Advice

Sales models are changing, driven by Covid-19, with ‘outside’ selling on the endangered list

- February 9, 2021 4 MIN READ

Historically most businesses have been either outside sales businesses with an army of people selling face to face, or inside sales business that sell remotely. The idea of reaching customers remotely is nothing new. The origins of inside sales date back to the 1950s when businesses were using telemarketing. But inside sales has evolved beyond… Read more »

Funding

How VCs make sense of the hype in technology startups

- December 8, 2020 4 MIN READ

Nothing excites investors and markets more than an emerging technology predicted to transform the way we live and work. Cloud accounting, NFC payments, mobile phones and social networking have all been this transformational force. Others have been hailed as the next big thing, to then plateau abruptly, or even fade into obscurity. Amazon’s Kindle is… Read more »

Breaking Bad, money pile
Funding

8 funding options for startups seeking capital

- November 6, 2020 3 MIN READ

There is a myth about great ideas. It is the fallacy that a winning idea simply sells itself to investors and lenders without too much effort.  But what actually matters most is a founder’s ability to take an idea and mould it into a value proposition that is compelling to parties who have capital to… Read more »

Opinion

VENTURE DEBT: Friend or foe for startup founders?

- December 13, 2019 3 MIN READ

  A growing number of start-ups are accessing venture debt to fund the growth of their business. With the primary appeal of limiting equity dilution, it’s easy to see why founders might jump on board the venture debt train. But venture debt has been linked to a number of collapsing startups both here and in… Read more »

Opinion

Why a ‘growth mindset’ is important for dealing with stress and mental health

- October 21, 2019 3 MIN READ

From co-founder break-ups to startup burn-out, the path of the founder can be fraught with stress. A study conducted by American researcher Michael Freeman suggests that even before founders set-up shop they have a pre-existing vulnerability to stress. His 2015 study of 242 entrepreneurs found that a higher proportion of founders reported a lifetime history… Read more »