Alternatives to an MVP

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Building a full-blown product is unwise at the early stage, as the startup will inevitably build the wrong thing.

It's best to test the market first.

Minimum viable products or MVPs are a better solution than a product, as it's cheaper and easier to do.

The goal of the MVP is to generate a dialogue with customers and estimate demand.

There are alternatives to building an MVP.

Here are some examples:

Create a datasheet showing the product you intend to build and sell.

Show the features and benefits of it.

Use this to spark a dialog with customers.

In-person interviews work best so as to gauge interest and capture feedback.

This can be especially useful in setting the initial price for the product.

Another alternative is to create a website landing page with key information.

Then drive traffic to it.

This will demonstrate how interested or disinterested the target market is in the proposed product.

Set up the landing page to take orders for the product to see how many actually sign up.

Tweak the content till you have interest in the product.

Pretend you have the proposed product available today and try to sell it.

This will inform your decision about what to build and is far cheaper than an MVP.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

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In this episode of Investor Connect, we hear from Randy Hubbell, CEO of Soliris Endovascular, a medical device company developing peripheral endovascular technologies for PAD and dialysis access. Randy outlines the company's two advanced programs: Soliris SX, a self-expanding covered stent approved in 45 countries with over 15,000 sold and about $5M in recurring revenue, and a breakthrough-designated drug-eluting version that adds sirolimus to the stent edges to address edge restenosis.

He shares Phase 2 interim results from a 115-patient study showing 95% patency compared to 70–75% for covered stents and about half failing after balloon angioplasty, with imaging consistent out to 12 months. Randy explains Soliris' tuck-in acquisition strategy aimed at multinationals, updates investors on a $5M bridge round and an upcoming $25M Series A to fund a single pivotal study and PMA toward a projected $550–$600M exit, followed by Q&A on Anvisa, global distribution, and strategic acquirer interest.

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For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

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Customer Intimacy in Fundraising

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Customer intimacy is a strategy in which one builds a relationship with the customer about their care abouts and expectations.

The more one knows about the customer, the better one is able to support and meet their needs.

In fundraising, customer intimacy can be a compelling value proposition for the investor.

Investors look initially at startups for traction with customers.

Once that is in place, the investor looks for customer intimacy.

How well does the founder know the customer?

How can this be used to build an ongoing relationship with them?

The more the founder knows about the customers, the more they can build products and services to meet their needs.

For investors seeking to fund startups, look beyond the initial traction to how well the founder knows the customer.

Test their knowledge of the customer with the question, now that you have sold the first product to the customer, what will you sell them next?

See if the founder knows the customer well enough to chart a product roadmap.

Consider customer intimacy as a key value proposition for fundraising.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
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Founders Who Got Lucky

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Some founders get lucky and achieve a successful exit of their business.

They were in the right place at the right time with the right solution.

Investors should be wary of founders who got lucky.

Their luck may have come early in the life of the startup.

It's often the case that they haven't built the skills necessary to launch and grow a startup.

Successful founders typically have several years of experience, but an early exit may have cut this short.

When those who got lucky start their second business, they assume the conditions will be the same.

They assume they will have a great product, and traction will come easily.

But the conditions that played out on the first startup will rarely be there for the second one.

The challenges of a startup are what make the founder.

The hard times become the lessons that they take with them throughout life.

If they skipped the hard times, then chances are they don't have the skills needed to take a startup through to an exit.

As an investor, be wary of founders who got lucky.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
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Your First Round Should Have an Investor-Friendly Valuation

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In raising funding, the first round is always the hardest.

Here's why it's so difficult:

There's often no product or revenue to prove traction.

The team, in most cases, is unproven.

The market is not yet well defined.

The ideal target customer has not yet been identified.

How the business will make money is not yet known.

The founder is inexperienced, as this is often their first rodeo.

The first round of funding should have an investor-friendly valuation.

Use family and friends' funding to raise at least half of the round.

Show investors how funds have already been raised.

It's a positive that family and friends believe enough in you to invest.

Invest your own money and show prospective investors that you are committed.

Show how the valuation will go up in the next round when you have more values in business.

Make the first round small so as not to incur too much dilution.

With so few values in the business, most investors will not pay a higher valuation.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
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For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

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Mitigate the Risks

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In a pitch, founders focus on the opportunity while the investors focus on the risk.

Founders who raise funding have successfully shown how they mitigate those risks.

Here are some key risks to mitigate:

Team risks -- show how the team works well together.

Cite a substantial project the team has already taken on and successfully completed.

Product risks -- show how the product works, and customers will pay for it.

Show the revenue from the product and how customers are happy with it.

Technical risks -- show how you have already solved the technical issues.

Describe the technical solution and the benefits that come from it.

Launch risks -- show how you have already solved the launch challenge.

This can be done by showcasing the results of the launch of the product.

Market risks -- show how the market exists and will engage your product.

Describe the market, including size, structure, and careabouts and list each segment you have already sold into.

Revenue risks -- show how the revenue will be sufficient to cover the costs of doing business.

Use unit economics to show how the product, which is already selling, is profitable.

The more risks you mitigate, the easier it is to raise funding.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
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Keys to a Successful Preseed Fundraise

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Raising pre-seed funding is one of the bigger challenges in startup fundraising.

This round comes at the idea stage, so there are no metrics around traction or product-market fit.

Here are the keys to a successful pre-seed round.

The current team must have strong experience in the domain and a track record of growing and exiting startups.

The team must have a unique insight into solving the problem in the industry.

This will become the company's competitive advantage.

The insight must be compelling enough to create a business that can generate more revenue or run the business at a substantially lower cost.

The team must know the industry segment well and have enough connections to find customers, partners, and providers.

In pre-seed funding, the team becomes the proxy by which the investor will judge the startup, as all values of the business will come from the initial group.

Consider this in setting up your pre-seed fundraise.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_________________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
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In this episode of Investor Connect, we hear a pitch from Aether on addressing the global opioid epidemic with ATX-1209, a neuromodulator designed to modulate the mu-opioid receptor by suppressing dependence signals while preserving analgesic benefit when used alongside opioids, with additional development plans for opioid use disorder and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS).

The team cites completed human safety work, clean toxicology, and consistent animal data across species, along with validation from neuroscientist Dr. Phil Skolnick, and outlines a stage-gated, capital-efficient plan to run two clinical studies in Australia over roughly 2.5 years for about $10M to reach a key value inflection point.

Ethair is raising $10M on a convertible note at a $13.3M pre-money valuation (with a lead investor already in for $4.5M on a $9M note), targeting an early exit if Phase 2A data shows reduced dependence scores with no loss of analgesia, or alternatively pursuing a pediatric orphan NOWS registrational study tied to a potential PRV voucher.

________________________________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
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For eGuides check out: https:/_/tencapital.group/education/
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