Startup Funding
Startups use this type of funding when they are prepared to scale operations exponentially.
What is Series B funding?
What are the primary indicators that a startup needs to pivot?
Lack of product-market fit, unrealistic business model, and significant market shifts or emerging competition.
What is Amazon?
This company, founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 out of his garage, started as an online bookstore before evolving into the worlds largest e-commerce platform.
What is the misconception that most entrepreneurs start their companies with years of expertise?
What is most entrepreneurs have some expertise but haven’t previously started a business.
Which Professor has been at Miami University for 37 years?
Mark Lacker
This U.S. federal program provides grants to small businesses that participate in scientific research and development.
What is the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program?
What are the key factors to consider before making a pivot?
Market analysis, core competencies, customer feedback, and financial implications.
Who is Mark Zuckerberg?
In 2004, this college dropout co-founded Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard, later making it one of the largest social networks in the world.
What is the misconception that most ideas are pre tested before getting started?
What is many successful entrepreneurs launch their ideas and make changes based on customer feedback
Who was the first professor for entrepreneurship at the Farmer School of Business?
John Altman
This U.S. federal legislation, enacted in 2012, was designed to stimulate small business investment by relaxing some securities laws.
What is the JOBS Act?
How to manage the transition from the old product/service to the new one while maintaining customer loyalty?
Provide targeted support and communication to transition customers.
What is eBay?
Originally founded as a platform for online auctions, this company shifted to an e-commerce model and eventually became one of the worlds largest online marketplaces.
What is the myth that most successful entrepreneurs start their companies with a breakthrough invention?
What is many successful entrepreneurs start with simple solutions.
Whose office is covered in post it notes with ideas on them?
David Eyman
This refers to the financial support given to a startup after it has shown sufficient growth to conduct business on a large scale.
What is mezzanine financing?
When to abandon features or aspects of the old product that are not aligned with the new strategy?
Prioritize features that directly contribute to the new value proposition and consider offering phased deprecation of non-essential features.
Who is Sergey Brin?
This Google co-founder, originally from Russia, worked alongside Larry Page to create the search engine that would dominate the internet.
What is the myth that an entrepreneur must work long hours to be successful?
What is entrepreneurs need to work productive and efficient hours to be successful.
Which of the Miami University Entrepreneurship Professors also teaches yoga part time?
Kerri Cissna
This way of raising money means collecting small sums of money from a large group of people, usually online.
What is crowdfunding?
How to reallocate resources (people, budget) effectively during a pivot?
Conduct a skills gap analysis to identify areas where retraining or new hiring is needed and prioritize key initiatives aligned with the new strategy.
Who is Reed Hastings?
This co-founder of Netflix originally launched a DVD rental-by-mail service before transitioning the company to a streaming service that transformed entertainment consumption.
What is the myth that most successful entrepreneurs start their companies with millions in investments and venture capital?
What is many successful startups begin with low funding and grow through bootstrapping.
Geoff Zoeckler