[Kalyani Sheth]

Hi @isha

You can try networking with your industry people, its an effective way to promote your brand. But, networking is not all about marketing yourself, it’s also about giving others the opportunity to market themselves to you. Networking is a two-way street. Make sure that your networking is beneficial to both the sides.

[Kalyani Sheth]

Personal branding is important because it stimulate and encourage people to succeed. Creating a personal brand makes you feel laid-back while working.

Most people are more assured when they know what you can do. When they are conscious of your capabilities and trust your skills, they will feel relaxed in letting you handle what they need. And that’s why personal branding is important, it’s a way to let people entrust you and provide you with their work.

[Kalyani Sheth]

Hi there friends!

Building your personal brand is tough. As it is quite different from branding of a company or startup, here you have to make people believe in you before making them believe in your company. Here are some tips that will surely help you with developing your personal brand.

http://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/tips-for-building-your-personal-brand/

[Kalyani Sheth]

Canva has become a true unicorn in the startup community, with more than 300 thousand paying customers worldwide. But how did it pitch itself to the investors? Watch this video to study the pitch deck of Canva.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L90hsWecHJ0

[Kalyani Sheth]

Hi @Aman16 , here are the 4 key investors criteria for funding a startup:

1) Team

2) Product

3) Size of Market

4) The valuation

[Kalyani Sheth]

I have started freelancing few months ago. Can anyone suggest where can I find more clients or work?

[Kalyani Sheth]

Logically speaking, Angel investors want 20-25% return on the money they invest in your company. Whereas, venture capitalists make take even more. If your product is still under development, and investor may demand 40% of the business citing higher risk taking.

[Kalyani Sheth]

Hey @Ansh ,

To be precise large companies might enjoy great success with an ROI of 10% or even less. Small business owners usually have to take more risk, so I assume small companies should look for an ROI between 15 to 30 per cent

[Kalyani Sheth]

True @Abhishek ! I always read articles about entrepreneurs complaining of inadequate capital in the startup market, citing the investors are not putting in money in their startups.

I believe that may be the case in some situations, but I also interacted with some VCs and business angels and they gave a different reason: “Startup founders don’t understand that our goal is to make money and that not every single startup needs or should receive external funding”

[Kalyani Sheth]

Yes, of course! The startups and investors use convertible notes because it provides speed, simplicity, and requires minimal cost. Indeed, a startup could close a convertible note-around in a day or two by merely issuing a 2-3 page promissory note, which could cost a little in legal fees.

[Kalyani Sheth]

Convertible Notes are currently in trend @Aryan , and I guess that’s why you want to know about it.

So, a convertible note is a short-term debt that converts into equity. In the context of seed financing, the debt automatically converts into shares of preferred stock upon closing a Series A round of funding.

In other words, investors loan money to a startup as its first round of funding. Rather than get their money back with interest, the investors receive shares of preferred stock as part of the startup’s initial preferred stock financing, based on the note’s terms. Also, this is one of the reasons why this is trending among startups.