In this video, Vungle court big-name investors, so co-founder and CEO Zain Jaffer offer tips for courting investors.
1. Be Hungry
The first thing that will lead you to success in fundraising (and anything in life) is hunger. The moment you get complacent, the game is over. Naturally, most entrepreneurs are hungry because they have little money, but once things start to look good and investors start showing interest, there is a tendency for entrepreneurs to get excited and celebrate prematurely. The deal isn’t closed until the money hits the bank, so stay hungry.
2. Adjust Your Mindset
Change your mindset when thinking about investors — they are not evil opponents who are out to destroy your business. Instead, think of investors as partners for life, who will continue to back you in subsequent ventures. Changing your perspective will mean you will treat potential investors with respect, and will naturally focus on the value-add they bring beyond just finance.
3. Have Integrity
You need to have integrity in everything you do. When you pitch an investor, make sure you are honest but firm. Investors expect you to learn quickly but don’t expect you to have all the right answers. So if you’re asked a question and you don’t know the answer, don’t make up something or deflect the question. Investors are quite measured with the questions they ask, and they’ll quickly detect that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
4. Maintain Confidentiality
When an investor asks who else you are pitching to, don’t disclose names without permission — this puts you in an awkward position. It signals to investors that you can’t maintain confidentiality, but also harms your negotiating position, as investors may collude in hopes of getting a better deal.
5. Have a Big Vision
Investors are mandated to invest in high-growth businesses with multi-billion dollar potential. So make sure you clearly articulate your big vision and where you want to be in the longer term. Nothing turns off investors more than entrepreneurs who think small.
6. Target a Big Market
Investors put a lot of focus on funding startups in high-growth and emerging markets. You need to be able show investors that the market you are targeting has the potential to be worth billions of dollars. More importantly, you need to show you understand the key trends that make a market big. It also helps to try and quantify the size of a market — even though it may seem useless, it will lead you to appreciate the key factors that drive the value of a market.
7. Know How to Frame the Product
You’ll be surprised to find that few investors will test your product (especially at the seed stage), so it’s important to speak about your product on a higher level. Always stress the benefits about how your product solves a key problem, rather than getting caught up in the details of features. Remember: Investors don’t invest in features, they invest in real businesses.
Writer: Zain Jaffer
Here are 7 ways to live happier through love:- Learn how to sit quietly in a room alone. – The inability to sit quietly in a room alone suggests you’re not comfortable with yourself. Learn how to accept and love who you are.
- Expect less. – Expectation is the root cause of most heartache. Managing expectations can be difficult, but it’s a valuable ingredient in learning to love unconditionally. Expecting less does not mean lowering your standards, goals or values, it simply means you must learn to be realistic and realize the difference between what you can and cannot control.
- Care less. – What? This is crazy you might say. In Martha Beck’s article in O Magazine, How to Love More by Caring Less, she explains how caring suggests conditions that have different meanings than love. Caring suggests you’re attached to the outcome emotionally where love is pure acceptance.
- Take care of yourself first. – A great analogy for this is the airline oxygen mask procedure – how the flight attendant instructs parents to put the oxygen mask on themselves first, before their children. If you do not love yourself, you’re not much good to anyone else.
- Know what self love is. – While discussing the topic of love in a support group, someone shared, “I settled for sex when what I really wanted was love.” Learn to love and respect yourself so you’ll know the difference. Read The Mastery of Love.
- Learn the love language of others – Being an emotional person, I longed for a deep relationship with my father. Talking about emotions or topics on self-enlightenment was something my father was not good at. But he was good at other things. Through the process of self-awareness, I learned that my father expressed love in different ways. This enabled me to enjoy a completely differently relationship with him even though he hadn’t really changed.
- Learn how to show love – We’re judged by our actions rather than our intentions. Make it a point to verbally express love as well as display it physically. This is a benefit of learning someone’s love language; make it a point to show them how much you love them in many different ways.
And remember, if you hurt from love now, be grateful that you still have the capacity to love, make some necessary adjustments and keep on loving. Your big heart will get you to happier places in the long-term.Writer: Marc
Passport Chic – Inspired by the Olympic Movement, Gucci is pleased to introduce the City Collection London, a sport-inspired line of accessories designed by Creative Director Frida Giannini. The collection includes a colorful series of bags with a matching iPad case, a high-top sneaker for men, women and children. The collection also comes with the new G-Timeless Sport watch and white sunglasses with blue-red-blue shaded lenses all featuring the unmistakable London skyline. The City Collection will be available from May at select Gucci boutiques and online.
Purchase: Gucci
No one likes to fail. Whether it’s at work, at home, or in another area of your life, failure is painful – and it can also be costly in terms of time, money, or both.
But failure is a normal part of life. If you never, ever suffer a failure, then you’re probably not pushing yourself to your full potential. Often, it’s only through failure that we eventually meet with success.
Here’s how to pick yourself up after you’ve failed:
Limit the Damage CausedOnce you realize you’ve failed, you need to take steps to limit the damage caused by that failure. That could mean:
- You sell off that gym equipment that you’re never going to get round to using
- You step down from that position that you should never have taken in the first place
- You apologize to someone who you hurt by saying something thoughtless or unkind
Whatever the situation, being proactive is always going to be a better option than sticking your head in the sand and wishing it had never happened.
Remember that Other People Fail TooMost people don’t talk openly about their failures. They’ll tell you about that great new contract they signed … not that deal they worked on for months, only to have it slip through their fingers.
But failure is normal, and lots of people fail time and time again before meeting with success. Here are a few quotes that might help you to remember that:
“Edison failed 10, 000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times.”– Napoleon Hill“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
– Michael Jordan
“I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
– J.K. Rowling
Remind Yourself of Your Past Successes…Failing doesn’t mean that you’re worthless, or that you’ll never achieve the things you want. Think of all the times in the past when you’ve succeeded.
Maybe you got a promotion that you worked for last year, or you had a great GPA in college, or you lost weight, or you learned to play a musical instrument. You might want to write down a list of successes – things that you’ve accomplished over the past few years, whether big or small. If you ever lack confidence, you can go back and read over that list.
…And Your Past FailuresYour past successes are important … but so are your past failures. You’ve made mistakes before, and you’ve survived them. Perhaps you did badly in an exam, or screwed something up at work, or lost your temper and had to apologize.
It’s not fun to think about the times when things went wrong, but by acknowledging your failures, you can remind yourself that today is no different. Just as you recovered in the past, you can recover from your recent failure too.
Make a DecisionWhatever went wrong, you’re probably facing some sort of decision – even once the initial consequences are over. For instance, perhaps you took out a credit card and ended up in debt. You’re facing two choices: keep using the card, or make it inaccessible in some way.
Don’t rush into making hasty decisions – but do look for a forward path. That might require some deep thinking. You can help yourself by:
- Getting some extra advice and support with a particular area of your life, perhaps from a professional like a doctor, personal trainer, life coach, or counselor.
- Reading and learning more, if a lack of knowledge led to your failure.
- Talking through your options with a loved one or close friend, or writing in a journal about the decision(s) that you face.
“Doing nothing” is certainly an option … but it’s a decision in itself, and often one that won’t lead to anything positive.
Whatever failure you’re struggling with right now, you can learn from it, and move on.
Writer: Ali Luke
This fierce Paco Rabanne dress consists of metallic chain python inserts all over along with bold, structured shoulders. Along the back of the dress there are concealed hook and eye closures. Important to note for the brave wearer is that this dress is unlined.
Price: $1,803 USD
Purchase: Luisaviaroma
Poland based auto maker Arrinera is rolling out a brand new supercar for 2013, and this car is definitely worth every penny of the $160,000 price tag that will plastered to the windshield.
With lines that are reminiscent of our favorite Lamborghini models, the 2013 Arrinera Supercar features plenty of sharp, aggressive angles molded from a combination of ultra lightweight, yet incredibly durable carbon fiber and Kevlar. Arrinera decided against the typical V12 offering that most supercar manufacturers place in their flagship models, and instead opted for a V8 motor pumping out an impressive 650 horsepower. The stellar power to weight ration on this supercar allows this vehicle to reach 62 mph in under 4 seconds, and can even do in total darkness thanks to the thermal camera night vision.Price: $160,000 USD
Source: Arrinera
These shades from RAEN were designed in conjunction with Warren Smith, an industry vet whose book Modern Optical Engineering was originally published in 1966 but continues to hold influence. Taking these in, we can see why. The vintage shape of RAEN’s Squire frame is buoyed into timelessness here by the sweet translucent bone acetate. Our eyes keep returning to that cool metal-rimmed hole at the back of the left-hand ear-piece, however. Seems like it would be murder on the Optics by Carl Zeiss lenses, but I guess these would look good on a key chain.
Price: $142 USD
Purchase: Raen
Rick Ross's new album God Forgives, I Don’t, is set to drop July 31st. And it looks like Rozay is ready to make the next push with this new single with Usher. Usher just released a new single off his upcoming album with Rozay as well.
Have you ever noticed that the times when you really need to focus are the times when it’s toughest?
On days when you have far too much to do — an overflowing inbox, meetings to prepare for, chores to complete — it’s easy to end up darting from one task to the next, never making any real headway.
When you’ve got a lot to juggle, you need a battle plan. Here’s what to do:
- Write a List
It’s impossible to focus when you’re constantly thinking “I mustn’t forget to send that email” or “I need to call John.” Write down everything that needs to get done today. Your list doesn’t have to be complex, and you don’t need to worry about sorting it at this stage.
Some people like to keep their work and personal lists separate; it’s up to you how you do that. If something’s on your mind, though, make sure you record it somewhere — even little things like “buy milk on the way home” can drag down your mental energy. - Decide on Priorities
Once you’ve got your list, it’s time to figure out what order to tackle your tasks in for today. First, look for anything that can be delegated or postponed: pare your list down as much as possible.
Next, work out what you want to do first. It’s up to you how you prioritize; normally, it makes sense to tackle the more important and urgent tasks first, but you may prefer to go for a few quick wins in the first half-hour of the day to build up a sense of momentum.
Put some sort of mark against your first, second, and third tasks. (I use one, two and three asterisks; you might prefer numbers, or colors.) That way, you can relax and get on with your tasks in order, knowing that you’re dealing with things efficiently, and that you’ll be able to get all the important stuff done. - Resist the Urge to Multi-Task
However tempting it is to have your emails open in one window while you reply to Tweets in another and edit that document in a third … don’t. You can’t focus on several things all at the same time, and you’ll end up making silly mistakes or forgetting to finish part of a task.
Tackle things one by one. That might mean:
- Setting a timer while you work on the report for 30 minutes
- Dealing with your emails as a batch, perhaps every few hours, not as they come in
- Closing social media programs until your lunch break (if they’re part of your work, treat them like your emails)
Any time you find yourself trying to tackle several things at once, stop. Remind yourself that you’ll work more effectively when you complete task A before moving onto task B. - Work Steadily, Take Breaks
None of us can focus for hours at a time — but when we’re busy, we often try to. This just leads to slowed progress, mistakes, and procrastination. (You know the kind of thing; you tell yourself you’ll just check Facebook quickly while waiting for a file to download, then you end up clicking on links, leaving comments, sending happy birthday messages…)
To stop yourself procrastinating, plan for regular breaks. Work for, say, 45 minutes on your report, then take a 5 or 10 minute break to stretch your legs and grab a glass of water. When you know you’ve got a break coming up, it’s a lot easier to stay focused.
Hopefully, your too-busy-to-think days don’t come up too often. If you seem to be in a constant pattern of rushing around, juggling more tasks than you can manage, then look for ways to make changes. That might mean learning some better time management skills, or talking to your manager about your workload.
Writer: Ali Luke
You don't have to be in a position of authority to be a leader. Conversely, just because you have authority doesn't mean that people will follow you. You must be a leader to get others to follow you.
There are many books on leadership. They can have lots of great examples and in-depth explanations, but sometimes you just need something simple to help you focus on the essentials. This article intends to do just that. These are the habits that will help you and your team achieve great things if you focus on them.
- Goals
Make it simple and easy for your team to understand the mission and to understand their part in achieving it.
- Concise Goals. Keep them simple and easy to understand.
- Focus your team on as few goals as possible.
- Communicate the team's goals often and through various means (team meetings, individual meetings, emails, posters, slogans). And then do it some more.
- Track progress on goals.
- Involve team players in tracking the goals so that they own the results.
- Motivating People
What you reward gets done. It's that simple.
- Incent team players to do the tasks that are most critical for reaching the team's goals. Make sure the rewards are meaningful to people. Understand each player and what they want from their job and in life. That's how you'll know how to reward them.
- Praise, Thank, and Recognize big and small contributions by individuals. Do this often and then do it some more.
- Set High Expectations. People will live UP to or DOWN to the expectations you set. Set them high and you're saying, "I believe in your ability to do great things!"
- Empower people by delegating responsibility.
- Celebrate team accomplishments often.
- Encourage Fun. Make the work place a fun place to be. Yes, work needs to get done but short fun breaks can make all the difference in the culture of your team.
- Pride. Foster a sense of pride in your team. As a team you could establish a mascot, create a team chant, and have a meeting that is focused solely on each individual's strengths and the team's overall strengths.
- Walk Your Talk
You need to practice what you preach. This is how you establish trust and credibility.
- Model the Way by participating in the team's tasks as much as your position allows.
- Be Honest. Deliver on your promises. Actions speak louder than words.
- Challenge Yourself. Do your best (and then some) just like you ask your team to do their best.
- Speak Up. Just like your team members sometimes need to let you know what they've done in order for you to be able to recognize and praise them. They, in turn, need to know what you've been working on and what you've accomplished. So find ways to communicate this, modeling this key behavior.
- Stay Sharp. You need to be competent for others to follow you. If you're not improving, you're falling behind. Always be learning and keep on top of the latest skills, technology, and knowledge in your field.
- Inspire through a combination of
- Unwavering Positive Future Vision
- Commitment to Improve things along the way that will make that positive vision a reality.
- Ability to Bootstrap as necessary when resources are tight.
- Process Power
Good process is like having a high performance machine. Sloppy process makes things fall apart. So be sure to establish these key habits with your team.
- Establish Routines. Do this for the team and also work with each individual to come up with their own high productivity routines. These are routines that dictate what work is done when.
- Establish Processes for all the tasks that are done repeatedly. It takes time to set up at first, but after that it will pay off in saved time and less errors. Processes describe how work is done and might involve systems for doing the work.
- Task Assignment. As much as possible, assign tasks according to the strengths of each teammate.
- Change
Embrace change by seeking it out. This will tread a path for your teammates to follow.
- Change Routines Quarterly. Look for better ways to achieve the team's goals.
- Take Risks. Don't be afraid of failure. No one ever reaches great heights without a few failures.
- Learn. Learn as a team from failures. "How can we improve it the next time?"
- Encourage team members to take smart risks too by making it safe to fail. Focus on learning from past experiences and building upon them to find better solutions.
- Advocacy
Support your team and they'll support you.
- Promote your team members. Make sure others outside your team know about the individual team members' successes. You want your team members to excel and even graduate away from your team possibly. Don't worry. If your team is great there will be plenty of others who will want to join! This natural turnover of team members is like the renewal of cells in your body. It is necessary and healthy.
- Promote your team. It's your job to market the great accomplishments of your team in order to get the rewards, recognition, and resources that your team deserves.
- Fight for the most important resources and changes that will benefit your team and the organization overall. Remember to pick your battles wisely.
Writer: K.Stone
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