"Startup" is a company that does not always understand three things: what is a product, who are its customers and how to make money. Dave McClure, co-founder of 500Startups.

Few people fully understand such a newfangled term as a startup, so in this article we decided to tell you.

Startup is a company that has just been created and, as a rule, has not yet even been registered as entity. It is usually built on innovative ideas or the latest technologies. home distinguishing feature startup - lack of funding. In the USA, or usually students are involved, so there a synonym for a startup is a garage company. Many people think that a startup occurs only in the IT field, but in fact, it can appear in any field. This is how you can briefly answer the question, what is a startup in simple terms.

The history of startups

"Do everything on time, be persistent, do not give up trying for 10 years, and in the end it will seem that success came to you overnight." Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter.

For a better understanding of the phenomenon, it is worth looking into history. What is a startup? The term appeared back in 1939 in California (USA), where at that time there was a boom in the emergence of new high-tech companies. In English, start-up means to start. That's what the two Stanford University students William Hewlett and David Packard called their company. It is not difficult to guess that the world famous company Hewlett-Packard grew out of this startup.

Today to the question What is a startup?” almost everyone will answer - a new project on the Internet. And all because its rapid development contributed to the emergence of new companies in the online mode. Although initially it was not so.

The most famous startups today are:

Social networks Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, Facebook, although in fact only the latter is really a startup, and the first two are copies of it.
Internet Encyclopedia Wikipedia.
YouTube video database.
Flickr photo storage service.
Twitter messaging platform.

I would also like to note some discrepancy between the concepts in our country and in the homeland of startups. This is how we call any new project. In America, this is what they call an already formed company that meets a number of criteria and is already releasing some kind of innovative product or service. That's all the subtleties of what a startup is in simple words.

What is the most important thing in a startup?

"If you can't feed your team two pizzas, you've got too much of a team." Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon

The main advantage of a startup is that it is ready to introduce new developments into life right now. The corporations that this could help are too slow and clumsy to react quickly to changes in the market.

For a new business, a new, fresh one, which is in high demand in the market, is important. Sometimes investors are ready to pay for the idea itself, without its implementation. Most often, they are interested in young startups (under 25 years old), as they are usually completely passionate about their idea and are ready to give everything for the sake of its implementation to the fullest. Therefore, one more an important factor success is a good team. And, of course, the main problem of the new business is the necessary funding.

How startup funding works

Today, the market has assessed the possibilities of startups, so venture funds, as well as business angels, are engaged in the search for funding and the selection of suitable ideas. In the case of funds, their employees are involved in the distribution of funds invested in mutual funds. Business angels are looking for opportunities to invest their own funds. It is on them that startups should count in the first place.

They do not interfere in the formation and development of the company, but are ready to invest in it already at the inception stage. Unless, of course, the idea seems promising to them. It is on profit in the future that the calculation is made. Venture funds usually consider already operating companies, when one can already trace some kind of pattern in development.

Search for an investor for a startup

Most often, the search for an investor for a startup is carried out at special forums, exhibitions, conferences, where potential investors come with a specific desire to invest their money. In addition, at such events you can get project expertise, present it to a huge audience, and even find your first clients.

Remember the Internet too. Publication of information on relevant sites and forums can also pay off.

Stages of startup development

1. Pre-startup lasts from the emergence of an idea to the release of the first sample on the market. It is divided into the Pre-seed period, when there is an idea, but there is no understanding of how to promote the product to the market, and seed, when the market is studied and conducted search for an investor.

2. Prototyping– interface and terms of reference. First, a prototype with the main functions is created, then an alpha version, which is released for testing. After adjustments, a closed beta version is released, which is tested in a wider, but closed circle of people. After the following adjustments, a limited public beta is released to early customers.

3. Mass product launch which goes through two stages. Startup - launch and the first period of work. This stage begins with growth - covering a niche in the market and fixing on it. And it ends with an expansion - an increase in the volume or number of niches.

The second stage is the exit from the business of investors, when they, having received their profit, sell their share to strategic investors or startup ideologists.

This is an approximate scheme for the development of a startup. It is not necessary that everyone goes through all these stages. Each company develops in its own way. But in general, this is all that can be said about what is a startup in simple words.

Startup (from the English 'start-up') is the general name for a company, firm or project that has recently existed. There is no clear definition of the statute of limitations, but usually it ranges from several weeks to several months. After this period, the project in any case ceases to be a startup, since it either receives recognition and investment support in order to continue development, or is closed as unclaimed and uncompetitive.

The key features of a startup can be considered the following factors:

A startup must be in demand in order to gain fame among the target audience and lead investors to the decision to invest the available capital in the development of this project.

A startup does not necessarily have a commercial basis: it can be humanitarian, scientific and technical, informational. However, startups do not include research, even fundamental, in highly specialized areas that are not of interest to the majority of participants in society or a social group.

Startup presentation for investors

To increase your chances of promotion and getting support from investors, you need to prepare a project for presentation:

As you know, brevity is the sister of talent. And since investors always have capital to invest only in the most promising startups, you should make the presentation bright, memorable, and moderately brief.

It is quite possible that the presentation will be aimed at a certain category of investors or even at one person, if necessary.

essence aggressive startup promotion is that at an early stage the project cannot afford to be tolerant of competitive solutions. He must deny (and, if necessary, refute) alternative options and offer his own, the only true and most profitable from the point of view of investment.

The word "startup" is now used exclusively in relation to web-based Internet projects. Whatever the new social network, it is sure to be called a startup. They made a web service - also a startup.

Startup(from English start-up) - this is a young small company that, as a rule, has limited resources and has just begun its activities. In most cases, this is a young company, whose activities are not related to the Internet and webduality, but to any innovative technology (on the Internet, nanotechnology, medicine, and whatever). Such companies used to be called high-tech startups, now just startups.

A startup is not a website, not a project, not a web service, not a technology. This is a company. Calling a web project a startup is just as incorrect as calling a company a website.

What is a startup

Startup(English startup, startup company) - a new firm (enterprise, company) in the initial period of its development. It is created to implement a promising idea (ideas), in order to get a good profit. As a rule, small (2-5 people). Startupper(English startuper) - the creator and employee of a startup.

The history of startups

The concept of "startup" is closely related to Silicon Valley. We can say that the successful functioning of Silicon Valley began with the creation of a startup: in 1939, Stanford University graduates William Hewlett and David Packard founded the first startup, which later turned into such a successful giant as Hewlett-Packard.

Others are classic! – examples of successful startups – Microsoft (1975), Apple Computer Inc.(1976) and Google (1998).

The founders of Microsoft are Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

The founders of Apple are Steve Jobs (Steven Paul Jobs), Steve Wozniak (Stephen Gary Wozniak) and Ron Wain who joined them.

The founders of Google are Larry Page (Lawrence Edward Page) and Sergey Brin (Sergey Brin).

One of the main reasons for the creation and existence of startups is the sluggishness of large companies. Large companies successfully exploit already existing products (which have become brands), but with the creation of new ones, they, as a rule, are “stressed”. In terms of creating and implementing new ideas, startups - thanks to their mobility - successfully compete with large corporations.

What does it take to make a startup successful?

For a startup to become successful, at least three components are necessary:

an idea (or better, a brilliant idea, and not just one!);

people (or better - brilliant people with brilliant ideas!);

investors (venture capitalists, business angels).

But even good combination these components does not guarantee victory: according to statistics, out of ten startups, only one achieves success ...

What else contributes to success successful startups?

Youth (according to statistics, the average age of a startup is 24 years), the enthusiasm of startups for their idea and their work, the selfless work of startups (because they only need success, they work according to the principle: either pan - or gone, or all - or nothing ).

Startup Crash Test("Startup Crash Test", SCT, SKT) is a non-commercial event for technological projects (startups), held to test them for the strength of business models, the relevance of the software platform and the applicability of marketing strategies.

SCT appeared over a year ago in Kiev and is currently one of the most successful events for startups, attracting an audience of 300 people at a time. The first SCT in St. Petersburg took place on February 6, which was also reported on TechCrunch.

The aim of SKT is to bring together a wide range of specialists from the field of angel financing and venture capital, as well as technical experts and experienced entrepreneurs. Participants of the "Crash Test" have the opportunity to receive constructive criticism and practical advice, find the missing specialists in the project team, partners and like-minded people, get a mention in the press and the blogosphere. Additionally, SCT should become a platform for the selection of local angel and venture investors, thereby acting as a platform for informal communication for the investment and entrepreneurial community.

Startups presented within the SKT receive live feedback on their ideas and developments, practical recommendations, and potential deals. Crash Test Audience Gets new site to communicate, gain experience, share opinions and impressions.

Participation and attendance of the event is free of charge, subject to receipt of confirmation of participation from the organizers.

Traditionally, the SCT consists of two parts:

Panel discussion - in which invited speakers discuss a topic that is pre-planned and relevant for startups.

Presentations - 2-4 bright and promising startups, carefully selected by the organizers, speak for 10-15 minutes, followed by a 15-20 minute discussion.

Periodically, within the framework of the SKT, the following are also carried out:

Flash Pitch - up to 5 people can make a 90-120 second pitch of their project, one of which, according to the results of the audience's vote, becomes the winner and is guaranteed to get the opportunity to speak at one of the subsequent SKT.

Keynote - a report or presentation given by a special guest of SKT.

St. Petersburg has always been the intellectual and technological capital of Russia. The overall goal of the SCT organizers is to set up communications between startups and investors and create an ecosystem of technological entrepreneurship in St. Petersburg that reveals the true potential of the city.

Startup (startup) on the Internet

Now you can often hear such a word as "startup". Meanwhile, not everyone understands the true meaning of this term, some people think that a startup is the launch of a website or something related to the Internet. However, these notions are not entirely correct. In general, the English word startup (originally start up) literally translates as “start”. startup company (a startup company or just a startup) is new company which is just getting started. Startup - the company has a promising idea and is aimed at getting big profit. Typically, a startup consists of two to five people and, as a rule, these are quite young people (about 25-28 years old). As you can see, startup can be not only on the Internet. Nevertheless, the term startup is very often used specifically for IT companies and Internet companies, therefore, in fact, such combinations of words as “startup Internet”, “ internet startups". To be absolutely precise, a separate project built on venture investments within an existing company can be called a startup, but then we will talk about startups - new companies.

Every year, tens of thousands of various projects start in Russia. Some of them, of course, having existed for several years, fail and close, while others continue to work. Probably, few people who are interested in business have not heard the well-known phrase that "90% of small businesses close within 5 years after they are founded." The phrase is frightening, but nevertheless not entirely fair. The Kauffman Foundation has conducted quite serious studies that suggest that the situation is almost the opposite. In our opinion, these are two extreme points view, the reality lies somewhere in the middle. In this way, startup, if it is properly prepared and realistic, has a fairly good chance of surviving and developing in a competitive environment.

What does it take to make a startup successful? First, it needs a good and realistic idea. We put special emphasis on the word "realistic". Many people who light up the idea of ​​creating their own business, startup, often have, in their opinion, just a "fantastic" idea. The trouble is that many ideas are divorced from reality, and it can be, if not impossible, just as fantastically difficult to bring them to life. Secondly, a startup can be successful only if there are competent and hardworking specialists. And, thirdly, startup needs financing. We are engaged in just the latter, but not only this. Our firm assists companies in organizational matters and controls the work process. Our area of ​​interest is Internet startups.

Internet startups These are special startups. First of all, they are given specificity by a special environment - the Internet. To make a startup successful, you need to be familiar with this environment and understand how to monetize the project. If you want to get money from investors, you need to know not just well, but perfectly how to profit from your project. Internet startups are also distinguished by the fact that in many cases they do not need such expenses as in ordinary business, the professionalism and creative abilities of employees play a huge role first of all. Nevertheless, despite the specificity of the Internet, the laws of business success here operate in much the same way as elsewhere. Internet startups can count on success if they are new, original and, perhaps most importantly, the right people. Originality does not necessarily mean that something completely new is being invented. The old idea can also be implemented in a new way (Google is an example). That is, Internet startups must have some kind of zest, a "chip", their own special competitive advantage. We support small, medium and large Internet startups. In order to receive our funding and support, it is not necessary to have a dozen geniuses on your staff (but if there are, then it is worth naming them, especially if it is famous people). A good promising idea, resources are enough to achieve the goal and financial attractiveness of the project. If we think that your project suits us, then we will start financing it and supporting you in other ways.

Today we would like to offer our readers a selection of foreign and domestic resources for the development and promotion of startups in different stages from beta testing to official release. The list includes those sites and services that we have selected as effective and accessible based on own experience or user reviews. Each item is accompanied by a detailed commentary on the services provided and conditions.

Let's start with foreign sites.

1. betalist.com
Do you want to gather and warm up the audience for the official release? Betalist works with startups that haven't gone public yet. The resource administration selects projects for free placement on the site with an audience of 25,000 users; there is also the option of immediate publication for $129.

2. www.signupfirst.com
If you are ready to offer especially favorable conditions to the first users, SignUpFirst - good way convey this information to them. The site contains special offers from young companies: discounts, promotions, free trial or premium accounts and other bonuses, up to T-shirts with logos. You can enter information about your promotion yourself, there is no fee for this. For a fee of $ 27, your offer is widely disseminated on social networks and mailing lists.

3. betapage.com
Catalog of innovative startups. In the process of moderating applications, the administration takes into account mainly the uniqueness of the idea and how your product is presented on the Web; The stage of development of the project does not matter. The resource is interactive: users have the opportunity to give pros or cons to other startups and take part in discussions.

4. www.springwise.com
The resource selects the most promising and innovative from an infinite number of new startups and conveys information about them to its users through various channels. You can apply and hope for the best.

5. www.crazyaboutstartups.com
All about startups: tips for new business owners, trends in various fields, analytics, success stories and so on. The administration invites visitors to share information about their own projects through a special form - your story can become the basis for a review, article or interview.

6. www.startupranking.com
Add your startup to the database, and the system will calculate its rating based on the indicators search results and activities in in social networks. The analysis is free of charge, but the waiting time can be up to two months (of course, the process can be accelerated for $79). When your project is published on the site, the rating will also determine its position in the general list and, accordingly, the availability of the resource to visitors.

7. www.randomstartup.org
A simple random generator that randomly gives the visitor a startup from its catalog every time the page is refreshed. To include your brainchild in this catalog, just fill out a short form.

8. www.sideprojectors.com
A platform for buying and selling side projects. Note that the resource does not take on the role of an intermediary between the buyer and the seller, but, on the contrary, encourages the parties to communicate privately through other communication channels - in fact, the service is limited to posting ads.

9. startuplift.com
The resource offers feedback to startup owners and beta users on a paid basis ($10 per user, testimonial packages - from $69 to $189). When leaving an application, you can specify in detail which aspects you ask to pay especially close attention to.

10. www.betabound.com
Your chance to attract an army of beta testers to your startup for free. The Betabound community has over 150,000 amateurs and professionals ready to take on any project that catches their eye. If the moderators consider your project interesting enough, a post will be placed on the basis of the application with basic information about the product and contacts for beta testers. The administration emphasizes that all applications are published on equal terms - there is no opportunity to raise or secure a post for a fee, and the influx of testers is determined solely by the merits of the project.

11. www.launchingnext.com
Digest of startups that are preparing to launch, plus bonuses in the form of life hacks and product ratings. You can apply for the inclusion of your product in the list through the form on the site, free of charge.

12. www.startuptabs.com
A service that promotes your startup through a mobile application or web browser plugin; available only for a fee. For his $20, the user gets about 2,000 impressions per day.

13. www.coolstartupbro.com
Youtube for startups; a selection of the most-most video presentations of startups. If you have filmed a video on an idea, a project or a finished product - you are here. The system is extremely simple, in order to offer a link, even registration is not required. The administration considers only those videos that are already posted on Youtube or Vimeo.

14. www.younoodle.com
Service for potential investors looking for a promising startup. You can send your project to be added to the database, tell in detail about yourself and your program. We’ll warn you right away: YouNoodle will require personal information from you - age, education, previous projects, the roles of employees in the team, and then they will also analyze the state of the team using an algorithm based on the theory of social networks.

15. www.operation6fig.com
A five-week online course for beginners who are just starting to develop their business and work for themselves. The registration fee is $25. The classes cover topics such as market conditions, website and logo design, SEO optimization, branding. Participants first go through a kind of casting, during which the organizers select the most promising projects.

16. discova.co
A platform that offers investors and ordinary users assistance in finding interesting and promising projects from a variety of categories. For startup owners, the pleasure of placing their product on the site will cost $25.

17. startup88.com
Multitasking resource: offers reviews of new startups, information about current vacancies and major events. Materials from site visitors are accepted; be prepared to describe in detail what your startup is good for in the application. Guaranteed and prompt placement of your story will cost $50; no fee will be charged when reviewed in the normal way.

18. www.iamwire.com
Resource with analytical articles and useful tips for those who launch a project related to the field of technology. The resource accepts materials from outside - tell your story of entering the market, share experience with other specialists.

19. stompstart.com
StompStart helps entrepreneurs get support on early stages development of startups by demonstrating projects to investors. Materials are posted on the website and pages in social networks for free. Projects especially liked by the administration, as well as posts from users who are actively involved in the life of the community, have the opportunity to break through to the main page.

20. www.startupblink.com
Geography of startups. On the interactive map of the world, you can not only study the location of the offices of a particular company and find all startup owners in your city, but also get information about whether they are looking for partners and whether they are interested in cooperation. good tool to build business relationships.

21. gust.com
A resource for finding local startups. To quote the source: a platform for attracting and managing early-stage investments. With Gust, professional entrepreneurs can partner with the most successful investors and receive support on virtually any investor engagement issue.

22. thestartuppitch.com
The Startup Pitch gives app developers an opportunity to announce their product to the world and answer user questions.

23. breakpoint.io
Social platform for sharing feedback. If other resources focus on feedback from users or testers, then Breakpoint with its community of starters gives you the opportunity to find out what your colleagues think about your project.

24. www.launchlist.com
Catalog of fresh startups. Collaboration is mainly on a commercial basis. Users are offered paid ($49 and $99) service packages to attract the widest possible audience - mailing lists, press releases, advertising banners, promotion in social networks.

25. sideprojects.in
The site administration collects a collection of "the best startups and side projects." Don't be fooled by the Indian origin of the resource - according to Similar Web, most of the traffic to the site comes from the United States. It is possible to place both free of charge and on a paid basis (rates and service packages are discussed on an individual basis).

26. startupbuffer.com
Another directory for startups, where you can see people and show yourself, and at the same time find followers in the early stages of project development. Placement is free, only the usual application procedure and moderation are required.

27. www.startupinspire.com
A resource that positions itself as an international community where the best talents and cultures of the world come together to seek crowdfunding, exchange ideas and share tools and advice, and help each other achieve goals. Simply put, you can share stories about your project, add it to the site, and also find useful information for work.

For many Habr readers domestic And Ukrainian resources will be more relevant than English-language ones. And, although they are an order of magnitude smaller than foreign ones, some of them are worth paying attention to.

28. spark.ru
First of all, small businesses should familiarize themselves with the Spark platform. Here, specialists involved in Russian technological projects gather to tell about themselves, answer questions, get feedback and find new partners and investors. The main partner of Spark is the vc.ru edition.

29. startuppoint.ru
The first and largest community in Runet for professional search for venture investments and investment objects; the company evaluates the investment attractiveness of startups and aggregates a high-quality flow of projects in its database. The resource gives startups the opportunity to be noticed and get access to investments, and at the same time helps investors find worthy objects for investment.

30. www.towave.ru
Internet publication about startups. The authors write about a variety of projects, are open for communication and promise to answer everyone, except for "the owners of sites on the People and the owners of online casinos."

31. startupnetwork.ru
A platform where entrepreneurs with ideas and business plans, but without sufficient financial resources, can find sources of investment. Keep in mind: in order to receive funding, it is important for the initiator to correctly present his project - intelligibly and in an attractive way for the target audience. The interface of the Startup.Network platform is specially designed taking into account the standardized requirements for submitting information to potential investors. The project is relevant not only for Russia - Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh startups can also try their luck.

32. equerest.com
A Ukrainian resource that provides support for existing projects that are at the initial stage of development. Equerest is most interested, firstly, in startups related to education and development, and secondly, in ideas that go beyond standard solutions.

33. ligafk.ru
This service has a base for sending information about your project to investors.
Managers, together with investors, developed a convenient project questionnaire for drawing up a detailed application. By answering questions in the questionnaire, the startupper gets the opportunity to describe his project without missing important details.

34. www.microsoft.com
Microsoft Corporation also did not stand aside: the magnate is ready to provide some kind of assistance in the development of your project. Statapers are offered the good old Microsoft BizSpark program, whose participants receive for free:

Microsoft licensed software for the design, development, testing of products and hosting services on the Internet;
- free Azure cloud hosting resources;
- the ability to receive a Cloud grant in the form of Azure resources;
- up to 4 million rubles as part of participation in Partner accelerators;
- free access to the Windows Store;
- technical advice, business development assistance and a number of additional benefits from partners in the BizSpark community.

Of course, there are a number of restrictions, which you can find on the project website.

35. softlinevp.com
Corporate venture fund of the Softline group of companies. The fund invests in IT projects for early stages development. The interests of Softline Venture Partners are focused on such areas as mobile applications, SaaS & smart cloud, information security and e-commerce.

We hope that the selection we made will be useful to you, and your start-ups will find their investors and a dedicated audience. If you have interesting sources in mind, we would be grateful if you share them in the comments.

Good luck with your projects!

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Startup (start-up - start, run) - general concept, which unites organizations and projects at the initial stage of development. There is no clear time period during which a company can be called a startup. The frames vary from a couple of weeks to several months. In the future, regardless of the fate of the project, it ceases to be a startup. In some cases, it receives investment support and continues to develop actively. And in others, if the direction is unpromising and unclaimed, it simply closes.

Many have heard the word "startup", but not everyone can give it a clear definition. To better understand what a startup is, you should get acquainted with its distinctive features.

1. Short history of existence. Few people have heard about the startup, it is practically not mentioned in the media. Therefore, to make some forecasts related to further development, extremely difficult.
2. All processes are at the stage of formation. This is the period when the company only occupies its niche and masters the audience.
3. Startupers often use innovations in management and organizational processes. The best companies in the world were early pioneers in their field.
4. Often the project is based on the enthusiasm of the creators and innovative ideas. Many are inspired to create important problem: commercial, scientific, social. It is also its foundation.
5. The creators use all sorts of ways to promote their own project: professional forums, thematic conferences, mass media. Despite the fact that a startup rarely receives any awards, it is presented as young, but promising.
6. A commercial basis is not a prerequisite for starting a startup. It can be social, humanitarian, informational, scientific. It is important to note that a startup does not include research that affects the interests of only a small part of society.

A huge number of business projects are created every year. But only a small part of them are experiencing First stage and continues to develop successfully in the future. According to statistics, about 70% of young companies cease operations in the first year of their existence. To gain recognition from the target audience, it is important to create something that will be in demand among the majority of the population.

The history of the concept of a startup project

The word "startup" appeared in 1939 and was originally mentioned only in the field information technologies. It was associated with the emergence of young companies, each of which sought to present to the audience what competitors had not yet had time or simply did not think of creating. The peak of active growth of all kinds of organizations, both commercial and non-profit, fell on the period from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. This time was called the “dot-com bubble”, as a huge number of Internet companies were created. Therefore, many mistakenly call all projects created on the Web a startup.

Subsequently, this concept migrated to other areas: scientific and social studies, culture, entrepreneurship, economy. The framework expanded, and not only information projects, but also any newly created organizations began to be called startups. As for innovation and vigorous promotion, here the concept has retained the essence.

The number of government programs under which funds invest in start-ups and provide support to young organizations is increasing every year. Thanks to such support, modern startups are more confident in their abilities than before. But don't underestimate the importance of start-up capital. Without a proper financial base, even with an innovative idea and the enthusiasm of the team, it is extremely difficult to succeed.

Components of a successful startup

There is no universal formula that could bring success to absolutely any project. Firstly, in any area there are rules and laws. For example, the secrets of success in economics do not always work, say, in scientific activity. Secondly, external conditions are changing extremely rapidly, and you need to be able to adapt to them in time. The team, the chosen niche, the idea of ​​the project, the features of the promoted product - all these factors are individual, and they largely determine the fate of a startup.

There are several general principles, which will help, if not achieve heights, then at least keep the company afloat:

• professionalism and competence of the team. If management has only a minimal understanding of the product being promoted or does not understand the issue at all, the idea is doomed to failure;
• innovativeness and attractiveness to the audience. A startup must stand out among thousands of trivial and unremarkable companies;
• competent promotion: PR, publications in the media, promotion on the Internet. Without this, the target audience will quickly forget about the company or not learn about it at all;
• cohesive team. Constant disagreements and conflicts within the team will lead to an early closure of the project;
• high level of training. Before launching a project, it is necessary to take into account every nuance and work out every detail. All kinds of gaps will declare themselves, which will certainly affect the attractiveness of the product for sponsors and the target audience;
• attracting sponsors and finding investors for a startup. Without proper financial support, a startup will not develop and will not be able to win the target audience.

Don't forget about hard work, without which it is simply impossible to succeed, especially for beginners. Even in the presence of an interesting and actual idea for a startup, you will have to spend a lot of time, money and effort on finding the best ways to implement it, developing and planning a project, and establishing relationships. Therefore, not one person, but several partners often act as the founder of the project, each of which performs its own function.

Attracting investors to startup

One of the main components of a successful startup is investment. Among the founders, all kinds of platforms are very popular, where you can not only, but also accumulate valuable information. Today, there are many opportunities to get financial support for a startup:

• various funds annually conducting investment programs (competitions), each of which provides for its own conditions for participation, amounts and terms of financing;
• venture capital companies;
• business incubators offering work space, administrative and information support, and access to databases;
• technoparks that bring together various educational establishments, research institutes, business centers;
• business accelerators - express training programs for founders of startups with further support in exchange for a share in the business;
• often relatives and friends of the initiators act as investors, especially when it comes to the small capital needed to start.

Project presentation for startup

To attract investment, you need to prepare a high-quality business plan and present it correctly. Regardless of where you decide to turn for support - to a bank, a fund or a private investor, in any case, you will have to provide detailed plan. Often a presentation is prepared for a group of people, but it is possible that it will be focused on one person.

Don't miss our new article about Oleg Tinkov and his transfer.

Do not forget that sponsors get acquainted with a huge number of proposals, so banal and boring startups are quickly forgotten. The project should "hook" novelty, competitiveness, zest. Even if your own startup project seems innovative and entertaining to you, you should not think that someone else could not think of this. Despite fierce competition, it is necessary to leave a brilliant impression of yourself and your project.

The plan should spell out all the details in detail, starting with the relevance of the topic and ending with economic calculations. But the presentation does not need to delve into details that potential investors do not have time for. Many of them are far from the essence of the problem. The presentation should be concise and understandable so that the interlocutor can easily understand why this particular project is profitable.

A good startup has practical value. This must be told briefly and clearly, avoiding lyrical digressions and other extra information. You must clearly state the urgency of the problem and the proposed solution. After your presentation, the practical value should become clear even to a person who is far from the subject of research.

A project consisting of nothing but promises, not supported by any demonstrable results and well-prepared forecasts, will not inspire confidence in any investor. If you want the interlocutor to want to get to know your startup in more detail, include real numbers and facts in your presentation, not loud statements. Quite often, founders use aggressive promotion, which excludes any tolerance for competitors. In this case, the leader denies or even refutes any alternative solutions, promoting his path as the most profitable.

No one will support the first project that comes across. From their huge number, investors choose only the most promising ones. For many, a presentation is enough to understand how promising this or that startup is, whether it is worth spending time and money on its development. Therefore, try to make the presentation memorable, understandable and reasonably concise.