Having a prototype is essential if you want investors to take you seriously. So good job on getting that. It would be very good if you can also get a designer to also make 1 or 2 sleek representations of your vision for what some key screens of the app could eventually look like. These screens are just to have in a deck, and maybe you could even add some superficial functionality by using something like Marvel (https://marvelapp.com/). Feel free to add buttons, options, etc. to the screens which you haven't implemented yet in your MVP. It's just to show your vision for the future. Then also have at least some data or insights to present from your preliminary user testing. Even info from just 5 user tests is better than nothing, but the more you have the better. You probably won't need anything more than 50 though (depending on what your app does), so you don't go crazy on that before talking to investors. Start by 'pitching' your app to just friends first, then to strangers (maybe your neighbor, whatever), then to investors you're closest to (maybe you're connected to some on linkedin?), then to investors you don't know, etc. At each of these stages you'll be getting more and more confident about your product, you'll be working out bugs, and you'll be perfecting your pitch to get the most interest. By doing it in steps you're not putting all your eggs in one basket, and you'll instead be increasing your chance of getting investment as your approach bigger and bigger investors. If you want to run your current prototype by me for suggestions, inquiries, etc. send me a message and we can set up a call, all the best, Lee

I have found CrossComm in Durham, NC to be among the best. Sean, their tech lead, really helped us at Reveal Mobile. They are reasonably priced with an impressive client roster (Duke, LG, T-Mobile, etc...). See http://www.crosscomm.net/ and just give them a call at 919-667-9432.

Easy: answer questions. I love to focus on questions within my defined area of expertise that don't have any answers already posted. I check this almost daily and jump in on questions I feel that I can add value to. You can also review other questions that have answers already, and offer your insights. Your message may be slightly different than other experts -- but there is beauty in that! Not every user will identify with every expert. Most of the consulting calls I have booked as a result of Clarity come from folks who read my answer to a question, not the original user who posted the question. To see success, you have to put yourself out there and commit to investing time to the community. All the best, -Shaun

Without having further details, I have always been a fan of bootstrapping- that is using your own funds and capital to start the business. If your objection to this may be that you don't have access to the kind of funding that is required through your personal savings but bootstrapping can be done through customer validation (pre-sales), business optimization (existing products) and personal capacity building (earn/save more). I hope this is helpful!

HI! Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you. I would say write it in the language you are most familiar with. If you feel comfortable in Java, then it's a great choice. NodeJS is also a very popular choice for API servers, and Python has two great, slim tools in Flask and Eve: http://flask.pocoo.org/ and http://python-eve.org/. Also, PHP 7 just came out and it's been thoroughly vetted; even if it's not battle-tested yet, it's way faster than previous versions and worth the investment if you are familiar with php. As for storage, it really depends on your data structure, but SQL fits most apps really well, and there is good support for it in cloud hosting. For hosting, I would look at AWS and Google. AWS offers more robust storage options with RDS and DynamoDB, but I bet Google is catching up fast. Both are very good options and offer great scalability, but are more complex to setup than a pair of VPSes. If you're in the market for a VPS, Linode has a managed Load Balancer service that's easy to setup and you can get a good HA setup for webservers with minimal effort. I guess the storage part depends very much on your data. Feel free to ring me up, I'd be happy to explore this further.

Some of those same influencers who turned you down might have written about your service if you hadn't offered to pay them. You should have instead sent them a bag of dicks. If they're a celebrity, you can get their agent's address from http://contactanycelebrity.com/ (it sounds fake, but it's actually totally legit, agents actually send them info). If they don't have an agent, try to look for a 'fan mail' address that they might have posted on a video or something. If you can't get any relevant address, then look up their friends on social media instead, and offer to pay them $xxx cash to send a back of dicks to their friend, and a cut of whatever orders end up being generated by that (if the influencer ends up writing about it). There are more techniques you can use to get influencers to post for free about it. Send me a message if you want to discuss it more, or just to say thanks if any of these ideas work (I'd actually like to know). all the best, Lee

There are an infinite number of ways to do this. Remember that you get paid for adding value to people's lives. Paid webinars, monthly newsletters, selling or reselling via ebay/etsy, ebooks (especially via Amazon/Kindle), digital products (check out Clickbank) as a creator or affiliate. Look for something you're interested in so that your interest won't wane. If you're only in it for the money, it won't last long and you won't have the drive to make it high quality. Check out Pat Flynn's site Smart Passive Income for ideas and resources. A key for any business is to leverage your time and create recurring revenue. Freelancing tends to be another job (dollars for hours). Creating something once that can be sold an infinite number of times (all digital products) is the key to growing your income. Developing a network of supportive people who can help you build your idea and can later help you promote your products/services is also critical. Don't think you can do it all yourself. Leverage (and support!) your connections. It usually takes time to develop the infrastructure and following/tribe/audience/customers. Don't give up too soon. Eighteen months is a good benchmark. After that, if you've put in the work, the business will start to take off. Don't expect "fast cash" before that though. Be willing to put in the hard work, delivering value all along the way (usually for little or no money in the beginning to develop a following who will buy from you later).

A 2 minute explainer video is like being chained to a wheel of injustice. Seriously :) when did you manage to get through a 2 minute video without leaving or skipping? 1min to 1.5mins TOPS. Break the other deeper aspects into short form video explanations or separate the feature set out as a separate video. Homepage video: 1. Help the viewer identify with the problem 2. Ask leading questions (creates a curious mindset 3. Tell them about the solution quickly and the differentiator (now Bob can travel fro x>y 1.5 times faster and cheaper than any competitor whilst Joe, Shmo and Clet get to be drivers without a $1m medallion). 4. Summarize 5. CTA The rest you can explain in deeper pages with feature-set explainer videos(even shorter! Bite size chunks that make you want to watch more... Like eating some small tasty M&Ms)

Here are 3 ways you could find out who the investors are. Internal documents At any AGM (annual general meeting, which you would have a right to attend) this would obviously be disclosed. Also in the shareholders agreement, all parties would likely sign and you could find out then, and without making a stink. Public Filings It depends on the jurisdiction but you could be able to see the public filings. This can be bad because generally it's not advantageous to have your ownership as public knowledge. Introduction Why not just ask the entrepreneurs for an intro? You gave them money, surely they could introduce you to other investors...

There are plenty of experts within the FBA field, you can Google them or seek help here on Clarity. Before you seek help, perhaps you want to look into these marketplaces and check for entry requirements and market research. For instance, you need to register for VAT to sell within the UK. Check out the UK government site for more details: https://www.gov.uk/vat-rates You can seek help from accountants over at ukvat.uk.com instead of the big 4 as bigger firms will take longer time to get back to you. As for EU marketplace is simpler once you have applied and started selling within the UK marketplace. Germany now requires sellers to have VAT as well. Selling within the Japan marketplace is pretty straightforward. Keep in mind you will need to translate your product listings when selling to non-english countries. You can easily hire a translator on Upwork.com and make sure the freelancer is fluent in the native language to avoid any direct translation mistakes. Every country and marketplace that you choose will have different rules and regulations so be sure to check them carefully. Stay laser focus on the marketplace you want to expand to instead of trying to sell within all of them. Get familiar with one and generate sales before moving onto the next. If you need more help selling within the UK marketplace, I am happy to help out as I have clients selling within US and UK marketplaces.

Without more detail it is hard to make a good recommendation. Since I don’t know your exact needs I will share the best AI based chat tool I have seen. It is offered by a company called NextIT. You can see it in use at goarmy.com. If navigate there and chat with Sgt. Star you can ask him just about anything you can think of and you will get a good and accurate response.

I've advised 40+ startups on hiring, org structure, and leadership, and excited to take a stab at this question. The key first is defining in more detail the role you need today and the role you aspire the company will need 12 months from now. Where do they intersect? What hard skills vs soft skills are needed at each juncture? The real important part of this will be whomever you hire, will they have their domain in which they can make their own calls and have the final say while you're still there? Management overlap or disagreement is generally what causes leadership to be a mess. The best talent you'll want to attract will expect to have final say on many matters and not have to run so much by you. As you mentioned, COO's typically have different skill sets than CEOs. COO's run the internal business and allow the vision set by the CEO to become reality. It happens, but not a guarantee than a COO can evolve into a CEO. Your typical CEO is busy setting the vision, meeting investors, building partnerships, brand, working with media, hiring, etc... In the case of many CEOs, they simply don't have the time to meet with their direct reports who lead the other business functions. Although it's prestigious to report into a CEO, most people are frustrated by the lack of time, feedback, and direction they receive. This is where a COO can add a lot of value; by having more time to manage, lead, and guide the rest of the leadership. This way the CEO can spend time with the COO, and the COO then pushes the right framework, expectations, and feedback to the rest of the org. If you have any other questions on this matter, happy to discuss on a call.

Hi Sree, I saved your site as a pdf and have begun annotating it, let's schedule a call and we can go over a couple suggestions, all the best, Lee

Short Answer: Build a deep network. This is why network science is my primary focus and the top companies today Google, Amazon, Facebook, Linkedin are heavily leverage networks. There is no "contact here for partnerships" form for large diversified organizations. Unless it is a very specific program, they don't want an inflow of un-vetted opportunities. So how do you do it? You reach out to one of your advisors or investors(presuming you have some) and ask them if they know the someone at Company X. If they know the COO of Best Buy and can make an intro than that is the quickest way to get to the right department. This is a top-down approach and generally works faster and better than a bottom-up approach.

I have extensive hands on experience in prototyping for startups using 3D printers, micron accuracy computer controlled milling machines, power tools, hand tools, etc. Here are some pointers: You can buy your own 3D printer (I'd recommend Afinia: http://afinia.com/), or you could send your CAD design to http://www.shapeways.com/ to have them print it for you. If your design can be made from 2 dimensional pieces, then you could also get it made by a laser / water jet cutting place, such as http://www.bigbluesaw.com/ If you'd like further information about how to do it yourself, other manufacturers, the best CAD software, the limitations of each prototype manufacturing method, or information on the best materials to use for different conditions, send me a message and we can work out a call, all the best, Lee

There are various templates that you can find using a Google search. However, it is sometimes difficult for a founder with limited experience writing business plans to write a plan that is clear to outsiders - the founder is often too deep in the weeds. The first thing you need to do is be clear on why you need a business plan. Is it for fundraising? Is it to decide what your company is all about? Is there some other reason? I've written lots of business plans for my own startups and startups I've consulted with. Sometimes the right answer is that you don't need to write a business plan at all, but you just need some of the elements of the business plan, such as a revenue model or marketing strategy. I've got a few business plan templates and would be happy to discuss them. It all starts with your current situation and your needs though.

You should check out cool apps like Weave, Shapr and Sites like FounderDating (getting some traction). Attend pitch evening or networking evenings and breakfasts where many such candidates might be attending looking for their next great challenge or advice. Try to look for meet ups that are in the food/ beverage space. You could also work out of food/ beverage focused accelerators where you might find a person passionate about the problem you're solving. Make sure you pick someone who fits what you're not good at. Too much overlap of strength becomes a focal point of disputes.

You would promote this like any other way, through such as your personal social networks online, build a reputable LinkedIn network, attend and present chamber of commerce meetings, rotary clubs, etc. if be interested in something like this. I actually think I had one before but might have gotten removed. Consider situations like mine for improving your service perhaps helping guaranteeing that pages will stay up. I used to help curate W so I know that others can evaluate your pages and flag down... Message me if you want to share with me how you do this...

Congratulations on your new opportunity. For any business strategy to work, you must have the following: - A clear, articulable mission or objective - Buy-in from the entire group - Ownership from each member of the group - A system to measure the success of the strategy - A well-defined customer persona including their pain points/ frustrations - How you will solve those problems Those are the elements of putting a strategy in place. Many in your position overlook key points: buy-in from the group and relentless obsession with solving the problem of the customer. Your opportunity sounds interesting; I'd love to help you more and offer specific next steps. If that would be of benefit to you, please reserve some time and book a call here on Clarity and we can get into a very specific plan for you. All the best, -Shaun

I think my advice here (https://clarity.fm/questions/3426/how-do-i-put-in-place-a-business-strategy-for-a-new-vertical) also applies to this question. To create a brand story, focus less on the brand and more on the story of your ideal customer. What do they struggle with? What problem are they looking to solve? How do you solve that for them? How do they feel before their problem is solved? After? What happens if they don't solve it? Why would they choose you over someone else with the same solution? As I said before, this sounds interesting. I'd be happy to discuss more in detail and specific to your needs. Feel free to book a call here and we can discuss your next steps. -Shaun

In my experience, angel investors bring money but little else. There are exceptions (super angels, etc.), but most angels expect you to run the business, have the ideas, turn them into something profitable and figure out how to make it all work. If your investor has specific expertise in your market, it makes sense for you to try to tap that expertise. Is once a month good enough? If I had an angel investor with specific expertise in my market, I'd be asking the investor how much time they are able to devote. I would take as much of their time as they could devote - so the answer is really with your investor. I'd be happy to get on a call to discuss your specific situation.

Read my books at Amazon Books under Michael Von Irvin. Find something that you have a great deal of passion for that also as the potential for earning lots of money. This may not be what you end up doing, but you will learn. Start now, right this moment. Start before you make a plan, but write out right after you make at least one move in the direction of your chosen path. This plan may change over time, but that is normal. No general ever went to war and fought every battle with the same strategy. The strategy usually changes after the first offensive move. The same is with business plans, but the core goal will remain the same. Good Luck, MichaelVonIrvin.com

A degree is a great start! What works well is successful campaigns to spread awareness - get people to sign up for a social media account, contribute to a Kickstarter, raise money for charity. Interning for a medium size firm as their marketer will give you a chance to make mistakes, learn basics of email and social, and get some small wins to get paid positions down the line. Hop on a call with me and I'd be happy to help you plan a career trajectory.

I'm not totally sure that you have to know the correct class in order to file a patent. I was under the assumption that it was the patent examiners job to ultimately determine this. With that said, I'm sure it's quite important to know what class you'll end up in and this should help you complete a patent search of other competitors in the same class. Also, if you have a budget for IP, a thorough patent search done by a reputable IP firm will bring back information on any potentially overlapping patents and you can check and see which class these patents are in and work backwards from there. Also, I'm pretty sure your product could belong to more than one class.