South Florida entrepreneurs shared war stories, mixed in some intraspection and served up sound advice last week at a pair of gatherings -- Startup Grind and Tech Cocktail.
When looking for your initial funding, think outside the box: Dan Cane, CEO of Modernizing Medicine (pictured above), said his first investors were also his customers, in this case about 30 physicians who became evangelist investors. He used a convertible note as a bridge to the Series A. Angel investors, SBA loans and business plan competitions can also be good sources of capital, he said.
Partnerships can be key to your success: Lori Anne Wardi, vice president of .CO Internet, reflected on how the company of about 15 could compete with a Goliath like .com. How? Leveraging partnerships with entities such as Tech Cocktail, Startup America, 500 Startups and others. “Partnerships are incredible force multipliers for any small company,” but build authentic relationships -- don’t do partnerships that are merely checklists, she said. “Keep finding ways to help one another.”
Don’t start your business looking for the exit: “Our exit wasn’t planned. The timing in the market was really appropriate so we couldn’t help but explore it further. ... It was strategic,” said Wardi, speaking about .CO’s recent sale to Neustar. “You will never have the same passion for building the business and building it authentically if you are starting by looking to get out.”
It really is about the revenue: The difference between an entrepreneur and a successful entreneur is revenue and lack of it is why most startups fail, Cane said. Get your first paying customers any way you can, as long as they are part of your target market so you don’t lose focus, he said.
Cane was featured as part of Startup Girind, a monthly event that packed the Venture Hive. Wardi took part in Tech Cocktail’s event at The Stage. It was hosted by Tech Cocktail’s founder Frank Gruber, who was also launching his new book Startup Mixology. Also participating was Matt Haggman, Miami program director for the Knight Foundation, Hugh MacLeod. the creative force behind Gapingvoid, and special guests record producer Jermaine Dupri and Cocoa the llama. You read that right.
Read the most recent Miami Herald stories about GapingVoid, Modernizing Medicine and .CO Internet and Tech Cocktail's posts about Jermaine Dupri and Matt Haggman.
Frank Gruber, Jermaine Duri, Hugh MacLeod, Lori Anne Wardi and Matt Haggman at The Stage for Tech Cocktail's event. Above, Dan Cane with Jason Ibarra at Startup Grind at Venture Hive.