Bringing another technical founder in I'm launching a app in a week or two and my nearest competitor, the only one... want to have a conversation to see if we should work together instead. I'm thinking, two devs makes the development and implementation faster. Can only be a good thing if we work well together, right? I have a sales guy on board as well. 4 2 replies
Anyone need help bringing a project to life? I'm a senior web developer with 4 years of experience bringing ideas to life using JavaScript and TypeScript. Lately, I've been diving into the world of MVPs, focusing on how to turn great ideas into functional and efficient projects. Besides loving what I do, I'm also raising some cash by helping startups and projects get off the ground. I'm looking for opportunities, so if you need someone to build a fast and straightforward MVP or improve/maintain an existing platform, let me know! 4 4 replies
How do you market a small business offering custom prototypes and creative solutions? I run a small business in Colorado Springs where I design and build custom prototypes, interactive exhibits, and other creative solutions for startups and innovators. While I’ve had some success with word-of-mouth referrals, I’m looking to grow and reach a wider audience. I’m curious, how have other startup founders or small business owners effectively marketed niche services like this? Have you found success with social media, partnerships, content marketing, or something else? Additionally, do you think focusing on a specific client type (e.g., startups in tech or education) makes... 3 2 replies
Founders How to Learn to Sell? Founders of startups: How do you Sell better? I have sold a little but struggled to make it a process. a. I cannot handle the endless follow ups, b. I tend to not do the essential wining and dining cultivating necessary to chase a big deal (I simply don't have the time or funds given the startup), c. I don't take 10 rejections a day very well - it spoils my day. It annoys and demotivates me that Sales only becomes more as a Founder. But I have to... 1 3 replies
What’s the most important thing when giving a pitch? I’ve been wondering what’s the most important thing when preparing a pitch or presentation for your customer or investors? I tend overprepare (not a bad thing defiantly..), trying to cover everything, but I rarely have enough time to go through it all. Then there’s the nerves, balancing a good story, clear delivery, and a polished deck feels overwhelming.... so how do you prioritize when preparing for a pitch? and do you think the pitch deck is important? I always struggle between making it visually impressive and keep it simple...... 5 20 replies
Should I Take Equity Instead of Payment for Marketing an Early-Stage AI Product? I'm a marketer, and I’ve been approached by someone who built an AI agent (a ChatGPT/Claude wrapper). It’s only 3 months old but already has an MVP, 10 paying customers, and over 100 free users. He wants me to handle the marketing but doesn’t have the budget to pay me, so he’s offering equity instead. The catch? He doesn’t want to discuss the percentage yet, and the company isn’t registered yet. I’m tempted to take the risk since I believe in the product and have ideas to scale it.... 1 19 replies
Initial email going straight to junk - recommendations I am launching a new product in the coming weeks and I want to email those that have subscribed via the website. When we've run tests, our emails always end up in junk, likewise, when an automatic email is sent out via Zapier, they also end up in junk. Is there anything out there I can do to prevent this from happening? Thank you! 5 6 replies
Help me build an email list I have created a customer profile (company level & person level) for my B2B SaaS. Now i want to find the exact customer profile. How can I find these people on LinkedIn or any other tool? The Customer Profile has multiple traits like: At company level: Company Size Industry Type Characteristics Problems Faced At person level: Persona Traits Pain Points Goals Decision Triggers etc. So how I can make sure i get these exact or most of these traits in the person or company? Or (as I dread) is... 2 3 replies
Question on bringing in a strategic company before pre-seed funding. I’m seeking advice on a big decision for my startup. I’ve built a marketplace platform (MVP complete, pre-revenue) that connects local government officials with GovTech companies to streamline technology adoption. A potential strategic partner has offered $15,000 in exchange for 25% equity. Here’s what they bring to the table: **Extensive network:** They lead an association and have deep connections with local government officials. This would be a free sign up for officials. **Value Add:** Their involvement could drive government officials to the platform, making it more attractive to paying... 1 4 replies
Fastest way to create an MVP? For those of you who have gone through the MVP building stage, what's the fastest way to create an MVP, is it worth building the MVP before finding a way to validate the idea with users - for example, using waitlists. Also what tools, if any did you use in the process? Is your MVP still standing and did you manage to get customers using this method? How long did it take you to go from idea to working MVP? Is MVP really essential in finding PMF? For someone... 1 12 replies
Looking for Free Tools: Video-to-Animated Illustrations + Startup Illustration Tools Hey everyone! I’m working on some creative content for a startup, and I’m looking for two things: 1. A free tool that can take a video and convert it into animated illustrations. The goal is to repurpose some video content into eye-catching visuals for social and blog posts. 2. Any recommendations for free illustration tools that are startup-friendly. I’m looking to create simple but professional visuals for marketing without needing advanced design skills. If you’ve tried anything that works well, I’d love to hear about it! Bonus points if... 5 1 replies
Building trust in your pre-sale campaign Hi all, I'm trying to sell the product concept before committing to building: * Inbound campaign, so social media posts about the product, generous refund policy, etc. * I'm avoiding Kickstarter because it's not the platform where my target market hangs out at, and I don't want to force people to create an account and go through hoops * Since it's inbound it's not like I'm setting up 1:1 calls with each potential customer and selling them the product after a series of calls I'm curious how to do... 2 2 replies
Co-founder equity split – should I pay on top of my non-cash contribution? I’m looking for some advice on how to handle an equity split situation with my co-founder for our new business. Here’s the breakdown: * **The Business Setup**: My co-founder and I are building a startup together. She’s spent over a year doing the business setup—customer interviews, meeting brands, and paying for branding and fees. She estimates about 15 hours/week and around $8,000 in expenses. * **My Contribution**: I’m the technical co-founder and developed the iOS app for the business. I’ve put in 140 hours (Sept–Dec 2023), and based on... 3 15 replies
My Journey on building YouTube Automation Program.. This program of mine that I created from scratch isn't about bots.. it's of scheduling your short videos in not only 1 channel, but multiple channels of yours.. More like an alternative to SaaS apps out in the public , this program would solely be a one time payment of much cheaper and efficient cost. As the title says.. My journey was simple and straightforward, I wanted to make a simple program in python, seeing my younger bro struggle to maintain a YouTube channel.. and after so much manual... 2 1 replies
I wanna help aspiring entrepreneurs but i don't know if this could be useful. I know from experience that starting a startup is insanely scary (as some of you probably do too). You don't even know if your idea is a good idea, or you probably don't even have an idea. Procrastination doesn't work in your favor either. I've had my bad share of experiences with this situation and I want to change that. I want to create completely free notion templates to get people with starting anxiety or who don't have an idea for a startup to have an organized and motivating... 2 4 replies
Need a technical cofounder So I had a big problem when started my first business at 18. The problem was, my account didn’t give 2 fucks about me. Basically sometimes sends the invoices to pay and sometimes doesn’t which got me in big trouble, my accounts were frozen and the fines were so big. Also couldn’t get in touch with her, she wouldn’t answer my calls not texts. Since I know many business owners basically 70% of them had similar problem. I know there are a few companies that do similar stuff that... 2 12 replies
Is anyone using an LLM gateway? Hey everyone. Those of you who are building a GenAi based service- are you using any gateway? Facing some issues currently as I am trying to integrate different LLMs. It’s a hustle learning and integrating the different api’s also maintaining costs and looking at performance is quite inefficient (I am building a customer support solution). So was wondering how those of you who are also building overcome these? 1 4 replies
Hey, what's wrong? *This is* /r/startups *emotional support thread. There will be no problem-solving here, no judgement, no networking, no advice. We're here to be heard, be understood, and be told that it'll be okay, that whatever happens, we care. Still, be tactful and classy in how you vent your feelings and share your frustrations. Act in a mature manner. This is meant to be a safe place to support emotional and physical health and there is a zero tolerance policy in effect. Be kind. Please report any conduct that is in... 2 0 replies
How to get clients for your new startup? I have worked as performance marketer for top MNC and now have established single solo company as a start. The problem i am facing is that i am struggling to get clients and leads. I am doing emails to Founder and CEO of startup who might require performance marketing service with every email personally customised to their industry niche and social media links growth but still failing to get any attraction? Can anyone please help me out how to get my first client overboard? I would be highly grateful... 3 3 replies
How best to utilise 300k emails and phone numbers for growth hacking So our startup is in the space of data and ML. And part of getting the data is using scrapers to pull information from a certain big website, this website has a large amount of exposed emails, phone numbers and addresses publicly that I found hidden in the DOM when going through what to scrape. All of these are within our target market but obviously not all of them are the beachhead customers. I can make the cold emails extremely personalized due to the information we have on them,... 5 1 replies
