Real-Life Lessons From Shark Tank

North was recently quoted dropping some knowledge in the article, Real-Life Lessons From Shark Tank on Entrepreneur.com.
Here’s an excerpt:
Know when to pitch. Entrepreneurs with a well-developed product and proven financial success have the best luck with the “sharks,” says David Brody, a managing partner at the venture analysis firm North. “Nothing builds momentum like demonstrating [...]

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5 Lifelines For Your Startup

North was recently quoted dropping some knowledge in the article, 5 Lifelines For You Startup on Entrepreneur.com.
Here’s an excerpt:
Evan Solida was stuck.
Solida, founder of Cerevellum, which sells digital rearview mirrors for bicycles, had posted his business plan on several websites promising to connect him with investors in exchange for a few hundred dollars.

Time passed. Investors never [...]

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New Venture Evaluation #18: Management Compensation

One of the most powerful forces for managing people, and determining the direction of a business is compensation. That which can be measured and that upon which people will be paid, are both core drivers of a business. The goal of this element is to seek a healthy balance between keeping the entrepreneur focused and [...]

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New Venture Evaluation #16: Secondary Sales Potential

The purpose of this element is to uncover what can be one common way to rapidly expand and grow a business: the second serving. One of the easiest ways to grow revenue is to sell the consumer a second offering after completing the first transaction. What to look for here are types of secondary offerings, [...]

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New Venture Evaluation #14: Operational Speed

This  element is designed to look for a key trait in the management team of nearly all successful new ventures: speed. While some people can drive a car comfortably at 100 MPH, others start to panic and constantly ride the brakes. Key entrepreneurial instincts and the ability to move quickly (combination of confidence, analysis, and [...]

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North Mindmeld: New School Number Crunchers

Adeo Ressi, the founder of the TheFunded.com has joined a long list of entrepreneurs and investors that say that the venture capital industry is broken. However, Ressi decided to put his (didn’t use outsider funds) money where his mouth was and built a site that allows entrepreneurs to critique and rate the actual audience that [...]

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North Mindmeld: Competitions For Capital

This section wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t mention the plethora of contests and competitions out there for entrepreneurs. Most of these are business plan writing competitions that target upstart entrepreneurs to enter in hopes they are going to get in front of a panel of investors who will then choose their venture and write [...]

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DIY or Farm It Out?

Entrepreneurs are an interesting bunch. While nearly all of them have an “I can do it myself” attitude, which is crucial to get the ball moving, that same attitude usually ends up preventing the company from scaling. The truth is there are some situations where you simply can’t be the most effective person for the [...]

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New Venture Valuation: Things to Look for (10/80)

The purpose here is to determine whether or not the business is valued at an amount that is not appropriate (most likely too high) for where the business is in its development. For this element one should look to see that the NPV of cash flow, market estimates, prior investment, and assets under control all [...]

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Are Jellyfish the Answer?

I came across an article in the New York Times entitled “Weary of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own,” which really brightened my day. Amidst all the economic turmoil it’s great to see the entrepreneurial spirit strengthen as a response. Innovation is the backbone of our economy. Without it, we simply won’t have [...]

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