Sunday, September 27, 2015
Wisconsin week in review
Here’s a quickie rundown and review of recent Wisconsin political stories. WONDER BOY FAILS WONDERFULLY On Monday at 5PM Walker dropped out of the race. Well, technically he “suspended his campaign”. This LA Times cartoon sums it up for us. And this cartoon by Phil Hands sums up the average Wisconsinite’s response: Tomorrow's @WiStateJournal cartoon more »
Friday, September 25, 2015
Scott Walker plans a not so “unintimidated” public appearance in Beaver Dam today
Update: I have confirmation from Madison radio journalist Michael Crute that Scott Walker will be at the site at Noon today. I had this information 1 hour and 45 minutes in advance of the so-called “public event”. Site: Apache Stainless, 200 Industrial Dr, Beaver Dam, WI Google Map Street view Just to record what goes more »
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Video: “Walker’s critics celebrate, supporters reminisce …”
Despite having no more than a few hours notice of the 5PM press conference announcing Walker’s drop out from the presidential campaign, protesting Wisconsinites were ready, able, and willing to serenade Wisconsin’s delusional governor. This TMJ4 footage includes just a SNIPPET of protest singing. This brief broadcast also includes snippets from Wisconsinites who do not more »
2 Secrets to Raising Money for SaaS Startups
The following article was written by Lisa Calhoun of Write2Market via our Guest Blogger Program.
SaaS startups preparing their story for investors face a few challenges most people don’t discuss up front, so this post is to help address that. Let’s begin with the easy stuff. Everyone acknowledges the typical SaaS early stage business challenges:
-finding the pain
-building the user base
-acquiring talent
However, it’s often the soft skills required for successful fundraising that can slow a company down.
SAAS STARTUP “SOFT CHALLENGES”
Vocabulary and the knowing how to ask for enough money are two big issues that SaaS startups face when raising a round. We encounter this early and often in our tech public relations practice as we prepare pitch decks and executive summaries. Often, half the battle for early-stage founders is learning to talk the talk. Many tech startups have a technical founder who is fluent in the latest code buzz but doesn’t have a strong working business vocabulary. For them, it may seem like there is a whole new vocabulary they have to come up to speed on when talking to investors. It’s crucial that they don’t resist it. Venture capitalists and angel investors speak about SaaS startups in very specific ways. This is a “language” worth learning before you field questions from VCs.
HOW TO TALK THE TALK
The vocabulary you need with savvy SaaS investors is specific and simple. To start, I recommend these helpful guidelines to basic definitions by entrepreneur-turned-VC David Skok. His post on detailed definitions for entrepreneurs is also excellent.
You can see in these simple equations some of the basic principles that investors, focused on risk and return, are interested in.
If you’re a SaaS company, talk the SaaS language. At the end of the day, of course, there are only GAAP revenue and bookings, but showing a handle on the metrics and talking like an informed SaaS founder will shorten the cycle from pitch to funding.
HOW TO ASK FOR (ENOUGH) MONEY
The second issue around raising real money as a SaaS startup is knowing how much you need. Most founders we encounter in the Southeast are doers. They are intent on that next 1,000 users or that particular feature they want to add to the product. This can lead to a short-sighted approach when it comes to the money you need.
Dharmesh Shah, co-founder at Hubspot, puts it like this:
SaaS companies often charge on a subscription basis — so cash comes in over time (often monthly). However, the acquisition cost is paid up front. The result is, even if you’re making margin on each sale, the faster a SaaS company is growing, the more cash it will need to fuel that growth.
Dharmesh discusses this in a popular blog post, so I refer you to reading that to get a deeper sense of why this matters from a seasoned SaaS entrepreneur. The gist is, if you think you need $1M, raise $5M. If you are confident you can really use $5M, raise $15M. Work the numbers out a couple year down the road, and you’ll start to see how SaaS startups, in particular, need not to be shy when they seek capital.
The metrics language you use and your understanding of what those metrics mean to your business are critical issues to grasp as you share your story with investors.
Photo Credit: “Amy watering the garden” by “Dan Hughes” on Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0
Monday, September 21, 2015
Gawker seeks details on “a very bad story” connected with Scott Walker
It seems that both Republican communications operative Liz Mair and a writer with Buzzfeed are hinting about either the same scandalous story or differing stories that is/are related to Scott Walker – but neither is releasing the details to the public. Frustrating. Gawker is asking readers to help spill the beans completely. Gawker is providing more »
Scott Walker dropping out of campaign, 5PM Central Time, Edgewater Hotel, Madison
Wow. I expected him to hang in another month and a half! News Conference: 5PM Central Time Edgewater Hotel Madison, Wisconsin More details here. You just finished reading Scott Walker dropping out of campaign, 5PM Central Time, Edgewater Hotel, Madison! Consider leaving a comment!Visit bluecheddar.net for more news and opinion. You can contact blue cheddar more »
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Bernie Sanders appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Would you believe this was the first time I tuned into Colbert’s new show on CBS? Enjoy. Colbert cracking jokes on the presidential election [backup link]: The Interview [backup link]: Date of appearance: 09/18/2015 You just finished reading Bernie Sanders appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert! Consider leaving a comment!Visit bluecheddar.net for more more »
Friday, September 18, 2015
Wisconsin State Journal only employs white people
I’m embarrassed that I’m so late to the party on this issue. I learned this yesterday and promptly felt like puking: “..the Wisconsin State Journal, the newspaper that proudly proclaims itself “Madison’s largest reporting team,” the second-largest newspaper in the state and the newspaper of record for our entire region, is an all-white newspaper.” SOURCE: more »
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
The backlash on Bernie Sanders begins!
Despite the fact that this [barely functioning] blog has tried to be Wisconsin-centric, I’m going to try to do some more posts to help people keep up on Bernie Sanders news. —————————————————- It appears that the establishment and its candidates have decided to quit dismissing Bernie Sanders and start attacking Bernie Sanders. The guy more »
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
If Walker could see past his enormous ego, he’d realize he’s in 7th place and has no chance
Scott Walker only has 2% in the latest national ABC poll. The average of Scott Walker’s national polls put him in 7th place according to Real Clear Politics. The Republican Party only needs 1 nominee to run for president. I suppose it’s very difficult for a megalomaniac to quit looking in the mirror long enough more »
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