These are good questions to start with. I'd recommend rephrasing the first question to "How likely would you be to use this app?" (subtle but important difference - it can be "helpful" but they may not use it). And rephrasing the second to "How much would you be willing to pay for this app?" (again, idea vs. intent). You can also get a sense for Net Promoter Score (NPS) by asking "On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you be to recommend this app to a friend?" (Learn how to calculate NPS here: http://www.netpromoter.com/why-net-promoter/know)

If I may ask, "What's your definition of *mean* marketing?" In my more than a decade experience with companies, people have always asked for smart ways to market a product or service. I haven't found anyone trying to be *mean* with customers, as the word definitely doesn't carries a positive connotation. As far as smart marketing is concerned, designing a campaign is dependent on various factors, not limited to following: 1. Understanding your market niche 2. Understanding your customer niche 3. Selecting appropriate media and platforms to market 4. Innovating your campaign by capturing latest trends 5. Adopting appropriate execution strategy so as to keep it long enough to cover the subject and short enough to raise the interest 6. Any many more tactical planning..... I hope above to be of some help!!

Google could be a good place to start searching for the information (s). Just be careful about the authenticity of the data that pick for your business plan. One way to ensure authenticity is to pick data published by established brands. However, given my experience working with plethora startups around business planning, I am curious to understand following: 1. Why do you need info on Mobile App revenue? If you're trying to hinge your Apps' ability to monetize on generic industry numbers then you're on a shortest possible path to getting your business plan scrapped. Alternately, in case you aren't clear about your financial numbers then it isn't a good practice to reverse engineer your numbers by looking at revenue figures of other applications. Thirdly, if you're counting info on mobile app revenues as a data to be mentioned under market research/analysis section then again it could be a bad idea. The data should provide an insight around your application concept and business idea. Do feel free to reach out to me for any further help that you may need. I am just a call away to be able to provide further clarity. Thank You!!

Mike, I am assuming you'd have gained significant insights on the probable demand for your application. If I build, they will come could be a fatal proposition to presume. I am telling this, both, after having worked with numerous entrepreneurs as an independent consultant to working with startups as an agency. Secondly, as a yet-to-be-launched-startup your concern should be "How to monetize the App?" than thinking about something as big as branding. Branding is much more than mere having a logo. Continuing with sprint up to MVP could be a good idea as long as you are clear with "Objective" and "Goal" that you wish to achieve post reaching MVP stage. If not, then you should simultaneously start establishing a business model around your idea. And, don't confuse business model to means to just earn revenue. It's much more than that, and in it's absence the road ahead may be ridden with more potholes. If investment/funding is at the top of your mind, post MVP, then you should consider putting together a document highlighting following: 1. Problem your application will address 2. Value associated with your product 3. That there's a demand for such application (I have mentioned demand and not need) 4. Your strategic planning for future on utilization of fund There could be various such critical business parameters to consider. I hope above could be of some help to you. Please feel free to reach out to me for any specific input that you may be looking at. Receiving more Clarity from you will help me to provide more Clarity on way forward. We call it "Hand-Holding". Thank You!!

I've personally been accepted into two accelerators. The wait time depends on the accelerator. For one accelerator, I didn't hear back until at the absolute last minute (the week before it started). For another accelerator I heard back about a month before it started. In terms of improving your chances for an accelerator, having an alumni give you a reference is a big help. Also continuing to show signs of traction and growth is a big help as well. There are a handful of other ways to get the attention of the decision makers at the accelerators too. Call me if you need help getting into an accelerator.

Sounds like Clarity Live :)

You are 100% correct. Just like you, customers in other countries want to understand what they're buying. Studies have shown they're actually 6 times more likely to buy when a website is available in their native language, and that 85% of global shoppers will not buy at all in a non-native language. Having a translated website also helps people find you/improves your SEO, as even if someone is willing to check out a site in English, they search in their own language. I'm happy to help further. Just let me know, and thank you!

There are a few ways to track things automatically, but they get complicated: - referral program software - Give your referrers special URL's with parameters that identify them as the referrer (like http://url.com/?referrer=JohnDoe), then push that value into a hidden form field - Create a separate landing page for each referrer I'd keep things much simpler to start. Just tell your social club that there's a referral program in place, then add a form field on your signup process asking who referred the new customer. If John Doe knows that there's a program in place, when he refers someone, he's likely to tell them "make sure you say I referred you". When the new customer joins, they'll likely remember to enter "John Doe" as the referrer. It's not bullet proof, but it's an easy way to start.

Neither am I, and I work with this stuff all the time. You need a statistician and a psychologist at least. The content has to be grounded in accepted psychological terms, and proven statistically relevant. Maybe you could talk to the DISC people and rent out their expertise to do so...won't be cheap, though. The only other firm I know that has created an assessment tool that really works is Objective Management Group / Dave Kurlan and Associates. You could ask them how they developed their tool and how they proved it was statistically relevant and accurate. If I were in their shoes, I certainly wouldn't give you this expertise for free, though...just be aware of that.

As you likely know, people make a lot of decisions based on price. Having different pricing points isn't distracting, it's often the driver for making a decision - as people compare value of an offering to the price of its offer. So no, I don't think you should set all your prices at the same level. But I do suggest you put prices on them (not just free), as studies on membership sites have shown that even a $1/year price will see 15-25% of previously "free" users leave - meaning that they never had the intention of spending money with you.

I believe Quickbooks can do everything for you. Not 100% sure, but I would look into that.

Hi I have quite a lot of experience in setting up and running PMO (as a part of performance improvement and turn around projects) In short what you need: 1. Agreed with your boss framework in which projects will reported to you and steering committee or other supervision body. You need also some tool to help you with seeing where you are and making reports. I used Excel (with VB macros) and Google Sheet. For more advance solution you can use Asana, SmartSheet, Lean Kit, 2. Agree on how projects should be run – how often you meet with PM, how often PMs are meeting with their team, how team leaders are chosen, how resources are allocating to the project and who decides on this; what is the reward / motivation scheme for PMs and team members 3. Communicate it to the project leaders / stream leaders – I proposal to make a training and presentation available to everybody – record it so that you do not have to answer stupit questions time and again 4. Execute and improve That is in short If you want to have a look at the excel just write to me Best regards Asen

I've found talented data scientists in several other countries who do just as good as ones I've worked with in Silicon Valley. It is not a position one can automate away, of course - one needs to know more about the type of data that needs grooming and what types of skills best fit it (DSP vs analytics vs whatever buzz word that relates best to the science at hand). Can you speak more about your goals?

HourlyNerd would be a great place to find someone who can aid in fundraising.

I met these guys at the INBOUND14 confrence in Boston last year. Their pricing was way better than many things I was quoted before and they really do draw all thins by hand. They had a guy sketching people while there. They should be able to take you from start to finish within the scope of the project. http://thedrawshop.com/

You should try posting this on HARO http://www.helpareporter.com

It's great that this employee has been transparent about the fact another company wants him. The problem is that this employee is ambivalent about his connection to your Company. Really, under 100 employees at least, this is unacceptable. I would first reflect on why you think he's looking elsewhere. Then, I'd ask him that, admitting that you have failed to create an environment in which he has stayed engaged and motivated on what he's working on. If his answers seem reasonable and you can commit to making the changes necessary, then you won't need an employment contract, he'll stay on his own desire, because you listened to him and improved his situation. If his requests seem unreasonable or you know you won't be able to make those changes, fire him *today.* This situation can contaminate your entire company quickly. Yes, swapping someone out will always be a bit of a setback, but you want *everyone* on your team, feeling motivated and excited by what they're doing. It sounds like you're making your decision out of fear (having to find and hire another engineer) versus what's best for the Company, long term. Happy to talk to you in a call. Problems like this are within the sweet spot of my skills and passion.

I don't even know how to answer this. Do you know what the difference between McDonalds and the local burger joint that is filing for bankruptcy is? It's marketing. McDonalds is worth billions of dollars not because of the quality of their food, but because of their marketing. Marketing is not an expense. A janitor is an expense. Your computer is an expense. Marketing is an INVESTMENT. Would you shop around for the cheapest heart surgeon? Of course not. Because you would likely end up dead. Why, then, do you shop around for a marketing expert? Are you ok with your company going bankrupt? Is that worth the small savings to you? No. Of course not. Hire someone who is good at marketing. Hire someone who knows what they are doing. Buy yourself a Lamborghini with your profit the first quarter. Get a beach house in hawaii. Grab a yacht. Or, try to find your business the cheapest heart surgeon you can and then spend the next five years wondering why such a solid business idea failed in the first 6 months. I'm passionate about this exact topic because all those statistics you read about "70% of businesses failing in two years" are solely because of horrible marketing.

It's never too late to develop your first app. The most successful companies/apps are started by people with unique perspectives targeting like minded customers. As a 41 year old, you certainly have insights and perspectives that others do not. Are you looking to develop the app, yourself, or are you considering bringing in a developer? Either route is possible, but the latter is much more time effective. There are plenty of programs designed to pair visionaries (like you) with technically minded people (developers). Some programs are even free or offer development a reduced rate. You are off to the right start by posting on Clarity. I would strongly recommend having a conversation with mentors on this site or in local networking groups. If you would like to talk about getting off to the right start, I would love to help. Best of luck and keep hustling!

Some questions you'll want to answer before moving ahead: How strongly do you believe this idea can become a successful product? Why do you think they approached you? How comfortable do you feel running a company owned by someone else? What happened in your previous CEO role? What confidence level do you have in the founders? I personally wouldn't take on such a role, because there's no way I would ever run a company I didn't own. Too much blood, sweat and tears need to be put in for the return of a salaried payoff. I know you're asking about equity but are they even open to giving you some? Around 20% is the minimum, one-third feels right. They're never going to give you more unless they are crazy or totally inexperienced. And they are probably going to want to keep some aside for the CTO. You do not want a failure under your belt so make sure this is a winner before you consider taking it on. The fact that they don't have a viable product with customers already sold to concerns me greatly.

First and foremost you need to look at all ways to fund your start-up not just outside investment. How far can you bootstrap your start-up and self fund? Are their ways to get your first clients to fund development for in return for free life-time use etc. If this is not possible then you move through the different avenues of funding - Owner funding (how much can you put in - Outside investor look favorably on an owner having skin in the game), friends and family, angel investor, VC etc. I did not put crowd funding within the list as I would consider that more friends and family just organized through a kickstarter type site. The second thing to consider a compelling story on how the funding will be deployed to grow the company and to what level. From David Rose's book on angel investing; a typical angel will be looking for 25% IRR for their entire portfolio (Or in simple terms a 3.8x return on their investment on a 6 year hold period). In a portfolio of 10 companies 5 will fail on average, 2 will return 1x, 2 will return 3x which means that the final one will need to return 30x to make the angel's desired return. If that is the case any of the 10 need the POTENTIAL to make 30x return. How and to what degree can you offer returns for your potential investor.

Don't Outsource. Period. While there are big drawbacks with outsourcing related to building internal expertise the real reason I would never outsource at your stage is the need for speed and flexibility. Per your description, you are an early stage start-up with a MVP that is gathering data. Congratulations as that is a big accomplishment! However, you inevitably have a ton to learn about what your prospective customers need most and what customers deserve your attention most. The means you will be tweaking your product constantly for the foreseeable future and having to submit ideas to an outsourced team, make sure they understand what you want, wait for the new feature to be scheduled, etc is just too slow and too expensive. You should have your developers literally sitting next to you and (if you have one besides yourself) your product person so you can quickly and constantly share information. Good luck! You are in for a fun ride...

Not necessarily, if your app can potentially serve different markets with different demographics, it may be beneficial to market to each market individually. Since app interface often serves as a marketing tool, it is important that it resonates with its target audience. This means having a different interface for the same set of functionalities depending on your audience may be prudent. On the contrary, if you are simply trying to create variations of the app for a single market by short-cutting user testing and hoping that one of the interfaces will generate more interest, you are then over-saturating the market and may actually hurt yourself by creating unnecessary confusion for your users. I would suggest looking into what other apps your target audience is using and working off that to create a single user experience which would resonate with them. My name is Michael and I am an Entrepreneur, Adviser and Innovator in a Small Business and Technical Solutions arena. I'd be happy to offer you additional assistance if you are interested.

Having done over 35 different financing rounds over 7 companies I've built in Silicon Valley - you should be giving up 15%-25% dilution in each round with a plan to never raise beyond a Series-C. Investors get equity for money invested, don't start doing "special deals" or it could poison the well for future investors. If you want to "slightly" sweeten it for a truly early investor , then put them on your advisory board for 1/4 a point equity ( vesting over 2 years). Then they have to deliver some value for that equity. -MD

With an upfront of $10-15k you are in the 'sales range'. Companies won't part with that money without a few conference calls and whether it's you or a team someone needs to hold their hand to get that sale. CAC is a lot easier to gauge on consumer products because they can be sold on an advertisement. But you can't sell airplanes on adwords, as they say. So assuming you will be using a sales team to close this sale, the real question become cost per lead. And that is a 'how long is a piece of string' question. But don't worry. Industry averages won't really help you anyways for two reasons. 1. Consider the fact that the average human has one testicle and one breast. Forecast around the average and you'll be no better off than guessing 2. CAC will rise to match LTV over time. There were these guys selling sugar water at a ridiculous margin called Coca Cola until these other guys started selling their own. Now instead of making gobs of cash on each can, they are duking it out with some of the most expensive advertising in the world. What I would do instead is test a proxy. You know your market, you know your message, and even if you have the most elaborate campaign out there you will be able to develop a proxy for it using plain old images and copy. Test it small scale and you'll have a MUCH closer approximation for what a lead will actually cost than any industry average. You can look at your own historical close rates and divide your CPL by that for an effective CAC. Hope this helps. Give me a shout if you have any questions.