11 Courses On Raising Seed Funding In The US Midwest
If you haven’t already, please study my free Bootstrapping course.
If you haven’t already, please study my free Bootstrapping course. I publish this series to discuss the nuances of bootstrapped entrepreneurship. Please subscribe to my Best of Bootstrapping series and never miss an article.
While the broader trends are similar throughout the United States, I find midwestern investors to be very pragmatic. They’re usually more interested in capital-efficient startups and more accepting of early exits at modest multiples.
If you want to build a Unicorn startup or get financing from outside your own geography, that is perfectly acceptable today too. If you are an entrepreneur building your startup in the Midwest, however, you may have more financing options within your own geography with investors looking for more reasonable investment and outcomes.
Start with this course, to understand how Midwestern investors think and analyze startups. We will have in-depth conversations around startups with several real-world investors.
To dive deeper, take this course to understand the broader landscape of seed funding .
2. How Seed Investors Think About Startups with Sramana Mitra
A fundable and proven business is essential if you want introductions to angels and VCs.
The reality is less than 1% of businesses are fundable. What that means is more than 99% of the entrepreneurs waste their energy on pitching their unfundable businesses to investors. Hugely unproductive and unhealthy.
There is a reason why savvy entrepreneurs have been using the Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later strategy.
Generation after generation of entrepreneurs have used bootstrapping to get to a fundable stage, so they can call the shots at the negotiation table with their potential investors.
I have nothing against funding. I have scores of friends who are investors and I respect their work.
But my heart belongs to entrepreneurs who are capable of doing the heavy lifting of extensive validation. That’s where we can add the most value and that’s why we are in the trenches with those true entrepreneurs every day.
The following six courses below will help you grasp bootstrapping, which is a proven financing approach for a tech company until it has validated its product with paying customers. Study various types of bootstrapping and combine them to your liking. Choose those that are the most suitable for you. Apply the methodology.
3. Bootstrapping a Startup with Services with Sramana Mitra
4. Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later with Sramana Mitra
5. Bootstrapping a Startup with a Paycheck with Sramana Mitra
6. How to Bootstrap Startups by Piggybacking with Sramana Mitra
7. How to Bootstrap a Startup to Exit with Sramana Mitra
8. How To Succeed As A Solo Entrepreneur with Sramana Mitra
Only when you bootstrap to validation, think about outside capital. Get to know how investors think, so you can speak their language and attain that elusive holy grail of investor-entrepreneur fit. These three courses can help you further until you reach the seed stage.
9. Alternatives to Unicorn Chasing Investors with Sramana Mitra
10. How Pre-Seed Investors Think About Startups with Sramana Mitra
11. How Seed Investors Think About Deep Tech with Sramana Mitra
All of the above courses are based on The 1Mby1M Methodology. We offer this collection as a consolidation of tribal knowledge from successful tech entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders that can’t be found anywhere else. By taking those courses, you can gain instructive perspectives on how to build a thriving business methodically, step by step, instead of shooting from the hip and reinventing the wheel.
If you have any specific question, come and see me at a 1Mby1M free roundtable.
P.S. We’re looking to partner with community leaders who write blogs, teach and mentor entrepreneurs, and help support startup ecosystems in every corner of the world, no matter how small or how remote. I have written about my own journey building startup ecosystems around the world, and how you can draw from my lessons from the trenches. If you’re interested in partnering with 1Mby1M, please consider joining our ambassador program.
Looking For Some Hands-On Advice?
For entrepreneurs who want to discuss their specific businesses with me, I’m very happy to assess your situation during my free online 1Mby1M Roundtables, held almost every week. You can also check out our free Bootstrapping Course, our Udemy courses, YouTube channel, podcast interviews with VCs and Founders.
Photo credit: wadegeorge88 from Pixabay
