Startup Fundraising
What’s the term for starting a business using only your personal money, savings, or credit?
What is bootstrapping?
What kind of budget is used within departments to fund small innovations?
What is the Business Unit (BU) budget?
One benefit of bootstrapping is full ownership. What’s one risk?
What is running out of money or missing market timing?
Which is better for a physical product with early adopters: VC or Kickstarter?
What is Kickstarter or rewards-based crowdfunding?
Fill in the blank: “a strong business model outperforms a _____ product”
What is clever?
What type of investor must earn $200K/year or have $1M net worth (excluding home)?
What is an angel investor?
What’s the term for a corporation investing in startups or innovation via its own fund?
What is Corporate Venture Capital (CVC)?
What’s one major advantage of equity crowdfunding over traditional VC?
What is access to a wider investor base or building a customer community?
A company wants to build an internal HR analytics tool — what kind of funding?
What is Business Unit (BU) budget or corporate innovation budget?
True or False: A strong business model can make a simple product successful.
What is true
What does a venture capitalist typically invest in exchange for?
What is equity or ownership in the company?
Which funding model involves customers co-developing and funding a solution?
What is customer co-creation?
Why might future investors be wary of a messy cap table?
It complicates ownership and control — too many small investors can cause issues.
A health tech startup wants to scale fast — should they go angel or VC?
What is VC?
What company rents high-end dresses through a subscription instead of selling them?
What is Rent the Runway?
Name one major risk of taking VC money.
What is losing control, being replaced as CEO, or forced to sell early?
Give one example of a company with a corporate VC arm.
What is Google Ventures, M12, IBM Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, etc.
What does it mean if a VC has a “thesis”?
A focused strategy on who/what/when they invest in.
A B2B software firm wants to work on designing a new software with their biggest client. What is this called?
What is customer co-creation?
What revenue model(s) did Dollar Shave Club have?
What is razor-blade and subscription?
What's the key legal framework that enabled equity crowdfunding in the U.S.?
What is the JOBS Act of 2012?
What’s the difference between corporate innovation budget and BU budget?
One is centralized and the other is departmental
Why might a company say “no” to investing in a great idea?
Limited funds, strategic misalignment, need for follow-on reserves.
An entrepreneur wants to avoid giving up equity and maintain control. What funding options make sense for them?
What is bootstrapping or rewards-based crowdfunding?
True or False: Your company can be innovative without having dedicated innovation team members.
What is false?