After being featured in the Top 100 Startups in the Arab World 2017 by Forbes Middle East, we reached out to CEO and co-founder of Eureeca, Chris Thomas, for some insight on what it takes to launch and grow a successful startup. He gave us 4 very insightful tips, which we decided to share with you in a dedicated blog post.
For a startup to create value, it’s not enough to see a gap in the market and steamroll into developing a solution. You need to understand whether that gap is sufficient enough not to be able to be filled by existing solutions. And not only does your proposition need longevity (a fad is not sustainable as a value proposition), but you need to see your product through your customer’s eyes. Don’t make too many assumptions on what they want.
At Eureeca, our role is to guide the entrepreneur in narrating their investment case and to assist them with ensuring that they communicate the appropriate message to each stakeholder. Prospective investors each have different needs and will be searching for a key message that resonates directly with them and piques their interested in a particular business.
Here are some key takeaways for companies looking to raise money to scale up their business:
- Know When The Time Is Right
It’s not easy to think about raising money for your business. It’s daunting. You are putting everything out there, laying your business model bare for everyone to see. And you are asking them to take a leap of faith and to invest their cash into your dreams. But if you want to take your business to the next level, eventually everyone is going to need an external injection of cash.
- Seek Validation
Before launching your first self-funding round, you need to get validation from your network of supporters. The expression of interest to invest in your company will give you the final push and confidence required to kick-start our campaign.
- Pitch Perfect
Don’t under-estimate the power of a well-crafted, clear and concise investor memorandum (IM). Or the time and effort that goes into fine tuning this financial document and honing your pitch. Not only is this type of financial disclosure a legal requirement in global equity crowdfunding, but also it can be icing on the cake if delivered after a smashing pitch. Even in business, people make quick judgements. Make sure your first impression is the right one.
- Build Your Arm of Brand Ambassadors
It is a tried-and-tested truth that the process of equity crowdfunding doesn’t work unless you are willing to work hard to get your fans and customers to buy into the company and to want to share in its success. Platforms such as Eureeca are there to facilitate the process by providing an easy-to-use, efficient and transparent mechanism for entrepreneurs to post their funding proposal online and to offer them the tools and support to market their proposal to their network and our crowd of investors.
Eureeca is the first global equity crowdfunding platform. It enables members of its investor network, who range from casual and angel investors to institutional firms, to buy shares in growth-oriented businesses, while providing operational businesses with crucial access to capital.
Discover the 5 startups who are part of the Berytech community who made it into the Top 100 Startups in the Arab World 2017 by Forbes Middle East here.
