In an entertaining corollary to the TV Show, Martin Zwilling
posts a commentary entitled, “6 Tips For Entrepreneurs Who Think They Can Dance,”
on the web site GUST. What is Gust?
Gust is the place where entrepreneurs can enroll and describe their
business idea and where angel investors from around the world search for
promising investment opportunities. Gee,
it’s sort of a match.com for start-up’s and investors!
The first step for the entrepreneur is of course like other
sites, the user is directed to set up a username and password; then embarks
upon setting up his/her company profile.
As the web site states, “Your Gust startup profile contains the
information investors want to know. Taking the time to complete it in a
professional way will help you articulate your venture effectively to
investors.”
The Gust site has resources, including a video library with
investors’ tips and blog posts for education; industry and start-up data; and
resources for the investors as well.
Gust enrolls investors who are accredited to connect them to
other investors and start-ups. When the
entrepreneurs’ profiles are complete, investors explore company profiles to
find investment opportunities that match their interests. There are 36 business
categories that the company profiles settle into, allowing investors to target
the types of companies they are interested in funding. Over the last 12 months 1800+ startups have
been funded through Gust. Its robust
platform allows the investors to manage their investment processes. Gust also is a learning platform for students
who are formally studying investments.
To help start-ups prepare for their investor presentations, the
6 Tips blog post by Zwilling says, “I’m on the selection committee of our local
Angels group, so I know that every CEO approaching our group for funding goes
through ten minutes of creative “dancing,” to give us a basis for selecting
startups that are most qualified and “ready” to proceed to the next level. If
selected, they go through it again in the real meeting of 40-60 investors. It’s
tough and not fun for either side.” He
offers six observations “to startup founders looking for funding, hoping to
move to the next level.”
In summary, you can count on being the first item on angel’s
assessment checklist, as being convincing you’ve got the leadership ability to
achieve success. From there the post
covers the rest of the known facts, including presentation timing, content, and
your believability. To read the full
post, click
here.
How to get funding is the most searched item on the
SoMNSourceLink site. Funding is key to
business success, from start-up through growth.
To learn more about Gust, read about
them and consider completing their information, start-ups!
Content
contributed by Maria Brown, SoMNSourceLink.
SoMNSourceLink is
a proud affiliate of U.S.SourceLink, America’s largest resource network
for entrepreneurs.