Blew my opportunity? For the past two years, I’ve been running a B2B platform / service (bit of both) as a side project while studying (now working full time). I landed a few big clients with strong revenue potential, but limited time and resources meant I couldn’t market it effectively. Now, competitors, both local and abroad, are building almost exactly the products, and it feels like I’m too late to stand out. I’ve considered niching down, but it would mostly be a branding change that risks excluding other customers. At the same... 5 0 replies
Startup/vc fund investors: what are terms to look for or watch out for in LP Agreements? First time venture investor in a new fund - I have a high degree of confidence in the GP team but anything I should look out for in the documents that would be a red flag for any of you more experienced folks? I.e. limits on expenses/discretion in certain areas. It's a 2 & 20 with a "European waterfall" which I'm told is quite typical but people always say that. Not seeking legal advice, just things that you might (a) like seeing or (b) dislike seeing in your binding... 2 0 replies
how advertise that my startup is for sale without saying it **how can I sell a startup without sounding desperate ...** **let's say considering the amount of money invested and the number of users the startup is initially successful.. with better management and investment the potential is high and it can go up** say we know ho much is the evaluation 5 0 replies
Looking for a technical co-founder who wants to start a business in the fitness industry I’m in the early stages of building an innovative e-commerce brand. My background is in sales, marketing and e-commerce. The closest thing on the market to the type of product is Smiirl, the digital counter which links to social media via an API. I’d be looking for someone who could help on the software hardware of the product. Ideally UK based and excited to join me on the journey and equity split. Please reach out if this sounds fun! 3 0 replies
Raise an A or a seed extension? My B2B SaaS company just crossed 1mm in ARR, doubling from last year. We had some angels and have a total capital in today of around 3mm. We need to raise in the coming quarters, but I’m not sure if we should be pursuing a 2mm seed extension from angels or small funds on like a 20mm SAFE, or going after a true series A and trying to do 5-6mm on 25-30mm pre. Curious on perspectives. 1 0 replies
Looking to connect with fellow founders and investors in San Francisco We are expanding our company from Europe to San Francisco in February, and we are fundraising $1M. Building an AI for exposing fake news and verifying information across the internet. Currently in the process of building the network from scratch in there, so would love to connect with other founders and potential seed investors, and meet up in person once we are in the valley. Would really appreciate any intros or tips :) Thanks community 5 0 replies
launch fast vs launch well I have been wrestling with this problem for a while - very much still unresolved, but here is my current thinking. I have now launched 4 different products. Took me anywhere from 3 months to 4 hours. As a recovering perfectionist, I have taken a big issue with the notion of launching fast. I couldn't fathom the idea of publishing something to the world that has mistake (I am getting better at it :) ). And you can confirm this notion very easily: most users will not return to... 2 0 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... 1 0 replies
AI travel toolkit discussion I have an idea and would like to discuss it with you. The idea comes from. when tourists enter a country where the language is not their native one, they often face many issues related to travel information, such as language barriers, gathering travel information, and making bookings. The idea is to create an all-in-one app that integrates these services. It would use AI-driven search to optimize the efficiency of information retrieval, while also offering translation and guided tour features in case of poor network connectivity in certain countries,... 1 0 replies
How can I test a free web-tool? (to share and monetize wearable data) I built a web tool this week to encrypt, share and reward **Wearable Data.** Honestly, it makes no sense that our data is freely shared without us getting anything in return. AI models are already hitting a data-wall through net-scraping; and raw data like our wearable data is way more valuable than we realize. My challenge now is that I don't know how do I beta-test this tool: I call it intra (If you want to analyse, it can be found at : \[ intra . so \] no spaces) Any... 1 0 replies
AI is replacing everyone, why not politicians / bureaucrats? Is it a good idea to build something in this space? What could be features / functions for such startup? 1. Policy making 2. Policy review 3. Integrating public feedback on specific policy 4. Evaluating different aspects considering historical data 5. Spending in different projects 6. Open bidding so that anyone can bid and public can review / vote on bids, evaluation of bids, assessing vendor capabilities 4 0 replies
How do I Meet Co-Founders? I’m getting desperate here… where do you people hang out? I’m more of a developer so socializing doesn’t come naturally to me and networking isn’t my strong suit. I can’t seem to crack the code on meeting other early stage founders. Are we really such a rare breed? 3 0 replies
Feedback Friday Welcome to this week’s Feedback Thread! # Please use this thread appropriately to gather feedback: * Feel free to request general feedback or specific feedback in a certain area like user experience, usability, design, landing page(s), or code review * You may share surveys * You may make an additional request for beta testers * Promo codes and affiliates links are ONLY allowed if they are for your product in an effort to incentivize people to give you feedback * Please refrain from just posting a link * Give... 3 0 replies
I put out a call for beta users, now we are trending and I am overwhelmed. Self funded startup to build a social media app. Two software engineers with a decade experience each in cloud systems, UX designer, Product Manager, and CEO who is a social media expert. Our beta testflight app goes live in January. We have been developing for six months and the pieces for mvp was coming together. We are pretty well organized. We planned to add 20 beta users in January and then fix things and add increments of them until some App Store release day. We have met with some... 3 0 replies
Starting a Data Engineering Consulting Startup As the title suggests, I’m considering starting a data engineering consulting startup in Canada. The idea is to offer my services to companies looking to implement or optimize their big data infrastructure. Specifically, I plan to help businesses with data pipelines, data warehouses, cloud solutions, ETL processes, and overall data architecture. I’m planning to stay employed at my current job until I land 1-2 clients to ensure financial stability before fully jumping into the startup. However, before moving forward with the incorporation, I’d love to get some advice from... 5 0 replies
Creating an app Safety being a serious issue today and has always been. I am not certain if it is VC viable but I need to start looking for trade make attorneys to get this thing off of the ground if possible. What are the TM experts? #startup #safetyfirst #ambassadors 1 0 replies
How much do you spend annually on your domain and hosting? As a business owner, one of the recurring expenses in managing an online presence is the cost of domain registration and hosting services. These costs can vary significantly depending on the size and needs of your business. Do you prefer budget-friendly options, or do you invest in premium services to ensure optimal performance? 4 0 replies
How do you know if your startup is VC-backable? We opened our fundraising campaign about six months ago, and as expected and read around, we’ve received a significant number of rejections from VCs. A recurring feedback we’ve been hearing is that they don’t see us becoming a “unicorn”—whatever that means. Initially, we brushed off these comments, as our ambition has always been to build a global, impactful company in a space we know well. We’ve achieved early traction to back this up: we crossed $100k ARR in just 10 months, growing 4x across all key metrics. Yet, despite... 4 0 replies
MVP is stalled, what should I do? In my country, loyalty apps aren’t very popular among medium-sized businesses, so I decided to create one! My initial approach was to conduct interviews with both customers and coffee shop owners to identify the needs for the MVP. I landed my first client and offered them a 2-month free trial, which I thought would give me enough time to refine the app while they tested it. After a few meetings, the MVP is built! However, the coffee shop is currently busy updating their menu and hasn’t had the time... 5 0 replies
What are some "unfair advantages" that founders can have when raising VC funding? I'll start with my list but would love other suggestions. I've been around the block a few times and for the most part don't have a lot of respect for VCs. I don't have disrespect mind you. I think they're just doing a job though. They're just not doing anything special other than finding leads for interesting companies to fund. However, I've seen them act irrationally before and fun things/people that literally make no sense. There are CLEAR unfair advantages that some people have. I don't want to play fair though and I want every unfair advantage I can... 1 0 replies
