In this episode of 'Feel the Boot,' Lance Cottrell shares essential advice on crafting an effective elevator pitch to capture the interest of potential investors or partners quickly, stressing the importance of brevity, clarity, and engaging storytelling. He emphasizes that the goal of an elevator pitch is to spark interest for further conversation, not immediate commitment. Drawing from his experience and common mistakes observed, Lance provides practical tips on avoiding overly rehearsed or jargon-heavy pitches, suggesting instead to focus on conveying the unique value proposition plainly and compellingly. He highlights the versatility of elevator pitches across various contexts, from investment pitches to hiring and product sales. Throughout, Lance shares examples to illustrate key points, including how to structure a pitch, the significance of opening questions, and the importance of practicing pitches to ensure they are understood and engaging. Read the article https://ftb.bz/105BWatch the video https://ftb.bz/105VTalk to Lance about your startup https://ftb.bz/advisingSubscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/join 00:00 Introduction to Crafting an Impactful Elevator Pitch00:59 The Essence and Purpose of an Elevator Pitch02:12 Applying Elevator Pitches Beyond Investment02:45 Common Mistakes in Crafting Elevator Pitches04:15 Effective Strategies for Engaging Elevator Pitches07:28 Crafting Your Elevator Pitch: A Step-by-Step Guide10:46 The Importance of Practice and Feedback

This podcast is tailored for startup founders looking to enhance their negotiation skills. It emphasizes the importance of negotiation in various aspects of running a business, including dealing with investors, vendors, customers, employees, and co-founders. I know that many founders may lack experience or feel conflict-averse, so here I share practical advice and strategies to turn negotiations from potential conflicts into win-win situations. In the episode I discuss understanding everyone’s needs and priorities, adopting a collaborative and creative approach, and aiming for equitable outcomes to facilitate ongoing positive relationships. Read the blog https://ftb.bz/104BWatch the video https://ftb.bz/104V Get one-on-one advising https://ftb.bz/advisingSubscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/join Book Suggestions:Never Split the Difference https://amzn.to/3VTix4SNegotiate Anything https://amzn.to/4azwQA4  00:00 Negotiation Skills for Startup Founders01:40 Negotiation Challenges and Strategies03:26 Diving Deeper into Negotiation Tactics06:21 Framing Discussions and Preparing for Negotiations08:13 Adopting a Healthy Negotiation Philosophy10:00 Creativity in Negotiation: Finding Win-Win Solutions12:01 Conclusion

In this episode of Feel the Boot, host Lance Cottrell delves into the significance of understanding and presenting your startup's market size to investors through the concepts of Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM), and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM). He emphasizes the importance of achieving a plausible market opportunity, critiquing the TAM, SAM, SOM methodology for its arbitrariness and complexity, and suggests a more dynamic approach through a bottom-up analysis. Cottrell walks through hypothetical examples to demonstrate how startups can realistically project their growth and market potential. He also covers common pitfalls in market size estimation and offers insights on how to conduct effective market research, ultimately guiding founders toward a more credible and compelling representation of their market opportunity to investors. Read the blog https://ftb.bz/103BWatch the video https://ftb.bz/103VSubscribe the newsletter (for free office hours) https://ftb.bz/Join The episode explaining why angels and VCs need such big exits https://ftb.bz/92V  00:00 Unlocking the Secrets of Market Size in Your Startup Pitch00:33 Welcome to Feel the Boot: Navigating the Startup Journey01:09 Why Market Size Matters to Investors02:29 Decoding TAM, SAM, and SOM: The Basics04:09 Common Mistakes in Market Size Presentation05:39 A Real-World Example: The Acme Clothing Company08:19 Bottom-Up Analysis: A More Accurate Approach09:36 Finding the Data: Tips for Accurate Market Analysis14:56 Presenting Your Market Size: A Strategic Timeline Approach20:49 Conclusion and Next Steps

John Li, co-founder of PickFu, discusses testing startup ideas and the transition to a digital focus group. He shares customer success stories and emphasizes regular testing. John talks about their fully remote work model, challenges faced, tools used, and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on testing and patience in realizing startup success.

In this discussion, Michael Regnier, founder of Sales Design & Delivery, shares vital insights into sales strategy tailored for startup founders, particularly those with a technical background. He explains that a company's sales strategy must encompass every aspect of the go-to-market message, including the target audience and the route to reach them. Smith articulates the importance of defining value propositions, pricing, and delivery models while underlining the necessity of iteration. He emphasizes the need to think from the customer's perspective and pitches the idea of 'if I were you selling'. Smith discusses adopting a sales strategy that proves one's belief in their product, building credibility for the customers. He also covers key points like avoiding paralysis and the significance of designing and delivering the sales process in a controlled manner for effective market feedback. Mike Regnier has been an executive sales manager for small companies for twenty-five years and has helped many entrepreneurs "crack the code" in unlocking their rapid and sustained growth.  As a result of his successful exits, he was encouraged by several Private Equity and VC groups to create Sales Design & Delivery, his sales-scaling consulting firm, in 2012 and has been helping small companies achieve their potential ever since.

In this milestone episode, host Lance Cottrell dives deep into several critical topics inspired by his recent heart attack. First, he compares a heart attack with a financial crisis in a startup, emphasizing the need for recognizing early warning signs and taking immediate actions. He discusses how to identify critical situations where your venture is at risk and how to handle them effectively while sharing his personal experiences with his own startup. Then, he talks about the need to reassess one's priorities and the importance of aligning personal goals with the way we spend our time. He urges all founders to question their inherited societal goals and reflect on their passions. Lastly, as a public service announcement, he shares early warning signs for heart attacks and strokes, drawing parallels between them and potential dangers facing startups. He ends by stressing the urgency of immediate medical attention and action in such health crises. Read as an article https://ftb.bz/100BWatch the video https://ftb.bz/100V Schedule advising with Lance https://ftb.bz/Advising US Government Subsidized Health Insurance https://www.healthcare.gov/

The 10x rule 🌟 Why better is not enoughHaving a superior solution is not good enough.The special barriers startups face force you to build at least ten times better products. Why Your Startup Needs to Be 10x Better In this episode of 'Feel the Boot', host Lance Cottrell breaks down why startups need to be substantially better than their competition, particularly in the B2B context. He explains the elements such as the high cost of switching, the immaturity of a startup product, and the typical risk of a startup failing, that force a startup to deliver a solution ten times better than the competitors.  Read the article https://ftb.bz/99BWatch the video https://ftb.bz/99V  See the rest of the Founder Insights https://ftb.bz/Insight Schedule advising with Lance https://ftb.bz/advising

Startup Fundraising Facilitators 🐍 Surviving the Pit of Serpents!You might want to ask for help when you need to raise capital.Take care, most of those people are useless or actively harmful.  Quoth the AI describing this episode:In this episode, Lance Cottrell, an experienced startup advisor, shares insights on the challenges of fundraising, focusing on the role of fundraising facilitators in the process. He offers a candid look at the pitfalls of working with unskilled or unethical fundraisers. The episode provides crucial pointers about operational red flags and underlines the importance of maintaining realistic valuations. Additionally, it explains the logistics of fee models and advises on how successful fundraising can be approached. Moreover, it includes a brief discussion on the regulations surrounding fundraising and the need for facilitators to be registered. The episode concludes with advice on selecting the correct people to work with and setting adequate standards for partners. Read the article: https://ftb.bz/98BWatch the Video: https://ftb.bz/98V The episode on the Startup Fundraising Paradox: https://ftb.bz/94B

🤯 Exposing the top reasons for fast angel investment rejectionsInvestors only take a few seconds to decide if a startup is worth a serious look.These eight factors lead to most of the fast NOs ☠️ In this episode, I discuss the screening process for companies seeking funding from angels and VC. Out of over a hundred applicants to my angel group, we only select about 20 for detailed consideration. We drop the rest after only a few moments' consideration.A handful of reasons dominate why investors eliminate companies in under a minute.If you can avoid those traps, you can force investors to take the time to understand your startup. At worst, you will get feedback to improve your business and your pitch. At best, you will get the funding you need to grow. Read this as an article https://ftb.bz/97BWatch the Video https://ftb.bz/97VGet advising for your startup https://ftb.bz/AdvisingSubscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/Join Check out the whole Fundraising Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgMU_ie96T-LoIvSK3hHFF0AmySuQjbKeWatch the video on valuation methodologies https://ftb.bz/66V

Startup Privacy Policies 🥷 What you need to know about GDPR, CCPA and beyond!In this interview, Sabir Ibrahim, an attorney and entrepreneur, provides valuable insights on the implications of privacy and privacy policies for startups. He emphasizes the importance of privacy laws, particularly highlighting the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and explains that these laws apply to all companies, regardless of their size. Sabir advises startups to prioritize privacy policies, starting with a comprehensive privacy policy that includes information about data collection, usage, and sharing. He also recommends engaging an attorney to ensure compliance with relevant regulations.Sabir highlights the potential risks and consequences of non-compliance with privacy laws, such as regulatory enforcement actions and lawsuits. He suggests implementing a plan for data privacy as companies grow, including the concept of privacy by design.  The discussion also explores the relevance of privacy issues in specific sectors, such as Medtech, Fintech, and AI applications, mentioning the need to consider industry-specific regulations. The interview concludes by emphasizing the importance of engaging legal counsel, budgeting for legal expenses related to privacy policy creation and compliance, and treating privacy compliance as an investment rather than a cost. Read this as an article https://ftb.bz/96BWatch the Video https://ftb.bz/96V Subscribe to Boot Prints https://ftb.bz/JoinGet personal advising https://ftb.bz/advising   00:00 Introduction to Sabir Ibrahim02:24 Evolution of privacy laws and regulations04:43 Implications of privacy laws for startups07:14 FTC enforcement actions on smaller companies08:08 Importance of starting with a privacy policy08:58 Key elements of a privacy policy11:15 Considerations for international users and GDPR14:22 Key data privacy laws to be aware of: GDPR and CCPA17:54 Planning operations to ensure compliance19:28 Privacy by design and value proposition23:43 Privacy concerns in specific verticals25:54 My Health, My Data Act and regulatory gaps32:22 Cost considerations for early-stage startups37:48 Privacy compliance on a limited budget38:34 Avoiding conflicts in privacy-related terms Sabir Ibrahim’s Bio:During his 15-year career as an attorney and technology entrepreneur, Sabir has advised clients ranging from pre-seed startups to Fortune 50 companies on a variety of issues within the intersection of law and technology. He is a former associate at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, a former corporate counsel at Amazon, and a former senior counsel at Roku. He also founded and managed an IT managed services provider that served professional services firms in California, Oregon, and Texas. Sabir received his BSE in Computer Science from the University of Michigan College of Engineering. He received his JD from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was an article editor of the Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review. Sabir is licensed to practice in California and before the USPTO. He is a Certified Information Privacy Professional. His website is: https://www.optimedge.legalYou can also find him at:https://linkedin.com/in/sabir-ibrahim-a9505b1https://medium.com/@optimedgelegalhttps://youtube.com/@optimedgelegalhttps://tiktok.com/@optimedgelegalhttps://instagram.com/optimedgelegal