Category: Fundraising

Hiring your first team members as a startup can be both exciting and overwhelming. It’s tempting to keep things casual—after all, startups are known for being quick and flexible. But skipping a clear interview process can be risky: according to a 2022 survey by LinkedIn, nearly 89% of hiring failures are linked to poor interview…

Turning a food or beverage idea into a thriving business isn’t easy—especially when funding is one of the toughest challenges for new brands. In the past year alone, over $4.8 billion was invested in foodtech startups worldwide, according to PitchBook, even as overall deal counts have slowed. This means investors are still active, but more…

Fundraising is at the heart of every nonprofit’s mission, but what if the way we’ve always done it is holding us back? Most organizations still rely on the same approaches they’ve used for decades—focusing on pitching their own programs and hoping supporters will respond. Yet a recent study by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy…

Finding the right people is often one of the toughest challenges for portfolio companies. According to a 2022 survey by the National Venture Capital Association, over 80% of venture-backed company leaders said talent acquisition was one of their biggest barriers to growth. The stakes are high: hiring the right team can mean the difference between…

Building a startup is exciting—but also full of unknowns. One of the biggest challenges founders face is figuring out how their ideas translate into real numbers: How much money will you make? How much will you spend? Will you have enough cash to get to the next stage? That’s where financial modeling comes in. According…

Launching a startup takes more than just an exciting idea or innovative product. Studies show that about 60% of startup failures can be traced back to problems within the founding team—issues like poor communication, mismatched skills, or unresolved conflicts. Investors and co-founders alike recognize that a team’s ability to navigate uncertainty and work well together…

If you’ve ever wondered how investors decide whether a stock is worth buying, holding, or selling, equity research reports are a big part of the answer. These reports break down a company’s financial health, business model, and prospects, providing insights from financial analysts that help both professionals and everyday investors make sense of complex market…

Employee stock options are a big part of how many people are paid today, especially in fast-growing industries like tech or startups. In fact, according to a 2022 report by the National Center for Employee Ownership, more than 9 million U.S. workers hold stock options or other forms of equity in their companies—that’s one in…

Education isn’t what it used to be. Over the past decade, education technology—or edtech—has grown from a niche corner of the tech world into a daily presence in classrooms and homes around the globe. In fact, investments in global edtech startups reached over $20 billion in 2023, showing just how much momentum this field has…

Starting an online business is exciting, but the reality is that turning a great e-commerce idea into a live, thriving store often depends on finding the right investors. In fact, according to recent industry data, global e-commerce startups raised over $47 billion in funding in 2023 alone—a sign of just how competitive and opportunity-filled this…