capital , with participation from nonprofit Women’s World Banking. The raise comes after Pula closed $1 million in seed investment from Rocher Participations with support from Accion Venture Lab, Omidyar Network and several angel i

startup 144
article thumbnail

3 Ways Second Draw PPP Is Designed to Help Small Businesses

Smart Hustle Magazine

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since the coronavirus pandemic took hold and disrupted every corner of daily life— Main Street being one of them. The past months brought unprecedented strife for small businesses, and the small business owners that have managed to keep their doors open are fighting hard to keep it that way. Thankfully, with the signing of the stimulus bill in December, some relief is now available: a new round of federal aid including new loans through the Paycheck P

education 100
article thumbnail

Smart lock maker Latch teams with real estate firm to go public via SPAC

TechCrunch

This week, Latch becomes the latest company to join the SPAC parade. Founded in 2014, the New York-based company came out of stealth two years later, launching a smart lock system. Though, like many companies primarily known for hardware solutions, Latch says it’s more, offering a connected security software platform for owners of apartment buildings.

article thumbnail

Tips and Tricks You Need to Know About Selling a Business

Smart Hustle Magazine

Selling is tough work. If you’re selling a house, that’s also tough. Selling a business — that may be the toughest sale there is. It’s a topic not often talked about, and therefore business owners don’t always know where to turn. John Warrilow has been involved in a few startup businesses and claims that he’s made every mistake there is to make.

advice 93
article thumbnail

15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

article thumbnail

Proving voicemail doesn’t have to be wack, the Slack-backed startup Yac raises $7.5 million

TechCrunch

Yac , the Orlando, Florida-based startup that’s digitizing voice messages for remote offices, has raised $7.5 million in a new round of funding. The company’s service has garnered enough attention to pick up a pretty sizable new round from investors led by GGV Capital and a return investment from the Slack Fund. Apparently, reinventing voicemail is a multi-million-dollar endeavor.

startup 116
article thumbnail

Ocient Raises $40M in Series B

HPA

Ocient is a data analytics solutions (DAS) company serving companies struggling with massive datasets. The company announced raising $40 million, bringing total invested capital to $65 million. Hyde Park Angels participated in the Series B round, which was led by Chicago-based OCA Ventures and Greycroft. Other participating investors include Valor Ventures, PSP Partners, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Gaingels, and the MIT and Northwestern University chapters of Alumni Venture Group.

article thumbnail

Wolt closes $530M round to continue expanding beyond restaurant delivery

TechCrunch

Wolt , the Helsinki-based online ordering and delivery company that initially focused on restaurants but has since expanded to other verticals, has raised $530 million in new funding. The round was led by Iconiq Growth, with participation from Tiger Global, DST, KKR, Prosus, EQT Growth and Coatue. Previous backers 83North, Highland Europe, Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, EQT Ventures and Vintage Investment Partners also followed on.

mix-use 116
article thumbnail

[Zebra in Haaretz] Israeli Technology Leading World Out of COVID-19 Crisis

OurCrowd

At the IMPROVATE Innovation Conference, Israeli technology companies presented to government officials and investors from Europe solutions for the post-coronavirus era in the fields of MedTech, tourism and education. IMPROVATE Founder and Chair, Irina Nevzlin: “When tech companies work effectively with governments, the citizens get the best possible results”.

article thumbnail

The GTM Intelligence Era: ZoomInfo 2025 Customer Impact Report

ZoomInfo customers aren’t just selling — they’re winning. Revenue teams using our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform grew pipeline by 32%, increased deal sizes by 40%, and booked 55% more meetings. Download this report to see what 11,000+ customers say about our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform and how it impacts their bottom line. The data speaks for itself!

article thumbnail

Alma raises $59.4 million for its Klarna-like payment option

TechCrunch

French startup Alma is raising a $59.4 million Series B funding round (€49 million). The company has been building a new payment option for expensive good. You can choose to pay over three or four installments. This product sounds familiar if you’ve used Klarna in the past. But Klarna isn’t available in France. Cathay Innovation, Idinvest, Bpifrance’s Large Venture fund, Seaya Ventures and Picus Capital are participating in today’s funding round.

financing 115
article thumbnail

My Plan To Earn An Extra $100,000 Per Year

Entrepreneur's Handbook

It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

article thumbnail

Taboola is going public via SPAC

TechCrunch

Taboola is the latest company seeking to go public via special purpose acquisition corporation — more commonly known as a SPAC. To achieve this, it will merge with ION Acquisition Corp, which went public in 2020 with the aim of funding an Israeli tech acquisition ( Haaretz reported last month that Taboola was in talks with ION). The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, and the combined company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TBLA.

culture 113
article thumbnail

How I Used YouTube To Sell $602,327 Worth Of My Product

Entrepreneur's Handbook

My strategic guide for converting viewers into buyers. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

article thumbnail

How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

article thumbnail

BlackCart raises $8.8M Series A for its try-before-you-buy platform for online merchants

TechCrunch

A startup called BlackCart is tackling one of the key challenges with online shopping: an inability to try on or test out the merchandise before making a purchase. That company, which has now closed on $8.8 million in Series A funding, has built a try-before-you-buy platform that integrates with e-commerce storefronts, allowing customers to ship items to their home for free and only pay if they choose to keep the item after a “try on” period has lapsed.

financing 101
article thumbnail

The Founder of Fark.com Told Me How to Fix Social Media?—?He Makes a Great Point

Entrepreneur's Handbook

We all know social media is broken, but people are making too much money to want to fix it. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

media 59
article thumbnail

Sano Genetics, a startup helping with Long Covid research, raises £2.5M in seed funding

TechCrunch

Sano Genetics , a startup with a broad mission to support personalised medicine research by increasing participation in clinical trials, has raised £2.5 million in seed funding. The round is led by Episode1 Ventures, alongside Seedcamp, Cambridge Enterprise, January Ventures, and several Europe and U S.-based angel investors. It adds to £500,000 in pre-seed funding in 2018.

startup 86
article thumbnail

Working Together to Incubate Biotechnology and Healthcare Companies

Angel Capital Association

By: Matt McMahon, Director – SEED (Small business Education and Entrepreneurial Development), National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is proud to be an Angel Capital Association Platinum Partner. NIH supports a dynamic portfolio of 1,500 cutting edge small businesses with over a billion dollars of non-dilutive investment every year.

article thumbnail

5 Ways You Can Win Faster with Gen AI in Sales

Incorporating generative AI (gen AI) into your sales process can speed up your wins through improved efficiency, personalized customer interactions, and better informed decision- making. Gen AI is a game changer for busy salespeople and can reduce time-consuming tasks, such as customer research, note-taking, and writing emails, and provide insightful data analysis and recommendations.