Bitcoin Forum

 Investor Legends is a private invitation-only investment-centered club. We strive to create the network of people, who are peers – financially and socially.

We aim to create a community of like-minded persons who have managed to accumulate knowledge and expertise befitting the high-net-worth-individuals yet looking for more insights, stimuli and opinions to further grow their assets via expertise from a trusted circle of confidants with similar social and financial profile.

We aim to choose the family for our Members, that one is not supposed to choose.

Our project is on registration step now and we invite you to become a member of this investment-centered club for free for the first year.

Investor legends is the best way to find investments.

This is a unique opportunity for you to represent your start-up/ICO/business to the high-net-worth-individuals and get the investments you need.

We have a private Forum and we can create personal access for you, than you make the performance of your business and get investments! And this is for free.

If you are interested please PM us or write a comment.


Website: https://www.investorlegends.com

Making an ask is the penultimate act of a development professional. It’s the final step of what is often a long process, complete with identifying and cultivating prospects, doing research, getting people involved, and planning the final approach.

Asks are the fundraiser’s stock in trade, yet they can also cause anxiety, because in many cases so much is riding on each ask. As development professionals, we know that our organization’s ability to carry out its mission is directly tied to our ability to ask for… and receive… financial support from donors.

Today, we present 7 tips for making the most out of your fundraising asks. Before you get started with the list, be sure to read our recent article: How to Ask Anyone for Anything.

1. KNOW YOUR PROSPECT
First and foremost, before making any ask (and particularly a major ask), know your prospect. What is his or her background? How were they introduced to your organization? What other organizations do they support? What is their general financial situation?

Research your prospects well, and elicit information as part of the cultivation process. The better you know your prospect, the better your chances are of moving them towards a gift.

2. CONNECT YOUR ASK WITH YOUR PROSPECT’S INTERESTS
As you research your prospect, try to figure out what his or her key interests are, and how you might align those interests with the needs of your organization. Donors generally have a couple of key charitable interests, and it is up to you to try to connect your donor’s interests with your non-profit’s mission and needs.

For example, if you are fundraising for a homeless shelter, and your prospect’s key interest is in helping lift children out of poverty, you may be able to craft a gift proposal that allows the donor to fund the nutritional and medical needs of the children at your shelter. Similarly, if you are working with a prospect who is interested in clean energy and you are fundraising for a church, the prospect may be interested in helping you lower your energy bills by funding solar panels on the roof.

Be creative, but as you seek ways to align donor’s interests, be sure you are filling your organization’s actual needs, and not just creating new work for your non-profit.

3. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR
Before you make an ask, know what you are asking for. This may seem obvious, but I have seen many development pros go into asks not really sure of what they were hoping to accomplish, other than trying to score a major gift.

If you need for a $100,000 general operating gift, and the donor has that potential, then ask for it. If you want funding for your school’s drama program, and the donor seems interested in the arts, ask for $25,000 to fund your efforts. Know how much you are asking for, and how it will be used.

4. HAVE A FALL BACK PLAN
What if the donor says no? What if they say, “not right now, but maybe next year?” Is that a loss? Not necessarily. With a good fall back plan, you can turn that no into an “eventual yes.” Go into your ask knowing what you will say if the donor says no. Find a way to keep the donor engaged or get him or her even more involved (perhaps as a volunteer or advisor) so that the next time you ask… the answer will be “yes!”

5. PRACTICE
I’ve been doing fundraising asks for more than a decade, yet I still practice before going in to see a prospective donor. Practicing (not memorizing… practicing) helps you feel more confident in your approach… and as we all know, confidence matters. Because each donor is different, each ask is different. Spend 5 minutes rehearsing in the car before you go in. It will make a big difference.

6. KEEP IT HIGH ENERGY
When making an ask, keep your conversation high energy. Don’t be a downer, sitting meekly in your prospect’s office, fiddling your thumbs. Be excited about your mission. Talk passionately about what a difference this gift will make. Tell stories, elicit tears, be a forceful advocate for your non-profit organization.

7. CAST A BIG VISION
Donors like to get invested in causes bigger then themselves… we all do. Make sure you show your prospects the big picture of what your school, church, or charity is trying to do. Cast a big… huge… amazing vision about what you are trying to accomplish and why. Quantify your results, project what you can do with this gift, and make your prospect see what a life-changing experience it will be being involved with your organization.

Source: http://www.thefundraisingauthority.com

This is a very marketable company. But growing up is very difficult, you have to convince investors. Instead of relying on words to express it. For example, you are a government-supported project or for other reasons. In short, I think we can solve the trust problem before it succeeds.

in other words if a project can be supported by the government and clearly regulated and supervised by the government, will investors trust and be confident in the project we are doing?

Thank you for your attention to our project.

We will think about goverment support, but we don't make such purposes for now. We want to make a place where investors and fund seekers can meet and find each other.

This club is created to provide high quality services to large investors in a clean, spam-free environment. We want to test how it can work that's why it is for free now.

If there are any questions feel free to contact us.

With more than 1.5 million tax-exempt organizations in the U.S., according to a report by the National Center for Charitable Statistics, trying to gain your share of donations can be a challenge, especially for a new nonprofit. Without the established name base and recognition of a well-known organization behind your efforts, you may not see the donation base that you’d like to right out of the gate.

It might be difficult to use patience when waiting for donors to find your charity, feeling as though you need to act quickly to remedy your cause. This can lead to desperate measures, which can hurt your organization in the long term.

To avoid such an outcome, 13 members of Forbes Nonprofit Council share common fundraising errors they see made by younger organizations. Here is what they had to say:

1. LACKING PATIENCE
I see many organizations approach fundraising as ‘one and done.’ They will reach out to prospects and if they don’t get a donation (or the amount they requested), they write that person off. Even small donations are about relationships between the donor and the organization and the donor with staff. Relationships take time to build up, so don’t expect to hit a home run every time out. – Tom Van Winkle, Hinsdale Humane Society

2. INSUFFICIENT PLANNING
The fundraising mistake that I’ve seen is not thinking through and identifying all the needed components on the front end of an initiative and, thus, missing the opportunity to actually raise enough funds to cover all of the expenses (like the cost for a dedicated coordinator). And as a result, not identifying how to ‘pivot’ strategically to operate within the budget or funds they actually do have. – Errika Moore, Technology Association of Georgia Education Collaborative

3. WAITING UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE
Many nonprofits fail to raise enough funds for campaigns because they wait until the last minute to look for sponsors. The truth is, corporate sponsorships are not fast money. They can take months before they land in the charity’s bank account. Most importantly, they’re not open year-round! Many corporate donors now have strict enrollment periods for organizations looking to apply for a grant. – Eduardo Lopez, BIG Stop

4. COMMUNICATING POORLY
Younger organizations tend to not share as much as they really should about what they are doing and how the fundraising would help. They really need to do much more communicating and sharing. Also, it’s important that they respond to each message they get. I see too many look at a text or emails but then never reply. That’s a huge mistake. – Gloria Horsley, Open to Hope

5. PUTTING ALL THE GOLDEN EGGS INTO ONE BASKET
It’s easy to become complacent when you have an early ‘angel’ donor that funds your startup and program development, but it’s a mistake to build your budget around just one funder. Organizations that are just getting started need to begin building a diverse funding portfolio from day one, before overreliance on an early supporter leads to a funding cliff that places their programs in jeopardy. – Laura Deaton, Trust for Conservation Innovation

6. BEING THE ‘LONE RANGER’
Successful people know lots of people. Therefore, strong networks provide opportunity to capitalize and solve problems in the face of adversity. Don’t try to be the ‘lone ranger’ — build strong networks and let others help you share, strategize and conquer the tasks at hand. You will find that many have been down similar roads and have left rocks for you to step on so you don’t step into the same pitfalls. – Aaron Alejandro, Texas FFA Foundation

7. TRYING TO APPEAL TO EVERY FUNDER
Your mission and focus are not always going to mesh perfectly with those of a funder. If you can’t find alignment between your missions, don’t try to force it and waste time and resources pursuing an organization that is less likely to see its own stake in your cause. Instead, use these resources to more effectively and doggedly pursue the donors whose focus aligns more closely with yours. – George Tsiatis, The Resolution Project

8. NOT DOING YOUR DUE DILIGENCE
As grant recipients, we expect funders to perform due diligence, but rarely is it reciprocal. Take the time to understand your funder’s expectations and restrictions to assess how they align with your own organizational priorities and capacities. A little research can go a long way. – Ana Pantelic, Fundación Capital

9. SWITCHING UP THE GOAL POST ON YOUR DONOR
A common fundraising mistake I often see is younger organizations moving the goal posts for donors. Many newer organizations will say the price for a project is X and then come back to the donor and ask for more aid once they find out the price is actually more. Organizations lose donors over this. – John Lyon, World Hope International

10. TAKING THE FOOT OFF THE PEDAL
For the vast majority of nonprofits, your work isn’t over after the first year or the first funding cycle. Someone needs to think about year two, three, four and so on. It’s never too early to secure funding for those years or, at the very least, create consultative relationships with your founding donors to make sure they will be on board for the future. – Blake Pang, United Ways Serving Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties

11. IGNORING THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIENCE
Many young charities were started by people dedicated to the mission, with little fundraising experience. Board members often see raising funds as a competing effort rather than one that will enable and enhance mission delivery. Investing the resources to have an experienced fundraiser leading their efforts will achieve greater results in the long run, yet many do not fully appreciate this. – Gina Parziale, Alport Syndrome Foundation

12. FOCUSING ON PITCHES INSTEAD OF RELATIONSHIPS
While it is alluring to build dazzling ‘pitches,’ the first meetings with a new prospective partner are critical. The most important goal is to learn, build understanding and develop trust. Do not start pitching right away. Slow down; focus on building a relationship. Ask open-ended questions. This will ultimately build a better proposal, and you’ll more likely be asked to the table again. – Kevin McAndrew, Save the Children

13. THINKING EVERYBODY LOVES YOUR CAUSE
Nonprofits often have an inability to think of their message outside their own walls. The thought is, ‘We love this cause, so everyone else must think so as well.’ This mentality drives a fundraiser that falls flat. Before launching an NPO, ask for external feedback, ensuring the mission resonates with a defined audience. Target that audience with a clear message on the value of their investment. – Glenn D. Banton, Sr., (OSD) Operation Supply Drop

Source: www.forbes.com

In this era of scams and fraudulent schemes replete on the space, it will be a difficult sell and hard for you to convince the people on here to get signed up in your investment club.

As someone who volunteers and sits on a number of boards for nonprofits, it is my goal to add value and make an impact by curating thoughtful discourse, making connections or volunteering for events. Inevitably, however, I am asked to do the one thing I dislike most.

Fundraise.

My angst for fundraising probably derives from my early and impressionable days as a sales associate, when the idea of “asking for the sale” was beaten into my professional character by people who could best be described as snake oil salesmen.

David Atchley, on the other hand, is a skilled and experienced fundraiser, successfully raising millions of dollars for his client organizations, including universities, economic development centers and cause-based organizations such as the Faison School for Autism.

Atchley approaches fundraising not as a sales pitch, but rather a long-term partnership between organizations and donors — much like an entrepreneur with investors. And like a business, he feels fundraising should be approached and prioritized just like any business goal — with a strategy.

Atchley points out that many non-profit organizations often approach the task of fundraising horribly wrong. To avoid a great deal of wasted time and energy, he suggests the following tips for more effectively creating and executing a fundraising strategy.

1. SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS.
Right off, it is important that you understand that raising money takes time — a lot of time — and a strong, well thought out strategy.

The challenge is that there are tens of thousands of organizations fighting for a very limited pot of money. Also, the grind of raising money every year creates an internal motivation problem as well as an image problem, especially as the organization fails to reach sustainability after a few years.

Your goals, like your strategy, should be long term and highly focused.

2. REFINE YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION.
Your pitch, or “case for support” as Atchley puts it, is much grander than a few goals for the end of the year. Donors want to know that your impact, and their money, is going to be used for more than a few incremental changes.

As the amount of money you seek increases, Atchley explains, so does the impact you need to demonstrate. Your organization needs to look beyond a flowery vision and develop a “transformation statement.”

HOW IS YOUR ORGANIZATION GOING TO REALISTICALLY CHANGE THE WORLD?

3. UNDERSTAND YOUR IRR.
One of the most effective selling tools you can develop is to clearly understand and communicate your internal rate of return (IRR).

The IRR is a financial measure that demonstrates how a donor’s money is moving the organization toward sustainability. This is especially effective for large donors, who will be more concerned with knowing that their money is going to create a long-term sustainable organization (so you don’t need to ask for more money later) rather than a short-term benefit.

4. FORMALIZE AND TRAIN YOUR TEAM.
Atchley points out that there are numerous roles in a fundraising strategy, and it is important to pair these roles with individuals in your organization with the relative strengths. These roles include:

• Engagers: Individuals who will interact, talk and nurture relationships.
  Connectors: Individuals who can leverage networks and make valuable introductions.
  Askers: Individuals who understand the skills and timing necessary to ask for the donation.
  Stewards: Individuals who communicate with and nurture ongoing donors and promote the relationships.

If your goal includes raising a significant amount of money, you should also consider a consultant or professional fundraiser for your team. These individuals have the experience, the network and the skills necessary to take your team to the next level.

While hiring a dedicated fundraiser or consultant can be expensive, they may well be worth the investment if they have a significant impact on your fundraising efforts.

5. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
While every non-profit team dreams of securing the support of a large, institutional foundation, understand that most foundations are typically one-time donors. This is because they often wish to spread their impact and ultimately want their gift to lead to sustainability.

Do not ignore individual donors, and always promote and celebrate when you receive a second gift (individuals or foundations who have given more than once), which signals that you are meeting goals and satisfying existing donors.

6. MANAGE YOUR STRATEGY.
It is easy and indeed common for organizations to “drift” from their fundraising strategy. Responsibilities and ongoing and often unexpected emergencies all add variables that can distract you from your goals.

It is critical, however, that your organization prioritize fundraising plans above all else, and review progress and make adjustments regularly.

This is also a good case for hiring a dedicated fundraiser if it fits into your budget.

7. GET CREATIVE.
Like negotiating business deals, there are numerous ways you can engage donors without simply asking for a check.

For instance, you can ask donors to pledge their support with smaller amounts spread out over a period of time. Another strategy is asking a donor to create a “matching gift,” meaning that your organization needs to raise matching funds in a given amount of time to receive the gift. This signals to the donor that you are serious about raising more money and also creates urgency for new donors.

Anyone who runs a non-profit organization understands the immense challenge with raising money. With the right planning, training, team and expectations, your organization can more effectively raise the funds needed to create sustainability and make a long-term positive impact.

As for me, I was happy to finally find a role that better suits my strengths without the need to always be closing.

Do you have experience with nonprofit fundraising? Please share your thoughts and tips with other below in the comments section below.

Thank you for your attention to our project.

We do not see anything complicated in the scheme of our business, since we act as a platform for meeting investors and fund seekers. We help them to find each other. People make decisions about investing on their own, we do not influence them.

Proposal Title: BeLive.tv

Company name: BeLive

Website: BeLive.tv

Location, contacts: Israel, Haifa (WeWork)

Industry: Online Streaming

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Round A

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: Raising Series A Round of $5.000.000

Needed amount: $5.000.000



https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/belive-tv

Fundseeker's presentation: Gitune The world's first platform for the production of cartoons, animated advertising, animation clips for musicians and computer games

The project needs funding. We are a small team of 9 people. http://www.gitune.com

The world's first platform for the production of cartoons, animated advertising, animation clips for musicians and computer games, a platform for the sale of content, licensing of intellectual property, joint work on the product. The world's first platform for ICO streaming in visual production. The team and investors profit from the sale and lease of the product. The product-is a cartoon, animated advertising, animation clips for musicians and computer games.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/forum/announcements-of-your-startup-projects

And how to make sure that these are really successful projects and real stories and not just another deception? No offense, I'm just a skeptic. Here why don't you give a link to your forum.

We published a link to our Forum. The matter is that it is private and only logged in users can see posts.

Name: Secure Crypto Payments (SEC)

Website: https://securecrypto.me

E-mail: ico@securecrypto.me

Industry: Fintech

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Ready MVP (integrated on few sites) & ICO (Initial Coin Offering, Fundraising event)

Bonus: 25% bonus

Needed amount: 18,150 ETH as softcap ,  64,000 ETH as the goal

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/sec-ico-paypal-for-cryptos

The Worlds First ICO Aftermarket

Vertex.market is an OTC platform and will offer tokens before they are listed on exchanges, the moment an ICO is over. This business model is not new, it is done at the Private Equity Market since 20 years very successfully!

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/vertex-market

The donation market processes $600 Billion per year. SupPorter is uniquely positioned to disrupt this market with its cutting-edge blockchain solutions model to maximize ROIs for its investors over a short period of time.

What SupPorter does: SupPorter is a Blockchain “Smart” Donation Processing and Rewards System that provides a better way for Political Campaigns and Nonprofits to receive and report online donations.

SupPorter seeks $500,000 in Seed Capital to bring to market its cutting edge Blockchain Donation Technology resulting in:

·        Lower Processing Fees

·        Both Digital and FIAT Currency Acceptance

·        Increased Transparency

·        Automated Year-end Filings

SupPorter was founded in 2016 by four brothers with extensive fundraising experience and industry knowledge. SupPorter is incorporated as a Georgia Sub-chapter “C” Corporation and its growth to date has been bootstrapped solely by the Company’s CEO Inman Porter who quit his Finance job in New York to work on SupPorter full time.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/supporter-blockchain-donation-platform-for-political-campaigns

Proposal Title:           Built with blockchain technology in mind, HouseAfrica is designed to make rental processes easy and less costly for  Africa real estate industry.

Company name: HouseAfrica

Website:               https://houseafrica.io

Location:              Nairobi, Kenya.

Contacts:              Ndifreke Ikokpu, email: ikokpun@houseafrica.io skype: endyfrekz

Industry:              Real Estate

Development Stage:  Beta

Type of investment:   Seed Funding

Proposed share for investors: 10%

Needed amount:        $500,000

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/houseafrica-raising-seedfunding

IMPROVING HEALTHCARE, REDUCING COSTS, SAVING LIVES
Dedicated to reducing drug non-adherence while lowering healthcare costs and advancing medical research

Proposal Title: CuraToken

Company name:  Curaizon Ltd

Website: https://curaizon.com/

ICO Website: https://[Suspicious link removed]/gaE8JnZ

Location: London, Copenhagen, Dubai

Contact: njr@curaizon.com

Industry: Healthcare Technology, Big Data, AI, Machine Learning

Stage:  Ready with MVP and clients

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: ICO Token Sale

Needed amount: $25M

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/curatoken-improving-healthcare-reducing-costs-saving-lives

We are currently pursuing our private sale where we are selling our tokens for $0.20 per coin. At the exchange launch, each coin will have a price floor of $1.0. We maintain the price floor by ensuring that the coins are exclusively traded on Polybird Exchange and that any buy/sell order that is below $1.0 is always rejected. Doing this, the investors would be able to maintain their book profits and liquidate their holdings over time as the exchange gets more traction and utility.

For more details, please consider:

Our website: https://polybird.io

General Whitepaper: https://polybird.io/GeneralWhitepaper.pdf

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/polybird-exchange-global-exchange-for-security-tokens

In the classic movie Wall Street, Bud Fox made many cold calls but didn’t make any money until he met the fabled Gordon Gekko in person. Personal connections with affluent people can grow a business quickly. It costs money upfront to join the right organizations and to be in the right places to make such connections, but it usually pays off in the long run.

YACHT CLUBS
Joining a yacht club might seem like a stretch when it comes to looking for potential affluent clients. The good news is that a person doesn’t need to own a yacht and even have any yachting experience to take advantage of this option. Contrary to popular opinion, anyone interested in yachting can join a yacht club, since these exclusive organizations make money teaching newbies boating skills. Yacht owners also look for crews among club members, so people can be part of crews without owning yachts. Yacht clubs usually have robust social calendars, hosting numerous picnics, dinners, parties of all kinds and fun days for members. Some yacht clubs require a referral from another member to join.

COUNTRY CLUBS
The fact is that rich people like socializing and making deals with each other and often do it poolside, on the golf course or on the tennis court at country clubs. Country club memberships can be pricey and cost four or five figures to get in; some of the most exclusive country clubs attached to property owner associations simply may be off limits without a personal invitation from property owners. The good news is that the range of activities and events offered by country clubs means having access to networking opportunities year-round.

FIRST CLASS
First-class airline tickets often cost $3,000 or more, which puts flying first class out of reach for people of average means. People interested in networking opportunities — who fly for business anyway — should make sure that they have the appropriate travel rewards credit cards and travel club memberships to rack up points toward first-class tickets. When it comes to networking with affluent people in first class, longer flights are preferable. Fly coach for short flights, and save points and perks for cross country or international first-class flights. Financially prudent wealthy people often fly business class to save money, so flying business class can also be an effective place to meet prospective clients.

ART EVENTS
Some affluent people enjoy window-shopping at the mall and sniffing flowers at their local farmer’s market, but they aren’t as easy to spot as they are at museum and art gallery events. Wealthy people also usually have the best seats at the theater and other performing arts venue and often have season tickets, meaning they’re in a certain place at a certain time, making it easier to connect with them. The best thing about arts events is that they’re almost always open to the public and often are not as expensive as other networking options. Knowing about upcoming events involves tapping into the art scene and doing a little reconnaissance beforehand. Art galleries always print cards and flyers announcing happenings, so people interested in making connections in this way may benefit from taking a day to visit galleries to find out about upcoming events. Reading local arts magazines and listening to local public radio also offers information on upcoming events.

FUNDRAISING EVENTS
Affluent people usually have to give away some of their money in order to stay on the good side of the taxman, which makes certain types of fundraising events ideal places to meet them. Martha Stewart might be first in line at a local cupcake fundraiser, but other affluent people usually attend charitable auctions and fundraising dinners. People interested in connecting with the wealthy should keep an eye out for unique fundraising events — a charitable dinner hosted by a renowned chef or a charitable auction featuring high-end items, such as vacations to exotic places and collector’s items such as fine art. Fundraising galas that require black ties and evening gowns are also effective places to meet wealthy people.

By Lisa Goetz

Source: www.investopedia.com

Whitepaper:
https://gneiss.io/#/whitePaper

Detailed Article I Wrote About Future Of Blockchain Finance:
https://coinidol.com/bitcoin-s-revolutionary-power-in-finance/

Reasons For Total FinTech Domination

1. Our platform has the most developed tech on the market (still in beta but it took so long for a reason and about to be out in full swing by Dec.)

2. Literally all my employees are friends or friends of friends (I trust them with my life which is VERY important when all it takes is 1 person to wipe and crypto exchange out!)

3. I feel I know wayyy more then most people in the FinTech industry and I'm only 26 years old. I'm going to make this my main career path too.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/gneiss-global-network-encryption-investment-security-service

In fundraising circles, it was the year of initial coin offerings (ICOs). The fundraising method, which offers mainstream investors the chance to invest in a startup using coin tokens, was a largely unknown entity at the start of 2017. Toward the end of the year, however, they have reportedly raised $3.25 billion.

But ICO enthusiasts might want to hold off before uncorking the bubbly. China’s government has already banned such offerings. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which largely looked the other way as ICOs gained traction among investors, has increasingly become vocal about bringing them under its purview.

Last weekend, the agency took the unprecedented step of halting an ICO. Munchee, a blockchain-based app for posting restaurant reviews, intended to raise funds by distributing a coin called MUN.

According to a whitepaper issued by the startup, MUN was to be used as currency within the Munchee app to incentivize restaurants and reviewers to purchase services or earn rewards. The coin could also be moved to a cryptocurrency wallet and exchanged for bitcoin and ethereum, the world’s top two most-traded cryptocurrencies. That last bit transforms MUN from a utility token, which places it outside the SEC’s purview, to a security token that is tradeable with an existing currency.

The whitepaper also claimed erroneously that MUN was not subject to federal laws regarding securities. According to reports, the startup stopped the token sale “hours” after hearing from the SEC.

Given SEC Chairman Jay Clayton’s recent statement, it is quite likely that the SEC will actively monitor and flag offerings. In fact, SEC officials recently discussed ways in which entrepreneurs can hold token sales compliant with federal securities laws.

In the meanwhile, numbers relating to ICO fundraising aren’t looking too good.

According to a report by research firm Smith + Crown, only 69 of the 169 ICOs in October 2017 managed to reach their fundraising goals. The rest ended up “either extending, postponing, or cancelling outright their own proposed sales.”

Architect Partners, a Palo Alto-based M&A firm, evaluated data from Smith + Crown and tokendata.io to calculate success rates for initial coin offerings. The firm found that the success rate of ICOs plunged to 34% in September from a high of 92% in June. Further, the median amount raised by ICOs declined from $4 million in July to $2 million by September.

Who is Avatara? – Person, robot, drone

Avatara is a new job for anybody worldwide. Everyone can be an Avatara – both a professional reporter with the proper equipment or just a person with Google glasses or a mobile phone with a camera. Everybody has a mobile phone or a tablet PC that inevitably entails mass using of AVATARA.

AvataraCoin (aVaTaRa – VTR-token) description:

60% of VTR tokens to be sold to investors during Pre Sale, Pre ICO, and ICO stages. Unrealized tokens supposed to be burned.

19% of VTR tokens are reserved for the Bounty Affiliate Program, R&D and for the system maintenance in 251 countries of the world (Pre Sale, Pre ICO, ICO, after ICO).

21% of VTR-tokens are intended for the fund of founders, worldwide partners, and the service developers (after ICO). This amount be frozen for a year.

AvataraCoin (VTR) will have the high demand as it’s the only mean of payment for all provided AVATARA services.

AvataraCoin (VTR) is a utility token (proved by Howey test) and is purchased for getting AVATARA services.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/avatara-immediate-moving-around-the-world-without-language-barriers

Hello, Can I post a Blockchain game in your forum? Gods Unchained is a TCG on the Ethereum blockchain that uses #NFT's to bring real ownership to in-game assets. I created a thread about this game here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5061315.msg47485344#msg47485344 I hope I can post this to your forum I'm sure it will attract Investors.

Fundseeker's presentation: Wellmee - a mobile application to enhance wellbeing

Proposal Title: Initial token offering - November 2018

Company name: Wellmee

Website: https://www.wellmee.com

Location, contacts: Prague, Czech Republic

Industry: AI, Machine Learning, Health

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Prototype, seeking fundruising

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: To be discussed

Needed amount: Current Soft cap 7.5m USD

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/wellmee-a-mobile-application-to-enhance-wellbeing

Thanks for attention to our project. Please PM me or send your request to contact@investorlegends.com.

Entrepreneurs have a number of funding options available to them. From crowdsourcing to angel investors and venture capitalists, there are many organizations and individuals interested in backing startups. Businesses can avoid going into debt from high-interest business loans by securing funding through investors. As startups grow increasingly competitive, a new company must really set itself apart. Having a solid brand identity and mission and demonstrating cohesive goals are just the beginning. Take a look at these five ways to appeal to potential investors and get funding.

1. BUILD A SOLID BUSINESS PLAN
As investors search for startups to fund, they examine which companies will be able to properly use any capital they receive. A solid business plan will go a long way in establishing a startup’s credibility. Many new companies have a lot of raw energy, a pointed mission, and passionate talent driving new products. But often, there is a dearth of business planning. What areas of a business would benefit from new capital? Would funding go toward operations, expanding manufacturing, or opening new offices? How did a startup operate on its budget before an investor got involved? What are the operational costs, tech refresh plans, and long-term growth projections?

2. FUTURE-PROOF YOUR STARTUP
While a new business may have products and solutions that are exceedingly relevant to current public needs, investors want to see how relevant a startup will be in the future. Does a startup have the talent and resources to grow along with their clients? Future-proofing one’s business plans and products shows investors that a company is flexible enough to stay afloat. When there is no plan in place, a startup may generate a high amount of initial success and then crash. Understanding a startup’s target audience is an excellent way to address their upcoming needs and desires. Marketing strategies should include social networking and community interaction to truly understand how a company can adjust to their clients’ future needs.

3. BE UPFRONT
Some startups are extremely shy about making their needs known to investors. Investors do not have the time or ability to dig through a startup’s plan and identify key areas of need. Startups need to learn how to ask directly for financial help in order to receive it. New companies should clearly identify why they need funding and how they intend to use it. Investors want transparency regarding how a startup is using current funds. If an area requires funding, a startup must show how their resources are being allocated.

4. DEMONSTRATE SUCCESS
Startups must never be afraid to take credit when it is due. Any major accomplishments, successful product lines, and marketing campaigns should be showcased as investors learn more about a company. Having a track record of success can set a startup apart from their competitors, especially with industries that are flooded with entrepreneurs. Reporting should be clear, with specific numbers and results demonstrating growth and experience. Storytelling can also be a great way to demonstrate community impact, if a startup has contributed significantly to enriching their customers’ lives.

5. SUSTAIN INVESTORS’ ATTENTION
While many startups are able to secure investors for their initial steps, they may have difficulty in gaining additional capital further down the road. Holding the attention of investors can be a difficult trial. Make sure to keep in touch with current and potential investors, leaving an open channel between decision makers. Be sure to update these contacts with company success stories and updated numbers. Tracking innovations and upcoming funding needs can be a great way to sustain interest, as a startup builds a positive reputation. Having a history of investment capital, future-proof products, and ongoing cash flow can help startups maintain investors’ interest.

Finding the right investor for your company isn’t only a matter of how much they can support you financially.

A good team of investors can be the foundation of your startup’s success, but a bad one can obliterate even the strongest ideas. Investors can provide your business with more than capital — they can become resources for organizing, marketing, and realizing ideas. Knowing what to look for in an investor and being able to attract the best kind of investors are vital skills for any new entrepreneur.

ATTRACTING INVESTORS
As a newbie with limited experience, how do you convince potential investors you are worth listening to — and get them to buy into your idea? Here are two qualities I strongly believe are key:

Communication: In a time when people are constantly connected online, it’s essential to be good at correspondence in its simplest form. People hate being relegated to your voicemail, and unanswered emails make it appear that you don’t have time or don’t care about responding.

Our investors know they can call me anytime, and I’ll always pick up the phone or get back to them quickly. Respond to phone calls and voicemail messages and make time — not just to read, but also to thoughtfully answer emails every day.

Honesty: Being truthful is obviously non-negotiable. If you misrepresent yourself or your business, you’ll be dead in the water.

It’s natural to think seducing investors with best-case-scenario figures is the most effective way to get funding for a new project. Actually, the opposite is true. Nothing will torpedo an investor’s confidence in you faster than projecting everything through rose-colored lenses.

Making cautious or even negative projections shows investors you’re honest with them and also capable of being realistic about your project’s potential problems. Underpromising and over-delivering is your best bet, and an honest assessment of a project’s strengths and weaknesses is crucial.

SEALING THE DEAL
Once you’ve established yourself as accessible and trustworthy, you will not have to go out of your way to land the investment. Take these steps in advance to increase your chances of sealing the deal:

• Prove it works. Once you’ve built a business successfully — even a small one — investors are more likely to believe in you. Get an idea going, and achieve small successes to show you’ve got the drive to see things through. As someone who’s been on both sides of the table, I personally feel more confident investing in ideas that have already proven viable.
  Build relationships. Every person you meet is a potential investor or a contact who will lead you to one. This has proven true for me dozens of times. I met a guy at Starbucks once who introduced me to a group that invested $250,000 in one of my ideas. We eventually sold that business for seven figures.
  Be likable. It’s impossible to raise money if investors don’t like you. Engage people and be friendly. Look sharp and exude positivity. An investor once told me that he chose to invest in my company because I was personable. “I know we have a winner here because of you. I like you,” he said.

FINDING THE RIGHT INVESTORS
Getting the right investors for your project is just as important as being able to attract investors. Here’s what I advise upcoming entrepreneurs look for in their investors:

Diversity: The more well-rounded your investment group is, the better suited they’ll be to address the challenges your company will face. Look for investors with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Positivity: Supportive people can be the difference between a project’s success and failure. No company can grow without encountering problems. Finding people who remain confident through these times can improve your chances of success.

Investors are vital in far more ways than just providing cash. Depending on the arrangement, the right group can become unofficial consulting firms or even assist in day-to-day operations. My current partner, Ryan Goldschmidt, first invested in a nightlife venue he had neither the experience nor the skills necessary to operate. After an exhaustive search, he found a company willing to invest in the buildout with the skills to operate a large venue and the capital needed to make the necessary improvements.

Of course, some investors prefer to remain at arm’s length. Either way, your team of investors can make or break your startup. Always approach potential investors with honesty and confidence, and don’t forget to be picky when choosing the right people to partner with.

You can see our presentation here:

https://talentico.io/img/doc/presentation_en.pdf

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/talent-ico

Company name: VeryFile sagl

Website: https://veryfile.io

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Private sale opened

Needed amount:

Soft Cap $2,500,000

Hard Cap $24,000,000

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/veryfile-ico-blockchain-for-sensitive-file-management

Website: https://suapp.org

Location: Nigeria.

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: Equity, Angel Investment and Venture capitalist are welcome for negotiation.

Needed amount: Softcap : $750,000

Hardcap : $5,000,000

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/suapp-decentralized-idea-sharing-and-reward-blockchain-platform

Website:
https://www.minedblock.it

Industry:
Cryptocurrency Mining

Stage:
We are currently in our Presale period offering large discounts to early investors, funds raised in the Presale are to market our project throughout the main ICO, which begins on 1st November 2018,

Type of investment, proposed share for investors:

Please contact us directly for our early investing proposals, we currently have an attractive proposition on Angel Investors, Investment into MinedBlock would be highly profitable for early adopters,

Needed amount:

We are looking to raise between $100,000-$1,200,000 during our Presale period to help fund our marketing strategies and attend Blockchain exhibitions, Please contact us directly for more details about our marketing plans.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/minedblock-mining-as-a-service

I know what it’s like to pitch to investors—both angels and venture capitalists. I’ve raised close to $1 million from angel investors for my previous technology startups. Sometimes you only get 10 minutes to pitch your business opportunity to the investors (or less in some cases). Here’s how to get started.

Create a presentation
First, take the time to put together a pitch deck. You can use our free pitch deck template for Powerpoint that can help you get started, and there are lots of other tools that can help you put together a professional-looking presentation.

Don’t wing it
If there’s one thing I can’t stress enough, it’s the importance of rehearsing your pitch. I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs think, “Oh, I know my business inside and out—pitching will be a breeze!” Good luck!

I’ve seen many entrepreneurs crash and burn when delivering their investor pitch—and ramble on and on. There’s nothing more frustrating than being told, “I only need 10 minutes of your time,” and then 20 minutes later you’re still on slide number five.

Be prepared
Additionally, investors will want you to be able to back up your claims. Have a well-thought-out business plan on-hand to share, so investors can read more if they’d like to. The intention, after all, is that you deliver a powerful pitch, and by the end, their hands are out asking for either your executive summary or your complete business plan.

Below is a format I’ve successfully used for my own ventures, and to help many other first-time startup CEOs raise investment capital.

The most important things to keep in mind for your 10 minute pitch to investors:

1. The problem: Tell a story
Begin your pitch with a compelling story. It should address the problem you’re solving in the marketplace. This will engage your audience right out of the gate.

If you can relate your story to your audience, even better! Do some research about the investor, so you have a good sense of what they care about and can tailor your story to them.

2. Your solution
Share what’s unique about your product and how it will solve the issue you shared in the previous slide.

Keep it short, concise, and easy for the investor to explain to others. Avoid using buzzwords unless your investors are very familiar with your industry.

3. Your target market
Don’t say that everyone in the world is potentially your target market, even if it could be true one day.

Be realistic about who you’re building your product for and break out your market into TAM, SAM, and SOM. This will not only impress your audience, but it will help you think more strategically about your roll-out plan.

4. Your revenue or business model
Investors tend to care about this slide the most. How will you make money? Be very specific about your products and pricing and emphasize again how your market is anxiously awaiting your arrival.

5. Your successes: Early traction and milestones
Early in the presentation you want to build some credibility. Take some time to share the relevant traction you’ve had.

This is your opportunity to blow your own horn! Impress the investors with what you and your team have accomplished to date (sales, contracts, key hires, product launches, and so on).

6. Customer acquisition: Marketing and sales strategy
This is usually one of the most skipped sections of an investor pitch and a full business plan. How will you reach your customers? How much will it cost? How will you measure success? Your financials should easily allow you to calculate your customer acquisition costs.

7. Your team
Investors invest in people first and ideas second, so be sure to share details about your rock star team and why they are the right people to lead this company.

Also be sure to share what skill-sets you may be missing on your team. Most startup teams are missing some key talent—be it marketing, management expertise, programmers, sales, operations, financial management, and so on. Let them know that you know that you don’t know everything!

8. Your financial projections
Show what you’re projecting in revenue (per product) over the next three to five years. You must back up your numbers by sharing your assumptions. You’ll see investors taking out their smartphone calculators to make sure your numbers make sense, so give them the information they need to see that your calculations are accurate.

If your financial chart shows “hockey-stick growth,” be sure to explain what happens to cause those inflection points.

9. Your competition
Again, this is a very important part of your pitch, and many people omit this section or don’t provide enough detail about why they’re so different from their competitors.

The best way to communicate your value proposition over your competitors’ is to show this slide in a competitive matrix format—where you list your competitors down the left side of the page, you have your features/benefits across the top, and place check marks in the boxes for which company offers that service. Ideally, you have check marks across the top for every category, and your competitors lack in key areas to show your competitive advantage.

10. Your funding needs
Clearly spell out how much money has already been invested in your company, by whom, ownership percentages, and how much more you need to go to the next level (and be clear about what level that is). Will you need to raise multiple rounds of financing? Is the investment you’re seeking a convertible note, an equity round, or something else?

Remind the audience why your management team is capable of managing their investment for growth. Tell investors how much you need, why you need the money, what it will be used for, and the intended outcome.

11. Your exit strategy
If you’re seeking large sums of investment capital (over $1M), most investors will want to know what your exit strategy is. Are you planning on getting acquired, going public (very few companies actually do), or something else? Show you’ve done some due diligence on this exit strategy, including the companies you’re targeting, and why it would make sense three, five, or 10 years down the road.

Best of luck pitching your business! Oh, and I almost forgot one other very important aspect of pitching your business—have fun!

There have been many initiatives like this, but I don´t think that an Invitation Only club requires a post in Bitcointalk in other to gather new members. It sounds very fishy, even for crypto standards.

Having a big, billion-dollar idea for a new company or start-up is great—but now what? You probably need a website, a tech team, some office space, and, of course, at least enough cash coming in each month to pay your rent.

Which means, you need money. Whether it’s a cool new app or a swanky café, most businesses and most entrepreneurs require at least a little bit of funding to really get off the ground in their early days.

As an executive member of BizFilings, I’m often asked by entrepreneurs for help finding funding. The good news is, there are quite a few places to get it (and many that are frequently overlooked). Read on for a first-time founder’s guide to where to look for funding, and which type might be right for you.

BEGIN WITH BOOTSTRAPPING
When first getting started, many entrepreneurs use “bootstrapping,” which means financing your company by scraping together any personal funds you can find. This typically includes your savings account, credit cards, and any home equity lines you may have.

In many cases, using the money you have instead of borrowing or raising is a great approach—in fact, some entrepreneurs continue to bootstrap until their business is profitable. This can be beneficial because it means you won’t have extensive loans and monthly payments that bog you down, especially if you run into snags along the way.

But, if you’re looking to scale your business quickly, it can be advantageous to bring in outside sources of funding. So, what happens when your funds run out, or you decide you need something more? That will ultimately depend on the type of business you’re building, but there are some common places to start.

CONSIDER FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Asking your friends and family for money might seem like a daunting prospect—but tapping those closest to you is often a good first step before getting external funding. And hey, it can never hurt to ask. While Aunt Irene is probably not in a position to finance your entire new social network for dog owners, she may be impressed enough to toss you a couple grand to help you get rolling (and join the site to find Fido some new playmates).

Before you ask your friends and family for money, though, you should have a business plan at the ready. This way, you can explain to them exactly what you’re selling, what you plan on charging, how you’ll make money, and whether you’re asking for a loan, an investment, or a gift (i.e., whether or not they should expect to get back any money they put into your business, and if so, how much).

EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE FUNDING SOURCES
If you’re looking for a relatively small amount of money (anywhere from $25 to $5,000), there are quite a few micro-loan organizations that lend to start-ups and entrepreneurs, such as Kiva and Accion. These websites cater to low-income entrepreneurs in the U.S. or those working for social good (and some only provide micro-loans to those living below the poverty line). But if you think you might qualify, check out their websites for more information.

Another alternative are the increasingly popular crowd-funding sites, such as Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, which provide you a platform to raise money from individual, small supporters across the web. You’ll set up a campaign and name a target amount of money you want to raise, as well as create perks for donors who pledge a certain amount of money. Then, you raise money for the campaign over a specified time period. With Kickstarter, you’ll only get to keep the money if you raise the full amount of your goal, but IndieGoGo will let you keep anything you raise (for a cut of the proceeds). For more info, check out our guide to choosing between the two and maximizing your crowd-funding campaign.

LOOK LOCAL
If you’re launching a small company (vs. a tech start-up that you see as the next Facebook), you’ll definitely want to check out your local small business development center. Many universities have one, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) alone has 63 across the country. Not only can these centers help connect you with groups of entrepreneurs for networking and angel investors for funding, they can help you determine what type of loans and funding you might qualify for and help you apply. Your local chamber of commerce may also be a treasure trove of information and guidance in terms of where to get local funding. Many large cities have programs and organizations that exist solely to bring business into the local community.

CONSIDER TAKING OUT LOANS
If you can show that you’ve started gaining traction and making money (and that a loan would help you earn even more), you may be able to qualify for a traditional bank loan. Many banks, such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo, have recently announced increased commitment to small business. While each bank and individual situation differs, this may be a good bet if you’re looking to find funding between $5,000 and $500,000.

LOOK TO ANGELS
If you have a tech start-up, you’ll probably eventually need more capital to really get going—to hire people or get office space, for example—than bootstrapping and crowd-funding will afford you. You’ll likely need to reach out to outside investors. A good place to start is angel investors, usually established business professionals with high net worths who are looking to invest in promising companies. Typically, an angel will invest anywhere from $10,000 to a few million dollars.

To find angels, ask other entrepreneurs in your network, or check out the Angel Capital Association, which counts over 330 angel investor groups nationwide. You can also look at AngelList, a website that helps entrepreneurs make connections with interested investors. So far, the site has helped more than 1,000 start-ups get funded.

In addition to making direct loans, angel investing groups sometimes host events or competitions that can help provide new entrepreneurs with additional networking opportunities. Check your local community for these groups.

VENTURING INTO BIGGER CAPITAL
If you’re looking for some serious funding (at least $1 million), you’ll need to turn to venture capital. Venture capitalists (VCs) are more likely to require an in-depth and airtight business plan, but they can also give you larger amounts of money.

VCs typically invest in a few different companies for their clients, and hope to make money off of one (or all) of them to pay back their client’s investments. What that means for you is that they see all kinds of businesses—and you have to make yours stand out. Also, you should know that VCs are looking for a return anywhere from 3-10 times their original investment, usually within the next 5-7 years, so it’s best to have an exit strategy in mind.

The best way to get meetings with VCs is through introductions from other entrepreneurs or investors—which means that if you’ve decided to solicit VC money, it’s time to leverage your contacts (and their networks) to see who you can talk to. Don’t have any contacts? It’s more of a gamble, but you can also browse the National Venture Capital Association website and pitch your business to the ones you find a connection with. While cold-calling a venture capitalist may not be the easiest feat, it’s somewhere to start.

READY TO LAUNCH
Finding funding can be the hardest part of getting your business off the ground, but also the most rewarding. Once you’ve saved, gotten approved for a loan, or found other people to invest in your business, you can get back to—or start—your dream job! Though it can be a long road to success, finding allies along the way (whether they’re friends, angel investors, or venture capitalists) to help keep your business afloat can make all the difference in the world. Good luck!

Thank you for your attention to our project. We are not here to gather new members, we are here to make our offer available to the community and share the connections we have with as many good people as possible. Many ICO founders are here struggling to find funds for their projects, while we have many good investors who look for good projects, which they can trust and believe in. We think this is exactly what BitCoinTalk was built to do, building community and bringing people together.

Nursecoin is a dApp for Smart AI disease management and self-sovereign health record keeping. The platform utilizes professional nurses and an AI recommendation engine for managing populations with chronic Illnesses. As populations age around the globe, the demand for disease management will rise. The platform is a scalable machine-human solution.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/nursecoin

Company name: Dominium

Website: http://www.dominium.me

Industry: Real Estate

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Launch on the Blockchain 30th Nov 2018

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: Tokens. Equity available depedent on level of investment

Needed amount: 90m Euros

Dominium-Pitch-Deck-20181001.pdf

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/dominium-the-worlds-first-global-property-platform-on-the-blockchain

The journey of Era Swap began with research from the KMPARDS team—the core team behind the formation of the Era Swap token and its ecosystem. The team determined that the current community at large needs a middle-man-free, transparent ecosystem where they can get paid directly without commissions from any employer.

To establish said platform for this worldwide community, we came up with the idea to launch the Era Swap technological ecosystem, which will be supported by the Era Swap token. Our unique token ecosystem defines time as a service and offers bot services for crypto trading and crypto investment plans. The first and foremost aim behind developing the Era Swap ecosystem is to provide the benefits to the public.

This token is designed to be a token of “time for work” via smart contracts that can never be bought.

5% of the total tokens will be available only during the crowd sale period. It is the last and best chance to secure your Era Swap Tokens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2McuXwX7Q4&t=11s

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/era-swap-token

Website: https://nortonchain.io

Industry: platform

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): pre-startup

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: we're giving 20% bonus on NRT of $10 minimum purchase. Furthermore we're also giving out 50% bonus to members purchasing token worth $5,000.

Needed amount: $1,000,000

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/nortonchain-platform

Here, chairman of the World Business Angel Investment Forum, Baybars Altuntas, provides Business Advice readers with guidance on securing interest from an angel investor in a startup.

Angel investment has enjoyed increased exposure in recent years, and when world leaders identified it as one of the crucial lifelines that would help bring stability and prosperity to the world’s economies, business owners and economists everywhere have taken notice.

Today, there is a wave of new entrepreneurs ready to get their businesses off the ground, but many are not sure how to go about seeking investment and gaining interest from an angel investor.

PEOPLE, NOT PROJECTS
Although the business idea you present to an investor does have to be adequate, angel investors focus far more on the person who comes to them rather than the project they pitch, so give plenty of thought to the way you present yourself.

This includes your physical appearance, your demeanour and the words you use in your pitch. If you come across as an engaging and inspiring person, you are more likely to attract interest from an angel investor.

ELEVATOR PITCH
Angels have seen it all in business, and if you’re going to grab their attention, you are going to need to make your pitch succinct and captivating. So, forget the long, rambling presentation and work on perfecting your elevator pitch.

A good entrepreneur should be able to grab interest from an angel investor by explaining their key points around financing, the payback period and exit strategy. This should take just five minutes – any longer and you are likely to lose an investor’s interest and come off as someone who’s not going to be an engaging person to work with.

EXIT STRATEGY
Addressing a mutually-beneficial exit strategy during your pitch is a must, and it is common for entrepreneurs to get so caught up in starting a business relationship that they neglect to think of how they will ultimately finish it.

Angel investors want to know exactly what they stand to gain from a business arrangement and how much of their time it will require, so a firm exit strategy is vital for getting interest from an angel investor.

KNOW YOUR ANGEL
They may be experienced and wealthy, but this doesn’t mean that an angel investor’s money is just there for the taking. If an angel invests in you, they want to know it is because you are a good match, and not just because you needed the funds they could provide.

So, research your prospective angel investors. Get to know their backgrounds, previous business arrangements and passions, if for no other reason than because they will give you a good indication of how good a match they would be for you.

SECTORS
An angel investor is unlikely to invest in a health product if their expertise is in communications, and they are unlikely to have the contacts and resources that would be most relevant to your proposal.

When looking at prospective investors, pay particular attention to the sorts of investments they make, and consider how well your pitch fits into this demographic.

DUE DILIGENCE
In the event that an angel decides to invest in your company, it is standard for a period of due diligence, or “probation” to occur, so expect it and understand the need for it.

A pitch is one thing – its whole point is to be appealing – but if the reality of your business credentials or numbers is not in line with the information you present in your pitch, then the investor has every right and reason to reconsider their offer of investment.

Don’t take the due diligence period as discouraging – it is a wise move on an investor’s part. Coming out of this period successfully will only be further validation of your business’s potential.

Dave Gowel has raised $3 million in the three years since he started RockTech, a Cambridge, Mass.-based enterprise-training platform for cloud technologies. Of the 29 angel investors he’s brought onboard, all have one thing in common: “Every investor relationship I have was influenced by LinkedIn,” says Gowel, RockTech’s CEO.

“A compelling example of this came when one of my investors listed his affiliation with RockTech on LinkedIn, and then another angel who saw that update contacted me,” Gowel continues. “The latter angel had a very strong respect for my investor who had updated his profile, and [he] became an investor within six months—he even brought in another angel to invest with him.”

Thanks to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lifting the ban on general solicitation for investors, LinkedIn has become a potential mother lode for identifying and pitching investors. But it’s a nuanced and regulated game.

“I don’t think a general solicitation as a first contact is the way to go,” Gowel says. Instead, he and others recommend using LinkedIn as a recon tool to improve real-world interactions with potential investors. Here’s how.

• Embrace the advanced search. If you’re not clicking the “Advanced” link next to the site’s search bar and hunting by industry, company, location, alma mater, groups you belong to or specific keywords of your choosing, you’re wasting your time, says Gowel, who, in addition to running RockTech, is the author of The Power in a Link: Open Doors, Close Deals, and Change the Way You Do Business Using LinkedIn.

“There are 300-million-plus people on LinkedIn,” he says. “Advanced searches help you cut through the clutter and zero in on the right people to meet.”

Next, follow a potential investor’s company page. Join any relevant LinkedIn groups to which your target belongs. Scour his or her profile and posts to familiarize yourself with the person’s portfolio, investment approach, likes and dislikes, says Milwaukee entrepreneur Seth Knapp, who’s sussing out investors for his social marketing app, Chitter. “Reaching out to an investor without doing any homework tells him everything he needs to know about you—none of it good,” he explains.

• Vet and be vetted. Resist the urge to ping investors who sound like a fit right away. Instead, ask mutual contacts for insights about them, Gowel advises. You don’t want to partner with an investor who’s known for being difficult or one who doesn’t meet the SEC’s definition of an accredited investor (see sidebar).

If you do decide to move forward, don’t contact an investor cold; an introduction through a mutual contact can catapult you to the top of the correspondence slush pile.

“The one thing you can’t fabricate is a strong relationship,” Gowel says. Plus, he adds, a mutual acquaintance may know how and when that investor prefers to be contacted.

• Be patient. Partnerships aren’t built overnight. “Your deck and any other information you send over will fall on far less deaf ears if you patiently develop a relationship with the investor,” Knapp says.

Of course, most angels won’t end up investing, no matter how much they love your pitch, warns Brandon Bruce of Cirrus Insight, which sells a software add-on to Salesforce. But a carefully cultivated relationship can lead to market intel, strategic advice and, most important, referrals to other potential investors.

THE FINE PRINT
Despite the SEC’s loosened regulations for soliciting investors, there are still rules. Before you start hitting up your LinkedIn network to publicize your capital raise, consult an attorney to make sure your pitch is legal and your paperwork has been filed with the SEC.

You’ll also need to familiarize yourself with the SEC definition of “accredited investor”: someone with $200,000 or more in annual income or $300,000 in annual household income or exceeds $1 million in net worth, excluding primary residence. Keep in mind that it is your responsibility to make sure the investors are accredited. If they’re not associated with an angel funding group or known to be accredited, you may have to ask them to provide copies of their tax returns to prove it.

Fundseeker's presentation: Tokenised precious metals secured using iris recognition technology

Visit our website http://www.gigzi.com to learn more about the global currency of the future and find early investment opportunities that will generate great returns!

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/tokenised-precious-metals-secured-using-iris-recognition-technology

Sports sponsorship is a $66-billion industry with massive flaws.

That is why we introduce Instant Sponsor, a blockchain-powered global sponsorship marketplace seamlessly connecting brands and the rights holders (teams, athletes and events) across sports, Esports, and entertainment. The key to our platform is connecting brands with rights holders/sponsorship opportunities through matching algorithms targeting demographics, maximizing exposure and providing quantifiable metrics for every dollar spent. We also pride ourselves on efficiency thought real-time procurement of sponsorships.

Please see clickable prototype: https://projects.invisionapp.com/share/SW5MNSEX6#/screens/150552966

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/instant-sponsor-enhancing-a-66-billion-industry

Website: https://masternodeinvest.io

Industry: Fintech

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): ICO Initial Coin Offering

Type of investment, proposed share for investors:

we're giving 20% bonus on MS token of $ 1.000 minimum purchase and 10% bonus purchases included between 1000$ and 200$

Private sale for large ammount over $10.000

Needed amount: $1,000,000 (soft cap)

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/masternode-invest-ico-get-revenue-from-cryptocurrency-masternode

Website: https://icotravelvee.com/

Industry: Tourism, Booking

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): ICO Initial Coin Offering

We're giving 50% bonus on TRAVEL for Pre Sale a maximum of $ 1,000,000

Needed amount: $5,000,000 (soft cap) and 30,000,000 (hard cap)

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/ico-travelvee-innovative-booking-platform

Website:

http://www.blockestates.io

Industry:

-Real Estate (Investment & Management)
-Technology (Blockchain)

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc):
Startup stage.

Needed amount:

-Equity Investment: USD$550,000 - USD$1,100,000.
-Security Token Issue: The final amount will depend on the assets that are ultimately secured.


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/block-estates-the-intersection-of-real-estate-blockchain-technology

Why Angels Are Moving Online

Recently, some accredited angel investors have begun moving their investment activity from angel groups, like the Northcoast Angel Fund, to online platforms, like SeedInvest. This decision got me thinking: Will online angel platforms ultimately replace angel groups?

While I don’t think the online sites will drive angel groups out of business the way that digital cameras replaced chemical-film ones, the web platforms will take a sizable number of angels away from groups. Angel groups are better for the very entrepreneurially experienced, active investors who are writing big checks. But the platforms are a superior choice for less entrepreneurially experienced, less-active investors who are deploying smaller amounts of money.

Here are three reasons why:

SUCCESSFUL INVESTING THROUGH AN ANGEL GROUP TAKES A LOT OF TIME.
Investment success depends on active involvement in screening deals, conducting due diligence, and monitoring investments. Few people have that kind of time. Even experienced and successful angel investors are reallocating chunks of their angel investment portfolios to curated angel platforms because they simply don’t have enough hours to do all the screening and due diligence it takes to make money investing actively through angel groups.

FEW ANGEL GROUPS HAVE ENOUGH SUCCESSFUL ANGELS TO FOLLOW.
A few people make outsized returns at angel investing, while most don’t make any money. This distribution of returns creates a dilemma for people who can’t, or won’t, rely on their own judgment.

If you are going to depend on someone else to screen deals, conduct due diligence, and monitor investments for you, as some angel group members do, then you need to follow someone who knows what they are doing. For members of Tech Coast Angels, Band of Angels, or other longstanding angel group with lots of past exits, that’s not a problem. But at many of the angel groups that have been formed in the past decade, less active members are following group managers or active investors who don’t have a successful track record. Those less active investors are probably better off looking on SeedInvest for the companies that Brad Feld, Jason Calacanis,, or David S. Rose are backing, than following someone local who hasn’t got the track record of identifying companies that have exited successfully in the past.

ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME DEALS AREN’T AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS OF MOST ANGEL GROUPS.
Angel groups don’t see many of the really great start-up investment opportunities because those new companies are disproportionately found in places like San Francisco, Boston, and New York. Take unicorns as an example. There aren’t any in Cleveland or Pittsburgh. That means that for angels in most parts of the country the probability of making a seed stage investment in the next unicorn is higher on an angel platform than through a local angel group.

For active angels with a lot of time and entrepreneurial experience, sticking with the angel-group model makes a lot of sense. Group investors are making more informed decisions about opportunities than platform investors because they are meeting the founders face-to-face, conducting due diligence directly, and negotiating their own terms.

But for less experienced and more passive angels who are writing checks too small to get themselves a board seat, migrating to the platforms makes sense. With a platform, the investor can make better use of his or her time, get access to better deal flow, and can more easily follow expert angels.

Angel platforms will not replace angel groups anytime soon. But many inexperienced angels, and angels with little time and limited capital, will move from groups to online platforms. Because those angels make up a large portion of the people who joined angel groups over the past decade, online platforms will change the accredited angel investment model.



https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/why-angels-are-moving-online

How do you find venture funding? I have to start with a major negative: if you have to ask if your startup can get venture capital, then it almost certainly can’t. Venture capital is a very rarified atmosphere of high-end startups and emerging businesses with experienced management teams, high potential growth, secret sauce, and so on.

People without track records don’t get venture capital. Business that don’t look like they can grow extremely fast and to an extremely large size don’t get venture capital. Service businesses don’t get venture capital.

So before you read these tips, first understand the difference between venture capital and angel investment and then you can add in 5 essentials for angel investment. And keep in mind, as you read the second article, that venture capital demands everything that angel investors do—and more. And, most venture capital wants to invest larger amounts in later-stage startups.

Are you still with me? Good. Here are my 10 tips (oh, and by the way, I did raise venture capital for Palo Alto Software at one point, and I’ve been a consultant to venture capital for 35 years).

1. Don’t say venture capital when you mean angel investment, or friends and family. Many people do that. Venture capital is a subset of outside investment, and the hardest to get. If you have to ask whether your startup is a venture capital candidate, then it probably isn’t.

2. Don’t do anything in bulk. Avoid email templates like the plague. Don’t think for a minute that any serious investor would ever read a summary memo, or watch a pitch, much less read a business plan, when it looks like it’s being sent in bulk to multiple investors. That idea dates back to the 1980s when people imagined that VCs were looking at business plans coming in unsolicited. Actually, they weren’t, but sometimes they pretended they were. Not anymore.

3. Do your research first. Identify a select few VC firms that invest the amount you need, in your industry, at your stage of development, in your region. Venture capital firms each have their unique interests, identities, and personalities. They have preferences about where they invest, at what stage, and what amounts. Most of them have websites, and most of the websites announce their preferences. They don’t want to deal with people who aren’t in their category and don’t know it. They expect you to know.

The National Venture Capital Association website is a wealth of information. It has general information about venture capital, advice, statistics, book lists, and even a listing of regional venture capital associations. You can also search the web for local leads (search “venture capital [your location]” ) and industry-specific leads (search “venture capital [your business type]” ).

4. Forget the businesses that prey on hopeful entrepreneurs by selling databases and leads and such. Those contacts are already rubbed raw by unsolicited emails and phone calls. It doesn’t work that way; it has to be one at a time.

Furthermore, on a related subject, those businesses that take your money with the pretense that VCs will browse your summary and find you are cheating you. The deals chase the money; the money doesn’t chase the deals.

5. Approach a select few target VC firms only one at a time, carefully. Be patient. Look first for introductions by checking out people you know who might know them, alumni relationships, business associations, their public speaking dates, any contacts in the companies in which they’ve already invested. Don’t be afraid to submit using their website form or call their switchboards, but keep that as a last resort. Your chances are way better if you fit their normal profile and you’ve been able to meet one of the partners, or get an introduction from somebody they know.

6. Have an extremely good tag line and instant summary. Start with the elevator pitch and get the key points down, but the theoretical 60 seconds of the classic elevator pitch is too much. You need to be able to describe your business in a sentence or two and that sentence has to be intriguing. People have had success with “the [some well-known business] of [some new business area].” For example, Alibaba was called “The Amazon.com of China.” I ran into a company calling itself “the Netflix of kids’ toys,” and with that, the idea was instantly clear.

7. Have an extremely good quick video or a one-page summary, and send that as the follow-on email when you talk with a VC or get an introduction. Expect the real information exchange to happen in email. The expected follow up to that quick three sentences is a summary, in email. These days a great video works better than an email summary. Keep it secure, not public, and a simple password system like Vimeo or one of its competitors is best. The YouTube email-based permissions are risky because everybody has too many email addresses these days, and confusion is risky. Make it seamless. And I like the liveplan pitch too, but I also have to disclose, as I write that, that I’m biased. I have an interest in LivePlan.

8. If your summary video—or summary memo—works, then the next step is a pitch. In practice, what happens is there is a contact, you send the follow-up video or summary, and then you wait, anxiously, to be invited to pitch. The pitch is a slide deck, yes, but that’s not what matters; it’s the VCs chance to meet you, check you out, see your team, and hear your story. There’s a lot about the pitches on this website. Check this out. Still, don’t think success or failure depends on the pitch. It doesn’t. It depends on the story, the credibility, and the VCs assessment of your future prospects.

9. Have a business plan ready before you finish the summary or the pitch. The business plan is the screenplay, the pitch is the movie. Don’t do the plan too big or too formal because it’s not going to last and should never be older than two to four weeks.

Don’t swallow the myth about investors not reading your plan. The truth at the core of that myth is that investors will reject your business without reading your plan. But they won’t invest in it without reading the plan. No business gets money without going through rigorous study and examination first (they call that “due diligence”) and the plan is the active document for the due diligence. Although, for the record, there are some exceptions. When a well-known successful entrepreneur, the people we read about in the headlines, takes a new business to VCs those people will often get the investment without the same due diligence. VCs do compete for those deals. And unfortunately, those people, the stars, will then tell the rest of us that investors don’t read plans.

10. Expect the process to take way longer than you think it will. Due diligence alone will be several months of unending request for more documentation. When VCs say yes they really mean maybe, and when they say maybe they really mean no.

11. (Bonus tip) Never EVER spend investment money before the check clears the bank. Deals fall through all the time.

12. (The most important tip in the entire list, even though I put it last) Choose an investor like you’d choose a spouse.

So that’s my advice.



https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/10-tips-for-finding-venture-funding

Company name: iLINK

Location: Singapore

Industry: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, E-Commerce, E-Commerce Platforms, FinTech, Mobile Apps, Mobile Payments, Private Social Networking, Social Network

Stage: Pre-Public Sale of Community Based Creation(CBC) Token

2 Billion Total Supply, 1 billion in Ethereum blockchain and 1 billion in NEO blockchain.

Target Hardcap 50,000,000 USD

Distributed in the TGE: 59%

Website: https://cbc.ilink.network


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/ilink-cbc-geosocial-hyperlocal-social-commerce-ecosystem

Company name: Hiway

Website: https://hiway.io

Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Industry: Marketplace / Freelance

Development Stage: Prototype

Type of investment: Seed Funding

Proposed share for investors: 10%

Needed amount: $500,000


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/hiway-connecting-the-blockchain-skilled-workforce-to-the-companies-of-the-future

Name: mHealthCoin (MHEC)

Website: https://mHealthCoin.io

Industry: Healthcare

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): ICO (Initial Coin Offering, Crowdsale Stage)

Bonus: 10% referral bonus in terms of mHealthCoin

Needed amount: 4,000 ETH or equivalent value as softcap , USD 25m as the goal

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/mhealthcoin-ico-new-highway-to-health-and-prosperous

Cryptomarketcloud https://cryptomarketcloud.com/

Platform , Blockchain, Exchange

Private Sale round 25% Bonus

STO/ICO Shares in the company

No Soft cap, hard cap 64,000 ETH

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/crypto-market-cloud-self-contained-ecosystem-sto-ico

Startup myth: The one about founders having to work for free to impress angel investors. This supposedly shows passion. Don’t believe it. Investors want people committed to working their startups, and that usually takes getting them paid. I’ve been getting a lot of upvotes on my answer to this question in Quora:

How do entrepreneurs live without a salary to sustain their families and pay bills?

MY ANSWER
That startup founders are supposed to work for free, and that investors want them to work for free, even as there is capital to work with. That’s just a myth. IMO.

As an entrepreneur, I built a business and supported my family at the same time by continuing to consult in the same field I was developing software for. That’s not unusual. I did not have the luxury of not making an income. When I started Palo Alto Software, we already had four kids and a mortgage. Not making money was not an option.

So that was a lot of work. It was hard. But it’s what really happens most of the time … entrepreneurs do a lot of work on the side, in between, to build their business without the luxury of working full time for free.

As an angel investor, I expect founders to work without formal compensation only during the very earliest phases, because they have to. I expect that to be temporary. And when I invest in them, I want there to be enough money to pay them. I don’t believe startup founders working for free is a sustainable idea as they grow a business. People have lives. They need money.

I don’t like it when founders promise to work for free over any extended period. It doesn’t work. They burn out. They need jobs and income so they quit.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/pervasive-startup-myth-dont-work-for-free

My favorite five secrets of a great business team? This list came to me first as an answer to the question how do you build a great business team on Quora. These five points aren’t something from the business school curriculum. They come from the experience of actually doing it, recruiting a team and growing a business from zero to millions.

MY LIST
1. No skill or experience justifies lack of integrity. You need to trust the people you work with, and particularly, the people who become key team members to build on.

2. Diversity makes better businesses. Not for fake political reasons, but for real business reasons. Teams of different kinds of people – gender, background, ethnicity, and so forth – have broader vision than teams of people who are all the same. Diversity has been given a bad name by bigots. It’s not just morally correct, it’s also better business.

WHAT DIVERSITY DOES AND DOESN’T MEAN.
3. Different skills and experience. You don’t want all developers or all marketers, you want developers, marketers, administrators, producers, leaders, and so forth. I see student groups that are three and four people who share the same major; that rarely works.

4. Shared values create strong bonds. Palo Alto Software was built by a team that shared my founder values about good business planning, startups, and small business. Jurlique was built by a team that shared founder values about cosmetics with only natural organic ingredients not tested on animals. And don’t confuse shared values with diverse types of people, skills and backgrounds. They are compatible, not contradictory, ideas.

AVOID THE ALL-C-LEVEL-OFFICERS TEAM
5. Beware of title inflation. Having the first four people all have C-level titles is usually a sign of youth and lack of experience. In the real world, founders are rarely all fit to be C-level officers for the long term. I recommend vague non-committal titles in the beginning, like “head of tech,” “marketing lead,” and so forth. Leave room to recruit stars later on, as needed, with the big titles.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/5-secrets-of-creating-a-great-business-team

Name: Secure Crypto Payments (SEC)

Website: https://securecrypto.me

Industry: Fintech

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Ready MVP (integrated on few sites) & ICO (Initial Coin Offering, Fundraising event)

Bonus: 25% bonus

Needed amount: 18,150 ETH as softcap , 64,000 ETH as the goal

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/sec-ico-paypal-for-cryptos

Name: AmaStar

Website: https://ico.amastar.net

Industry: Adult

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Preparing MVP, PRE-ICO

Bonus: 20% bonus

Needed amount: 500 000 $ as softcap , 5 500 000 $ as the goal

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/amastar-earn-for-porn

Beverage.Cash project

– wine and craft alcohol trading platform with integrated social ecosystem and counterfeit protection.

Presently there are two main problems in beverage industry:

 
Counterfeit and product information

According to the industry’s experts, fake wines now account for 20% of global wine sales and the same applies to other alcoholic beverages. As the demand for wine is rising in emerging markets, wine businesses and consumers have become major victims of wine fraud crimes.

Another problem mentioned above is the product information. The labels used by manufacturers nowadays do not satisfy most of the consumers in terms of the information provided. Bearing in mind the widespread concern about health and thus the ingredients used in wine and other alcohol beverages production, the consumers want to make an informed decision when buying the products

We propose to solve both problems with one solution by using of RFID/QR/NFC tags and blockchain technologies.

WEBSITE:  https://beverage.cash/

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/beverage-cash

Company name: Blockwei

Website: https://www.blockwei.live

Industry: Recruitment, Blockchain

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Idea (Token Crowdfunding)

Needed amount: 500 ETH softcap / 2000 ETH Hardcap

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/blockwei-hiring-platform-on-blockchain

I was glad to be asked about common mistakes with financial projections. I read about 100 business plans a year for angel investment and business plan competitions. Most show unrealistic profitability. More people doing business plans should realize that most startups are unprofitable at the beginning; and that high growth correlates with losses, not profits. High projected profits indicate lack of understanding, not reasonable expectations of profitability.

Profitability mistakes

1. The most common mistake is with profitability. Most of the business plans I see project profits too high, or profits too early. In the real world, startups choose growth or profits, not both. The plans I see are aiming at angel investment. And for that, the investors win on growth, not profitability. Think about it: If a startup is profitable early on, it doesn’t need investors.

2. The second most common mistake is underestimated marketing expenses. Many successful tech businesses, especially software and web businesses, spend 30% or more of sales on marketing.

3. Don’t underestimate development expenses, testing, certifications, and expenses of regulations.

4. If you are selling physical products, don’t underestimate the impact of selling through channels, as distributors and retailers take their margins and often demand admin and co-promotion expenses. And distributors often pay very slowly, like six months or so after receiving the goods.

5. Never project sales by applying a small percentage to a large market. That doesn’t work. Nobody gets half a percent of a $10 billion market. Instead, sales forecasts should be built on drivers as assumptions. Drivers might be web visits and conversions, emails sent, paid search terms, or, for physical products, channel assumptions such as distributors, chains, stores, and sales per store.

6. Don’t project big growth in sales with only small increases in headcount. If you are going to sell $100 million in the fifth year, get a clue: you won’t do that with only $2 million in employee expenses. Divide your projected sales by your headcount, and compare that to industry benchmarks. For most industries, $250,000 per employee is really good. If you are getting $2 million per employee, that doesn’t mean you’re going to be that efficient. It means you don’t understand the business.

Cash flow mistakes

7. Having a profit doesn’t mean you’ll have cash in the bank. Good startup financial projections need to include cash flow. Always. For more on that, see points 4, 6.

8. Another very common mistake affects cash flow. Businesses selling to businesses (B2B) normally sell on account. A sale generates not money directly, but money owed, to be paid later, which goes on the balance sheet as Accounts Receivable, or AR. Every dollar in AR is a dollar that shows up as sales in the P&L but not in cash.

9. Many plans underestimate the length of the sales cycle and expenses related to selling directly to enterprises.

10. Many plans underestimate the cash flow affect of inventory. Every dollar in inventory is a dollar that hasn’t yet shown up in the P&L but may have already affected cash balances.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/10-common-mistakes-with-startup-financial-projections

Every entrepreneur is under the impression that he or she has the best idea for a business — nobody has ever come up with something so clever, so appealing, so needed. But there’s a big gap between coming up with a great idea and executing on it successfully.

In fact, the failure rate of new businesses in the U.S. is downright demoralizing: About half of all startups fail within five years, and roughly 20 percent don’t even make it a year.

One of the biggest factors in stumbling and falling is scaling too quickly. Entrepreneurs’ perspective of where the market could grow often doesn’t line up with where the market currently is, fueling moves and investments that are premature — and may not pan out.

BOOSTING YOUR CHANCES OF SUCCESS
So what can you do to increase your company’s staying power? For starters, hiring a diverse team has been shown to be a big indicator of success. That’s because having a variety of perspectives and backgrounds on your team can ensure you’re seeing the big picture, not simply what you’re familiar with or naturally attuned to.

Financial acumen is also a strength many successful founders share. The simple truth is that if a business owner doesn’t know how to manage money, it really doesn’t matter how much he or she makes — it won’t last long. Learning about balance sheets, P&L statements, payroll, and business taxes is essential for running a successful business; gaining a basic understanding of how business credit scores are earned, as well as how valuations are achieved, can be vital to earning funding.

But that’s not all your business needs to have a fighting chance — here are three other things you need to have locked down before your startup can grow.

1. DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR MARKET
Entrepreneurs enamored with their own ideas can really get into the nitty-gritty of their offerings, knowing every color, size, or customization possible and carrying a laundry list of use cases. But knowing everything about your own product or service just means you’re an expert on what you do — you also need to become an expert on what the market’s doing and what your competitors are doing.

“While some entrepreneurs occasionally switch industries and find success, venture capitalists are more inclined to fund a founder or team who has worked in a specific industry for years,” explains Promod Haque, senior managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners, a venture capital and growth equity investment firm. “Founders with deep domain expertise in a particular field are typically more aware of customer needs, market opportunity, and the competitive landscape, which makes them more credible to investors.”

2. A VISION THAT DARES
When things get tough (and they will), the entrepreneurs who manage to make it through to the other side are the ones who have a deep passion for what they do, a vision of what they want — and a map for how they’ll get there. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, and it takes true dedication to a mission to make the ups and downs worthwhile.

“Vision is the vital energy that drives the entrepreneur, the founder, the co-founder, and his immediate team. Vision is what makes them dare: dare to explore, dare to challenge, dare to insist, dare to keep pushing, dare to have the determination to succeed,” says Juan Jose de la Torre, IBM’s digital transformation leader for the Middle East and Africa. “And vision is what creates and establishes the culture, which is the key component that gets softly shared between people creating and establishing norms.”

3. DATA THAT MAKES THE CASE FOR YOUR BUSINESS
To earn VC funding, partnerships, or any other type of investment, you have to be able to show others that the market is as eager to see you succeed as you are. Establishing how much interest there is for your offering — as well as how much people would pay for it, how long they need your product or service, and how you might build upon your initial relationship with customers — can tip an investor’s assessment from “interesting” to “necessary.”

Surveys, studies, and focus groups are all good ways to gather this data, but personalized conversations with people who’ve already bought into your concept can also yield great information. “Even if I went into a client and said this is not fully vetted yet, but I’d like your insight, they were always honored to have a first look,” says Anisa Telwar Kaicker, founder and CEO of Anisa International, a maker of applicators for high-end makeup brands like Laura Mercier and Estée Lauder. Their comments were valuable because “they would be the ones buying the product,” she adds.

Having a great idea is the first step to startup success, but it can’t be the entire foundation. Invest in establishing a true vision for your business, learning about the market, and proving there’s demand for your idea. Without these things, you can’t succeed, but with them, you just might.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/3-things-you-need-for-a-successful-startup

Fundseeker's presentation: H Education World ICO

Website: http://www.h-education.world/

Industry: Education

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Live Testing (Fully Functional by 13th Jan. 2019)

Type of investment: Token Sale at preferential prices

Needed amount: 1000000 USD

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/h-education-world-ico

Token Details:

1 IOTW = USD0.055

Total IOTW supply : 2.56 billion

Hard Cap : USD20 million, unsold tokens are burnt.

Private sales Bonus : 25%

Check out more details here: https://iotw.io/


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/iotw-a-highly-scalable-blockchain

Website: https://verifer.io/

Industry: KYC, AML, PEP and compliance verifications

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Ready business with turnover of approx. 5 million usd . in 2018

Type of investment, proposed share for investors:

Needed amount: hard cap 6 million usd. / soft cap 720.000 usd reached.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/verifer-io

Lots of fundraisers get worried about making fundraising asks… they’re not sure the best way to do it, they feel under-prepared for making in-person asks, and they get nervous when it comes time to “pop the question.”

Making asks in-person (and on the phone) is one of the most valuable skills any non-profit fundraiser can possess… and nothing moves a non-profit forward like sitting down with your donors to ask them for major gifts to your organization.

If you’re not quite sure whether or not you are making the best asks possible… or you get nervous whenever you have to make an ask… here’s a quick, 5 minute guide to making better fundraising asks:

Always Ask a Question
If there’s one change you can make to your asking strategy that will have the most impact, this is it. Far too many fundraisers “make asks” without every really asking a question.

Have you ever found yourself making statements instead of asks? If you say things like, “I really hope you’ll consider making a gift to our organization,” or, “Please think about making a donation, we could really use your help,” then you are not making asks, you are making statements.

In order to be effective, asks need to be questions. After you make an ask, the donor should feel like he or she needs to respond with “yes” or “no.” If you’ve gotten into the habit of making statements, instead of asking a real, honest to goodness question, making this change could double the number of donations your organization receives through in-person asks.

Always Give a Number
A second key component of making strong fundraising asks is always giving a number. This means that when you make an ask, you should be asking for a set amount… an actual dollar amount.

Far too many fundraisers will ask a question like, “Would you be able to make a donation to our organization today?” This is good, because it is a question (not a statement) but because you aren’t asking for a set amount, chances are that when donors say yes they will end up donating far less than you had hoped.

Instead, say something like, “Would you be able to make a $5,000 gift to our organization?” This is a strong ask, and offers a suggested giving amount that is in line with your goals for the meeting.

How much should you ask for? That depends on your non-profit and what you know about the donor and his or her financial capacity. 

Stop Talking After Your Ask
Here’s a little secret from the business world: after you make your ask, stop talking. Don’t say a word. Let the donor be the next person to speak.

In fundraising, as in sales, the next person to talk after the ask usually “loses.” This means that if the donor is the next person to talk, they will usually say “yes,” even if it is to a lower amount or to making a gift over time. If the fundraiser is the next person to talk, they will usually start talking themselves out of a gift by backpedaling on the ask.

Remember – when a donor doesn’t immediately say something after an ask, it isn’t because they are mad or trying to squirm out of it. As a rule, they are almost always thinking about a way to say “yes.” They are thinking about whether they can afford the gift, whether or not they need to check with their spouse or business partner, where the money will come from, etc.

After you make your ask, stop talking, even if it seems uncomfortable, and let the donor think and answer.

Practice, Practice, Practice
My final tip is that if you feel nervous when making asks in-person or on the phone, the best way to get more comfortable is to practice. This means running through ask conversations in your head, practicing in front of a mirror, and holding practice conversations with your friends or other staff members.

Consistent practice is the only way to get comfortable with making asks.

The takeaway: Many not-for-profit groups struggle to match their income with their expectations. This might be due to over-expectations, but, in most cases, it will be because of the fundraising mistakes they are making.

1. Being scared of ‘the ask’
People can get shy when it comes to asking for money, but if you believe that your organisation’s work is both important and valuable it should be easy for you to tell others about it – and then ask them for a donation.

If an organisation has motivated you to get involved, then there's a high chance it will do the same to others – but they can't get involved in sharing the passion if you don't give them an opportunity to do so.

And it should go without saying – if you don’t ask for donations, you won’t receive any.

2. Having non-donating board members
The board will need to lead the way when it comes to donations – even if it’s just a small donation from each board member. If a board isn’t fully committed to the giving process it will be hard to expect anyone else to be.

Don’t be afraid to approach the board for donations. Rich or poor, large or small donations – all board members should give.

3. Poor or non-existent record keeping
If you don't keep records of all contact made with potential givers (donors, clients, customers, audiences, correspondents, suppliers) you're practically throwing money away.

People who have been in contact with your group are much more likely to donate to you than those who have never been involved with your group.

Keeping a database of past givers helps you to know whether they've given in the past, how much they gave and how often they give, and tailor your communications with them accordingly.

4. Skipping homework
It doesn’t take much more than access to the internet to help improve your fundraising expertise.

With so many resources available to help your group further develop its fundraising skills there should be no excuse for you to lag behind and stick to the same old boring fundraisers.

Have you checked out the material available on the internet, your local library, or in the bookshop?

5. Lacking goals
Being a not-for-profit group without any fundraising goals is like being a hiker without a map– you might move forward, but you have no idea where you’ll end up or how long it’ll take you to get there.

Successful fundraising relies on tight monitoring at all stages, which involves having fixed goals and strategies that can be assessed, achieved, or modified.

6. Sending out one-size-fits-all requests
Sending out a one-size-fits-all request for donations can be a recipe for a fundraising flop. Identify the particular details and interests of whoever you’re approaching (see point three above) and home in on them.

For instance, a business and an individual will need separate donation requests. Personalise your pitches to the prospective donors who will receive them. Concentrate on the areas where their values and yours meet.

7. Not applying for grants
Around $80 billion in grants is given out each year in Australia – but so many groups miss out on getting their share.

Identify six to seven key grants each year and get the dates on your calendar so you don’t miss the submission deadline.

Also spend some quality time doing your homework in the Funding Centre’s Grants Help Centre.

8. Not building relationships
Once a supporter makes a donation to your group it is important to build a relationship with them – if you don’t treat your donors well they’ll either end the relationship as a one-off donor, or they’ll find someone else to support.

As a rule, the bigger the donor, the more fuss you should make over them. By building significant, lasting relationships, a supporter can go from being a once-off donor to someone who makes multiple pledges year after year.

Building this relationship is a matter of not only valuing their contribution, but reinforcing how their donations are used for the benefit of the community – and what else you could do with more resources.

9. Not embracing change
Having the same event year after year can be effective, but if it is failing to grow in income or participants it should be time to re-evaluate.

If an event has become stagnant don’t be scared to reinvigorate it with some slight changes, or try something completely different to help build some excitement around the event.

10. Forgetting your manners
Manners will get you everywhere in the world.

Your donors are not being forced to give you anything, so when they do you’d better thank them. Send your thank you emails or letters promptly, and where possible ensure that they are individually specific, and preferably hand signed.

For big donations send a hand-written note and think about inviting the donor to an event – this might encourage them to give another donation in the future.

No matter how much was given, make the donor feel good about their donation. Make them believe that they have entered into a rewarding relationship with a group that appreciates them.

Say thank you because it's the right thing to do, and because donors who feel valued are much more likely to donate again.

Website: https://www.smart-city.net/

Industry: Energy, IT, Environment

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): ready business

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: 1. A franchise, 2. Working - prototype 3.JV

Needed amount: 1. 500.000 EUR(initial stock) 2. 50.000 EUR (100 Smart houses) 3. 5.000.000 EUR (10.000 Smart Homes)

Description (if you have video or text presentations, you can also attach them to this description). Video of our ICO project https://youtu.be/yAWXmbA_Mrc


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/smart-city

Creditcoin (http://www.cointoken.io) is the decentralized affiliate and content marketing protocol allowing any 3rd party marketplace, retailer & publisher to leverage a token based system for affiliated smart product listings and content marketing campaigns on the network.

It's immediately leveraged as a utility on Flatlay (http://www.theflatlay.com), a social marketplace Dapp and publishing platform allowing any content creator to build a digital storefront in seconds. Flatlay's middleware amplifies campaigns on 3rd party premium publishers such as CondeNast, Hearst & Refinery29 working with +100k content creators and millions of products offered from Amazon, Shopify, Linkshare, WooCommerce, VigLink.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/creditcoin

Fundseeker's presentation: Opu Labs - Bringing Trust to the $120 billion Skincare Industry - Equity/Token Offering


Company Name: Opu Labs, Inc. (US Delaware C Corporation)

Offering Website: https://www.manhattanstreetcapital.com/opu-labs-equity-offering

Industry: Healthcare Information Technology

Stage: R&D Complete, Platform 75% finished, Launching Revenue Generating Services Q4 2018

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: Common Stock Offering including an ERC-20 Token Bonus, 20% Ownership

Amount of Capital Raise: US$2.5M


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/opu-labs-bringing-trust-to-the-120-billion-skincare-industry-equity-token-offering

Colibra is a new type of insurance company that aims to democratize & decentralize the insurance industry. We are building a crowdsourced platform on the blockchain for handling insurance claims in a way that eliminates conflict of interest between insurer & client. Starting with travel insurance, Colibra wants to restore trust in the industry by making it fair, transparent and user-friendly.

You can check our website - http://www.colibra.io for more information.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/%E2%97%8F-colibra-insurance-made-easy-fair-%E2%97%8F

There are signs that American investors are more prepared than ever to back overseas businesses, which could be to the advantage of UK firms

The road to investment can be an arduous one for entrepreneurs. Many recall tales of countless rejections, wild goose chases and tortuous grillings at the hands of venture capitalists (VCs). Some businesses seek more sympathetic ears by heading to the United States to meet investors there. There’s some sense to this; pockets tend to be deeper and some feel US investors are more entrepreneurial and ambitious than “stuffy English VCs”. There are also increasing signs that American investors are more prepared than ever to back overseas businesses. However, before UK entrepreneurs head across the Atlantic they should ensure they are prepared for the challenges that US money markets pose.

POST CRASH
For US fund managers the pain of 2008 is still fresh in their minds. Many saw portfolios wiped out and will be keen not to make the same mistakes again. Alexander von Welczek, a managing partner at Clean Power Capital, which finds businesses for US venture capitalists (VCs), says investor behaviour has altered post-financial crash. He says investors that backed businesses in their earlier stages never got the chance to in later rounds and may now be wary of long-term projects. “Most of the investors got blown out and never got the chance to re-invest again in businesses. So now nobody wants to invest in a bridge to nowhere. They don’t want to invest $2m in a business to make a demo product, they want to invest in a business all the way,” he says.

The pain of the financial crash has meant that US investors are rethinking their strategies and this could be to the advantage of UK businesses. Dr Mike Pitts, lead specialist at government agency Innovate UK, which works with British technology businesses and funds trade missions abroad, such as the Cool and Clean Mission to the US. He says there’s a lot of interest in UK entrepreneurs as US angels and VCs widen their nets. “I’ve been struck by how much US investors have expressed an interested in UK and European businesses. They are now trying to improve the resilience of their portfolios and see the potential to do this by moving outside of their region.”

GETTING READY
Business owners should be aware that US investors are typically looking for very similar things to UK backers: a strong management team, scalable proposition, large addressable market, a solution to a problem, and a personal rapport with an entrepreneur they can believe in. Businesses need to have spent time honing their pitches, learning their numbers and, of course, must have decided how much money they need. However, this final figure can be a problem as often British entrepreneurs don’t always display the required ambition for US backing. “British companies tend to be a little more humble in their approach and in the funds they are seeking. This is understandable because outside of America the capital markets for growth funding are small,” says von Welczek. “To be successful, for the most part, they need to be asking for more money; a lot of these funds only make so many investments.”

Alex Tew came to global attention when he launched the Million Dollar Homepage, bringing in investors from across the world. Following its success he headed to San Francisco and is now the founder and CEO of meditation site Calm.com. So far, the business has raised $1m dollars from angel investors. “US Investors want you to have a bigger vision. They all hope they are investing in a billion dollar company. Having ambition is important, there are a lot more billion dollar companies in the US. In the UK it’s a bit different, as there are less examples,” he says.

INTRODUCTIONS
Cold calling investors is probably not advised. They are too busy and tend to rely on their networks to filter out the better ideas. But the US business eco-system is very inter-connected and for many businesses, their professional advisors, assuming they have offices in the US are a good route in.

Marc Gottschalk is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP based in Silicon Valley and also sits on the board of the Cleantech Open accelerator programme. He says the legal aspect of his work is just part of the services which law firms offer entrepreneurs. “In Silicon Valley lawyers are part of the eco-system and provide connections between businesses, investors and partners. They don’t just do paperwork, they have to bring something else to the equation, and helping businesses make connections is really part and parcel of what they do.”

For businesses seeking angel investment life got easier recently with the growth of AngelList. Founded in 2010, and now in partnership with CrunchBase, the site brings accredited investors together with start-ups. Alex Tew used the site with great success when raising money $1m through two rounds for Calm.com. “AngelList was a big help. I set up a profile and investors asked for introductions. It’s an amazing platform, I’d recommend it to anyone looking for investment in the US. We got about 30 introductions from it.”

CASE STUDY: HUDDLE
Andy McLoughlin co-founded collaborative software business Huddle with Alastair Mitchell in 2006. The business first took institutional investment from UK-based Eden Ventures in 2007, but later turned to US venture capitalists for a further three investments totalling $85.2m. McLoughlin moved to San Francisco in order to seal the deal.

“We felt that we had the potential to be an international business so we went to the US and did a deal with Matrix Partners. They said it was certainly preferential for them that one of the founders was on the ground in the US. “There’s nothing wrong with UK VC scene but we found that US investors move faster, provide better terms, are more ambitious and want to get things moving.

“You have to dance the dance with investors and hopefully end up in a place which is good for everyone. VCs are keen to suggest that you are getting access to their network and experience. That’s certainly true but there can be a bit of a play in that. For any entrepreneur raising finance its good to spend time getting to know the landscape and the names. There are good and bad firms, and good and bad in those firms.

“You don’t have to accept the first term sheet, we always pushed back. We would also play one against the other, you don’t have to accept the first deal. Alastair and I always went as a pair and you feel stronger than going in by yourself.”


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/how-to-secure-funding-from-us-investors

Company name: Fracture Labs

Website: https://www.decimated.net

Industry: computer games, online games, blockchain

Stage: MVP/prototype

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: 7.5% equity for each €500,000, up to €2,000,000 for 30%

Revenue streams: cryptocurrency exchange token sales & in-game microtransactions (€2 monthly revenue per user)

target of 12% growth in number of players per month


Profit and Loss Forecasts (EBITDA):

Year Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Revenue € 75K € 4,5M € 10M € 17,6M € 47M

Expenses € 68,5K € 2,5M € 4M € 6,8M € 17M

Profit € 6,5K € 2M € 6M € 10,8M € 30M


For more information, including links to recent interviews and articles, please visit https://www.decimated.net


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/fracture-labs-decimated-a-multiplayer-online-game-with-a-play-to-earn-business-model

HEdpAY bridging the gap between traditional banking and the crypto markets.

Company website: https://www.hedpay.com

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/hedpay-the-future-banking-solution

Charm and self-belief comes easily to some, but all entrepreneurs can teach themselves to win over clients and attract new customers.

What do entrepreneurs Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson and Elon Musk have in common? Apart from their huge net worth, they are all highly charismatic. But what exactly is charisma?

The charismatic can infect others with their own enthusiasm. They convince us, not only of their own self-belief, but make us feel more confident in ourselves too. As an entrepreneur, charisma is a winning formula for your personal brand. If you exude self-belief, angel investors, prospective clients and the press will see your potential and be more inclined to invest in your story.

Perhaps because it is hard to describe, there is a popular misconception that charisma is an innate quality. In fact, a lead researcher in charisma, Richard Wiseman, estimated that it is 50% innate and 50% learned. This would mean that just about anyone can bolster their charisma to help achieve their professional – and personal – goals.

Charisma is a set of behaviours that each of us can integrate into our personality. We may already embody some of its qualities, such as presence, warmth or gravitas. Tweaks to body language, the way you speak or how you listen, if practiced regularly, can soon become habitual and greatly improve your perceived charisma.

But the first step is building self-awareness. Here are a few classic rapport-breaking behaviours to watch out for:

• Breaking eye contact to soon – may denote untrustworthiness, nervousness or disinterest.
  Nodding too much – repeated nodding dilutes the impact of the message and generally implies nervousness or inauthenticity. If you agree with what is being said, nod once and then remain still.
  Crossing your arms – can appear defensive.
  Fidgeting – may imply nervousness or impatience.
  Failing to smile – this can make people feel uncomfortable and question your enthusiasm. Go for a genuine smile (especially when first meeting someone).
  Stepping back when you’re asking for a decision – implies fear or uncertainty.
  Checking your phone or watch – suggests impatience or disinterest.

Simply by enhancing your awareness of your behavioural quirks, you can start to become more purposeful and credible in how you project yourself.

MAKING NEW CONNECTIONS
As entrepreneurs often have to network, pitch ideas and proposals as part of their work, they are invariably meeting new people all the time. Often this involves attempting to forge effective relationships in a minimal amount of time.

The way in which you imagine situations beforehand can have a bearing upon your charisma levels on the day. If you have convinced yourself that a meeting will be uncomfortable this will be unconsciously reflected in your body language, meaning that others are less likely to be drawn to you

Instead, approach networking events or meetings with the primary aim of learning more about others and putting them at ease, this should have a profound, positive effect on the overall outcome of such encounters. At first glance, this approach might seem counter-intuitive. However, by actively listening to the other person, not only do you undermine the immediate pressure on yourself to perform but you also create a deeper bond.

Charismatic people often purposely touch a person on the shoulder or arm while they are making specific points. This helps them to control the conversation and make the other person feel at ease. This of course must be done with caution. Some people will not want to be touched, so use your discretion and adjust your approach accordingly.

As cliched as it might sound, handshakes, initial eye contact and an open body stance represent immediate ways of showing authority, warmth and overall trustworthiness. You can galvanise these initial impressions in a number of ways above and beyond the content of a pitch or discussion. This includes demonstrating:

• Authenticity – take a genuine interest in people, ask questions, listen to their needs and concerns. Remember their names and details about conversations.
  Clarity – practice good enunciation, use pauses, metaphors, stories and anecdotes to create a visual component (in other words, make yourself easy to follow and understand).
  Conviction – speak passionately and believe in what you say.
  Humour – enjoy yourself during conversations, smile and where appropriate, be lighthearted.

All of these suggestions can be put into practice very quickly. However, it is important to progress slowly and relative to your individual circumstances, allowing you to rehearse and refine your charisma in small increments. This will mean that the process not only becomes far less daunting but also naturally becomes a fully integrated part of your everyday behaviour.

As the economy continues to rebound from the recession, foundations, the government, and corporate funders are still dealing with uncertainty regarding how much they can invest philanthropically. However, wealthy individuals have the resources and freedom to give more. According to Giving USA 2014, individual giving represents 73% of the growth in total giving from 2011 to 2013.

These “major donors” are different for every nonprofit—at a small service organization, it could be anyone who gives more than $500. At a large national group, it might be folks who can give more than $10,000. However you define it, any good development strategy will include major donor cultivation.

Whether you are new to the nonprofit game or just haven’t worked with a major donor before, here are a few tips for what to do in your first dealings with a new prospect.

1. GET A GOOD INTRODUCTION
If you work in nonprofits, someone in your life has surely suggested that you meet with Bill Gates or Oprah to ask for a donation. That would be great—if you had a way to get an introduction to them.

In reality, your best prospects already have a connection to your organization in some way. They might be personal or professional contacts of your board members, former volunteers, or in some way connected to a business that has supported you in the past. Such a connection to your organization will make it easier to get in front of these donors—and ensure they’re in a more receptive mood when you do.

2. KNOW YOUR PROSPECT
Once you get the introduction, make sure you get on Google and do your research. If your prospect doesn’t have a big footprint on the internet, go back to the person who introduced you and ask him or her about the donor.

You’ll definitely want to learn more about the donor’s previous philanthropic giving and net worth, but anything that could help you in a conversation is worth filing away. That could be information about the donor’s kids, if he or she has any hobbies, or what’s happening in his or her company or industry.

Then, think of the ways that you can use these possible conversation topics into a way to hook the donor on your mission.

For instance, I once had a donor who was really into racing cars (a thing I know absolutely nothing about). I asked him how he got into it, and it turns out that his favorite uncle was a mechanic. He spent his summers with his uncle tinkering with cars. At the time, I was working for an organization that offered job skills training and summer programs to at-risk kids—so I was able to connect his experience with learning a vocational skill and having an enriching environment out of school to the experience of our clients, who otherwise seemed very different. He was able to see our mission in a new light and became a long-term donor.

3. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
Before any meeting, realize this: No first meeting with a donor will result in a significant donation. Major donor cultivation is a long-term strategy.

Knowing that, what do you want to happen in this first meeting? If it’s a brand new prospect, you might simply want to end the conversation confident that you’ll be granted a second meeting. If it’s a former volunteer, you may want to get him or her on an event committee or arrange an agreement that he or she will introduce you to another prospect.

But before you go into your meeting, you should also know what your long-term goal is. Figure out if you think this is going to result in a $10,000 donation or $100,000 donation. This will help you determine how you want to approach the donor and establishes some reasonable expectations with your boss or board of directors.

4. BRING A BUDDY
Unless the donor specifically says that he or she only wants to meet with one person, always come with to the first meeting at least two people (but no more than three).

For example, if a board member introduced you to this prospect, ask the board member to join you. That will help everyone feel a bit more comfortable and allow you to start with a casual conversation. Or, if the donor is interested in a particular initiative, bring the manager of that project along to explain it in more detail.

As you get to know donors, you want to figure out what they are interested in and what kind of personality they have. If you go into meetings solo, you risk turning the donor off if the two of you aren’t suited to connect on a personal level. If you bring a colleague along, there’s a better chance that the donor will have a personal connection with one of you. It’s also good to have multiple perspectives in the meeting to create the best strategy for the donor.

5. FOLLOW UP
The only hard-and-fast rule I have for major donors is that they get a thank you email from you within 24 hours of your meeting with them.

Start by thanking them for their time, of course. Then, if they had lingering questions for you after the meeting, provide the answer or a timeline for you to get those answers in the note.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/5-tips-for-your-first-meeting-with-a-major-donor

Parkres (https://parkres.org/) is the decentralized parking reservation platform that leverage a token based system over ethereal blockchain and IoT based sensor network for smart parking solution and providing spot bookings to the drivers.

The Parkres Network provides benefit to the parking providers, software/hardware manufacturers, app developers and drivers. Parkres streamlines payouts between parties when booking a parking spot on Parkres app.

- Successfully fulfilled soft cap of 1,000,000 USD during pre-sale (August 2018) scoring in the 90% percentile ratings on ICO Bench, TrackICO, FoundICO, VerifiedICO's and many more.

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/parkres-park-coin

Company name: iLINK

Location: Singapore

Industry: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, E-Commerce, E-Commerce Platforms, FinTech, Mobile Apps, Mobile Payments, Private Social Networking, Social Network

Stage: Pre-Public Sale of Community Based Creation(CBC) Token

2 Billion Total Supply, 1 billion in Ethereum blockchain and 1 billion in NEO blockchain.

Target Hardcap 50,000,000 USD

Distributed in the TGE: 59%


Website: https://cbc.ilink.network


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/ilink-cbc-geosocial-hyperlocal-social-commerce-ecosystem

Proposal Title: BeLive.tv

Company name: BeLive

Website: https://belive.tv/

Industry: Online Streaming

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Round A

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: Raising Series A Round of $5.000.000

Needed amount: $5.000.000


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/belive-tv

There are several contenders for the “most important” factor to a business’s success, including the strength of the idea, the timing of the company and the cohesive force of your employees. But my money’s on experience — the industry and entrepreneurial experience of the person in charge and the cumulative experience of the team.

The trouble is, all entrepreneurs are inexperienced the first time they launch a business. And there’s only one way to overcome this inexperience quickly: by engaging in a mentorship or advisor program, thereby drawing on someone else’s experience.

If you’re sufficiently insightful and humble, you’ll recognize the importance of asking for help and being open to external feedback. Mentors are the way to achieve this.

But, how do you find mentors? There are dozens of ways, but these 10 have my highest recommendation:

1. NETWORKING EVENTS
Networking events are designed to put people in contact with one another, making these events perfect opportunities to expand your professional network. Try to talk to as many people as you can, and don’t be too forward with your goals; instead, wait for a potential partnership to make itself evident to you.

2. ENTREPRENEUR ‘HOT SPOTS’
If you live in a city with a thriving startup scene, there are probably several entrepreneurial “hot spots” in the area — I use that ambiguous term because they vary so wildly. For example, there might be a startup incubator with an open workspace where you can get some work done and still meet some new people in the industry, or else a weekly brainstorming meeting among creative minds at the downtown library. Keep your eyes peeled, and attend whatever you can.

3. LINKEDIN AND TWITTER
I’m tempted to put “social media” here, but Twitter and LinkedIn are the big players for connecting with professionals. Find potential candidates based on your industry and/or demographic area, and be sure to introduce yourself casually and unassumingly before asking for a more significant engagement.

4. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS
Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) are independent organizations that provide resources, expertise and advice to emerging entrepreneurs in major cities across the country. Drawing on Small Business Administration federal funds, state and local government funds and resources from the private sector, you should be able to find free consultation at an SBDC near you.

5. SCORE
SCORE is an organization dedicated to helping individuals start, run and grow their own businesses. There are currently more than 11,000 volunteers in the program, with 320 chapters around the country; you can check here for a chapter near you. Through SCORE, you can request a free face-to-face meeting with a mentor to discuss your business idea — and you may be able to form a more lasting partnership.

6. INDUSTRY CENTERS
Are there any industry expos coming up in your surrounding area? Conferences or speaking events regarding your industry? If so, these are perfect places to find someone more experienced than you — and you can learn more about your industry during the search.

7. INDIRECT COMPETITORS
Obviously, your direct competitors will be reluctant to give you practical advice on how to succeed. Instead, seek out your indirect competitors, such as companies in the same industry targeting a different segment of the market, or companies across the country with no bearing on your local relationships. If these companies have been in business longer than you have, their leadership will have considerable wisdom to dispense.

8. VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering is a surprisingly good way to make new connections. You’ll meet all kinds of people, from college students to retirees, all of whom will be able to teach you something new. Plus, you’ll be giving back to the community in the meantime and possibly improving the reputation of your business in the process.

9. FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Have you asked around your circle of friends and family? Someone in your contacts list might know a cousin or former roommate who went on to become a successful entrepreneur. These types of connections are usually the easiest to build once discovered.

10. ANYWHERE ELSE
The truth is, if you’re open to new experiences and new contacts, you could potentially meet a mentor anywhere. Talk to strangers. Get to know your acquaintances better. You never know who will lend you the next major insight or give you the next landmark introduction in your life.

There’s no “secret” when it comes to finding mentors: Look in the places you’d be if you were a mentor; remain patient and open to new contacts; and eventually you’ll meet someone who can help you take your business off the ground.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/10-places-to-find-mentors-and-advisors-for-entrepreneurs

The project needs funding. We are a small team of 9 people. http://www.gitune.com

The world's first platform for the production of cartoons, animated advertising, animation clips for musicians and computer games, a platform for the sale of content, licensing of intellectual property, joint work on the product. The world's first platform for ICO streaming in visual production. The team and investors profit from the sale and lease of the product. The product-is a cartoon, animated advertising, animation clips for musicians and computer games.



https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/gitune-the-worlds-first-platform-for-the-production-of-cartoons-animated-advertising-animation-clips-for-musicians-and-computer-games

        I think government support would be a perfect idea for the crypto market to become stronger. Unfortunately, I do not think this will happen in the near future. Today, governments in several countries are looking for solutions to ban cryptomonas, being considered a danger to banks. I am of the same opinion, the government-backed projects attract more investors.

There’s a lot of talk out there about mentors, especially regarding where to find them, how to ask them for guidance, and what to do to keep that relationship strong.

But if you’re like most people, you’re probably struggling with the very first step: How do you find an amazing mentor in a sea of professionals, and how do you get that person to want to help you?

If you’re stuck, these nine awesome resources can move you along.

• First and foremost, stop thinking of mentorship as something you get and think about it as something you do. (99U)
  Mentorship is all about what you put into it as the mentee, too. Make sure you can dedicate the time and energy necessary to be mentored properly. (Forbes)
  There are eight levels of mentorship (the highest of which is finding an actual mentor). Are you utilizing the other seven? (Michael Hyatt)
  Here’s something important about finding your career spirit guide: That person doesn’t even have to work in your field. (Fast Company)
  You can’t land the best mentor ever until you explicitly map out your goals and set clear expectations as to how having an experienced person there can help you achieve them. (Entrepreneur)
  If you have no idea what type of mentor you’re looking for, these 10 things can be incredibly important for narrowing your search. (LinkedIn)
  Take some mentorship advice from one of the most successful entrepreneurs (and mentors) of all time: Richard Branson. (Virgin)
  So, you finally found someone you think would be the perfect mentor. One important question: How the heck do you get him or her on board? (Lifehacker)
  Don’t be afraid to ask that big, important person to be your mentor. You just have to know what steps to take to get there. (The Muse)

https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/9-tips-for-finding-and-getting-the-perfect-mentor

It is a good idea but what I have against this is that the team is not bold enough to put their names and faces on the projects they are charging people money on. I for one will not touch this because I just smell something is wrong, don't get me wrong this is needed especially after the recent bear run and to make the most of the next bull run one need to be well positioned  and this could help with that

Thank you for your attention to our project.

And also thank you very much for the feedback, we will take into consideration your wishes and will implement in the near future. At the moment, the project is on registration stage and in this connection, membership is currently free of charge.

Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff built Honest Tea from scratch into a $100 million enterprise.

In my recent article on Forbes, you get a few lessons and a compelling story of their journey.

But wait, because there’s one more thing. In fact, 10 more.

Goldman and Nalebuff share 10 must-follow rules on how to start and build an equally impressive empire (you can find these rules in the back of their book; ‘Mission In A Bottle’):

1. “Build something you believe in — because that’s the first step to building a great brand.”

Just like Goldman and Nalebuff, I learned a powerful lesson in tenacious passion from 30 plus years of entrepreneurship. When you’re all alone, sitting in a dark room wondering why your business is failing, there is only one true thing to power you forward — you believe in your purpose.

2. “Don’t aim for 10% improvement. Make it radically better and different.”

Yes — in today’s society we collectively create amazing products, services and companies through entrepreneurship. World changing at times and Honest Tea was radically different when first introduced. But, if you look around, we also live in the land of ‘me-too’ businesses. Don’t fall for it. Dig deep and decide right now to build something radically different and radically better.

3. “Prepare to be copied. Don’t start unless you’ll survive imitation.”

If your idea is truly radical and takes off, you can count the minutes before the copy-cats arrive. How will you survive competition from the big 800-pound gorillas on the block? Or even from the upstart little guys? Your key is a system of ‘continuous innovation’. Although you could also take the road of Honest Tea — make friends with one of the gorillas and let them buy you out. (Coca-Cola Companyacquired Honest Tea in 2011.)

4. “Build up reserves of money and energy for bad luck and mistakes.”

Great advice — but sometimes extremely difficult to do. What startup or growth company has reserves of cash sitting around? But Goldman and Nalebuff make a good point — run as lean as you possibly can and do not waste money or energy. You will endure mistakes and bad luck along the way, so having a good war chest full of capital and energy can help handle it.

5. “Never, ever give up control — until you sell.”

Some high-impact entrepreneurs will readily give up control in exchange for the lure of high-growth through venture capital — but I am not one of them. Relinquish control and you risk losing the culture and vision of the company you set out to build. Even though Honest Tea raised investment capital from the beginning, the co-founders always remained in the driver’s seat. (And yes — Goldman can still drive his vision as CEO of Honest Tea, but his boss at Coca-Cola can say ‘no’ at anytime. Thus, true control is forever gone.)

6. “Don’t compromise on the big things — compromise on everything else.”

Vision. Purpose. Core values. Write these things in stone and never budge. But flexibility in the value propositions, products and services you build to execute your purpose is vastly important. Many entrepreneurs I see fail to ‘bend to the market’ by adapting to what their customer’s are telling them.

7. “Figure out how to achieve your goals on a tiny budget — then cut that number in half.”

Yes — you’ve heard it said before — it will cost twice as much, and take twice as long as you think. My recommendation is you apply the principles of lean to your business from day one. No fancy offices. No fancy full color brochures. Your goal is to stay alive until you can nail your secret formula for success. Blowing the budget will insure nothing but a quick death.

8. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Is it ever. Building a business is neither for the faint of heart or the speed demon. Climbing Mt. Everest is not done in 3 easy steps: 1.) decide you want to do it, 2.) fly to Nepal with zero preparation, 3.) sprint straight up the mountain in 12 easy minutes. Build systems for the long-haul and focus on small-connected steps. (It takes 26,364 steps of 7″ each to climb Mt. Everest, and that’s starting from half way up at Basecamp.)

9. “Take care of your family, personal and spiritual health — if you aren’t laughing or smiling on a regular basis, recalibrate.”

Imagine the path to a wildly successful business: founder working at a feverish pitch for 18 hours each day, for at least 5 years straight. True? No, it’s not. In my private conversation with Goldman, he flat-out told me two reasons he made it through the rough years: first — he believed in his purpose, second — his drive for personal balance. The notion we need to kill our family relationships, personal health or level of sanity to build our own business is sadly misaligned.

10. “Build the enterprise and the brand as if you’ll own them forever.”

Will you sell your business someday? Maybe. Should that be the sole reason you are building it? Probably not. When you start and build a business based on passion and purpose, with a burning desire to solve the pain of your customer through the deliverance of monetizable value, you build a far more valuable enterprise. Those in it for the short-term quick buck rarely succeed.

Plaster these 10 rules from Goldman and Nalebuff to your mirror, live by them everyday of your life as an entrepreneur and you might end up as successful as they. Honest.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/10-rules-to-build-a-wildly-successful-business

Successfully scaling a business is all about doing the fundamentals and having the stamina to see it through.

Let’s face it. Scaling your business is hard. It takes considerable effort. In the beginning, it means wearing different hats. It means dealing with sales and marketing. It means understanding taxes and corporate compliance. It involves having to interact with customers on a daily basis. And so much more. At the end of the day, it takes its toll on you.

If you’re struggling to grow your business, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Sure, it’s hard. But, what’s the alternative? A life-sucking 9-to-5 job? Surely not. Okay, maybe you’re longing for the security of a guaranteed paycheck. But, at what mental or emotional price will that come?

The truth? If you buckle down, clear your mind, and just look at things in perspective, you can easily identify ways you can grow your business and make more moneyquickly. While hundreds of business growth strategies likely exists, the following 15 will take your business to the next level quickly and efficiently.

Roland Frasier, a business growth strategist, has a unique approach to scaling businesses. As a principal of Digital Marketer and Native Commerce Media, and CEO of War Room Mastermind, he knows a thing or two about the online marketing world.

Frasier, who builds and scales seven, eight and nine-figure businesses tells me that there are loads of ways to grow a business quickly. But, only 15 core strategies that will truly make a real impact on your bottom line. Some are time intensive at the outset. That much should be expected. But, the benefits and profits will ultimately make them well worthwhile.

Like anything else in life or in business, you have to put in the time if you’re looking to reap the benefits. Don’t focus on the short-term outcome of your work. Look to the long term. Build sincere value and look to help your customers. Genuinely care. That should be the foundation. After that, it’s simply a matter of taking action and putting in the work to scale.

1. BUILD A SALES FUNNEL.
The first way to quickly grow your business is by building a sales funnel. If you don’t have a sales funnel, you’re making a monumental mistake. Sales funnels can help to automate your business. It helps you to scale and grow quickly and easily. Sure, there’s some front-end work involved. Obviously. But, once those processes are in place, it’s smooth sailing from there.

Frasier says that every sales funnel needs to be carefully conceptualized before it’s created. Consider the different funnels first and foremost. Whether it’s a free-plus-shipping offer or a high-ticket coaching funnel, it’s important to build your automated selling machine to quickly scale and grow your business.

2. UTILIZE A CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
Manually tracking transactions is hard. No one wants to do that. It gets too cumbersome as the business grows. If you want to scale quickly, use a customer management system. There are plenty to choose from. But, it really depends on your line of work. Of course, cloud-based software like SalesForce is always a viable option.

Quickbooks can help you with the accounting. InfusionSoft can also assist with sales and marketing. There are plenty of CMS systems, most of which integrate with other cloud-based services. Find what works for you and utilize it.

3. RESEARCH THE COMPETITION.
When going to market, and you’re really looking to get your offer to the masses, you need to research the competition. Frasier says he uses two platforms to conduct his research. The first is Similar Web. The other, AdBeat. Both provide competitive intelligence. It’s your chance for x-ray lenses into all landing pages, ad copy, and other stages of the funnel.

This allows you to uncover any advertiser’s online strategy. Find the ads that have been running for the longest and emulate those. That’s the quickest way you scale any business. If it’s proven and it’s working for your competitors, it’s likely it’ll work for you.

4. CREATE A CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAM.
Loyalty programs are great ways to increase sales. It costs up to three times more money to acquire new customers than it does to sell something to an existing customer. Other resources pin this number anywhere from four to 10 times more. However, any way that you slice it, acquiring new customers is expensive.

Frasier says that building a customer loyalty program will help you retain customers. It might also help you attract new ones as well. If there’s a clear incentive to spend more money with you, it’ll pay off in the long run. Build an attractive loyalty program and make it accessible to your existing customers and watch sales skyrocket over time.

5. IDENTIFY NEW OPPORTUNITIES.
Analyze new opportunities in your business by understanding your demographic better. Understand everything from distribution channels to your direct competitors, and even an analysis of foreign markets and other potential industries. There are likely dozens of new opportunities you could pursue immediately with the proper amount of analysis.

6. BUILD AN EMAIL LIST.
One of the most best and most effective ways to grow a business quickly is to build an email list. Clearly, that means you need to have a lead magnet. Why else would people subscribe to your list? And, with a lead magnet, comes the necessity for a sales funnel. Look into companies like Aweber, ConstantContact, ConvertKit, Drip, GetResponseand others for building and managing your list.

7. FORM STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS.
Strategic partnerships with the right companies can truly make a world of difference. It could allow you to reach a wide swath of customers quickly. Identifying those partnerships might be easier said than done. But, look out for companies that are complementary to your own. Contact them and propose opportunities for working together.

8. LEVERAGE GLOBAL PLATFORMS.
In the ecommerce business selling products? Why not use Amazon’s FBA service? In the business of selling services? Why not use Upwork? In the business of renting vacation homes? Why not leverage AirBnB, InvitedHome, HomeAway or other global platforms? Find a platform that’s reached saturation and use it to grow your business quickly.

9. LICENSING DEALS
Doing licensing deals is a great way to grow your business without too much added effort. If you have a product that you can license to others and share a revenue of, that’s an ideal way to grow quickly. Taking a popular or successful product and bringing it to a company with a large footprint can help you achieve market saturation quicker.

10. CONSIDER A FRANCHISE MODEL.
If you have a successful business, and you’re really looking to grow quickly, consider franchising it. Although franchise costs are high and moving to a franchise model is complex and takes a lot of marketing know-how, it could make all the difference if you’re truly looking for quick growth.

11. DIVERSIFY YOUR OFFER LINEUP.
Look into diversifying your offers. What complementary products or services or information can you offer in your business? In order to grow, you need to think about expansion. Identify new opportunities within your niche. Uncover the pain points. What else can you sell to your clients. Where else can you add value in the exchange?

12. BUILD PASSIVE INCOME STREAMS.
Growing a business takes significant effort. If you’re dealing with razor-thin margins, consider building passive income streams. This way, you don’t have to worry so much about keeping the lights on, so to speak. Passive income will afford you the opportunity to make mistakes and not have to lose your shirt. It’ll keep you in business and provide a basis to grow and market and scale quickly by giving you ample resources.

13. ACQUIRE OTHER BUSINESSES.
Sometimes, acquiring other businesses is a very quick way to grow your own business. If you can find competitors or businesses in other industries that would complement your own, you could use them as platforms to scale fast. Take a look within your industry and even outside of it to find potential for potential opportunities.

14. INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION.
Can you expand internationally? Can you take your existing offers and scale them internationally? What would it take to do business in Canada or Mexico or Europe? If you have a converting offer, international expansion could be a quick way to grow. You’ll incur some costs. Sure. But, the potential for profits could be massive.

15. CREATE A WEBINAR.
Webinars are a great way to promote any product or service. It can also help you grow any business relatively fast. Webinars provide an automated selling tool for literally taking any product or service to market and reaching a wide audience quickly. The webinar medium is great for captivating audiences to clinch sale after sale, automatically.

https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/15-ways-to-grow-your-business-fast

Private placements raise roughly 3 Trillion USD per annum, think if you can do it with less friction and less middlemen?

We all have seen the dotcom era, the social media era, last year the utility token era and we all know security tokens will be the next big thing...

Mobu aims to develop the infrastructure for both the launch of a compliant security token as well as the secondary market for them globally.

Mobu will obtain equity stake in licensed Stock exchange in South Africa with T+0 settlement and halve the fees of the JSE. Mobu will also be the sole broker for all security tokens.

The Multi trillion USD market remains untouched in the blockchain space.


http://www.mobu.io

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/mobu-the-security-token-protocol-and-licensed-operational-stock-exchange

Company Name: DotChain GmbH

Website: https://cwinex.io/

Industry: Investment & Finance

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Ready Business, Beta version available.

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: Private Sale Tokens at discount 20%

Bonus: 5% Referral bonus

Needed Amount (USD$): 1,000,000 Softcap & 10,000,000 Hardcap

Platform: EOS


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/cwex

The most difficult obstacles to get past are the ones we place in front of ourselves.

I’m a people pleaser. It’s hard for me to say “no” to people who ask for something — despite a reluctance inside of me. This has gotten me into trouble more than a few times in life and especially in business. Time is precious and slips by quickly but there is also no lack of things that have to get done in an entrepreneur’s life.

For 12 years, I took life a day at a time. I had a dream but no goals for making it real. I just woke up each day hoping for something more. In 2011, I had had enough and began chasing my dream of starting a lifestyle business. This meant more work on top of a service business that took 60-80 hours of my week. It didn’t take long for me to realize that something had to give. I had to learn how to say no to open up room for the things that were important. Seeing how much time and energy was freed by saying no, I started looking at all the other areas of my life. Here are six things I said no to. Saying no helped me live a much better life and create the kind of business that I love.

1. OTHER PEOPLE’S BAGGAGE.
Life is hard for all of us. Sometimes it’s easier to push your baggage onto someone else, maybe even without you realizing it. If you are trying to make changes in your life and someone reacts a certain way because of their baggage, it’s up to you to say “no”. You don’t need any more drama in your life. For me, this meant ignoring some people on social media and purging negative people from my life. It meant ending the business partnerships that were not in alignment with the direction I was taking my business.

2. SITUATIONS THAT I KNEW WOULD MAKE ME ANGRY.
There are things in life that you know you don’t want to do. For years, I just rolled with it. I went to gatherings and hung out with people who I knew would make me angry. I got on “get-to-know-you” calls with entrepreneurs who were all talk and no action. I entered into collaborations with business owners that weren’t serious. When I said enough and stopped, it felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. It freed my mind and business and helped me focus.

3. A BUSINESS THAT I ABSOLUTELY HATED.
I had a service business in the vendor industry for 12 years and hated it. I felt stuck and believed that someone like me — a high school dropout — couldn’t do better. In 2011, I said “no” more and worked hard for four years to make my dream of being a global lifestyle entrepreneur a reality. I now wake up loving what I get to do for work and traveling the world. Saing no led to happier days.

4. UNHEALTHY HABITS THAT FELT GOOD.
I love food. I said yes to junk food and no to healthier choices. This, as you can imagine, led to major weight gain. At one point, I was 193 pounds overweight. I started saying no to unhealthy choices and started exercising, I’ve lost 121 pounds so far this year. Today, I have more energy, focus and confidence. Life is better. I wake up ready to work on my business. I feel great when I travel for consulting presentations at multinational corporations.

5. TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS.
Purging negative people from my life and saying no to what they tried to project into my life led to relief and happiness. These relationships included romantic relationships, friendships and business connections. It was hard, but I had to say no. Toxic people will keep you off track and make your life unenjoyable. Purge negativity from your life and business whenever it’s possible.

6. HOLDING ONTO THE PAST.
I had a messed up childhood that involved physical and mental abuse. I chose to be homeless at 17 instead of continuing to be beaten with lamp cords. The demons from my past threatened to destroy me as I grew into an adult. I had to let go. I had to say no a lot more. I had to forgive to begin the healing process. I don’t know what you have or are facing. I do know that to heal, you have to let go.

Just because you’re saying no right now doesn’t mean you’ll have to say no forever. Life has seasons, and some are busier than others. The point is to make sure you’re doing the things you want to do and that lead to the kind of life and business you want.

Don’t let other people’s motives make decisions for you. This is your life. This is yourbusiness. You get to decide. Say no to things that don’t make sense for you. Say no to things that don’t feel right to you. Trust your intuition. You know whether or not you want to do something. Don’t be pressured into saying yes.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/i-started-saying-no-to-these-6-things-my-life-and-my-business-got-a-lot-better

If your new business is going to be operating in a competitive marketplace, it’s crucial that you find a way to differentiate your business from all the competitors out there.

In short, why should customers choose your products or services over what’s already available?

If you can’t answer that question, then you need to read on to find out why it’s essential startups and small businesses find a niche, and how you can spot a potentially profitable gap in the market.

WHY FINDING YOUR NICHE IS SO IMPORTANT FOR STARTUPS
Competitive pricing and an excellent level of customer service are both great ways to keep your customers coming back to you, but they might not be enough to draw people in on their own. The most effective way of getting customers through the door in the first place is to spot a gap in the market and fill it.

If you can provide consumers with something they can’t get elsewhere, or offer a significant improvement on what’s already available, your business will soon make a name for itself.

The best way to do this is to focus on a niche and do it so well that you’re the best on the market.

While it may seem like you’re limiting your potential for growth by concentrating on a niche rather than the market as a whole, the contrary is actually true.

Some of the biggest companies in the world have expanded from a niche that they made their own; Apple started off with the Macintosh desktop computer and now dominate the smartphone, laptop, and tablet spaces. Their success was a direct result of the fact they gained a reputation and fierce brand loyalty in one niche that they could easily transfer to other sectors when they chose to expand.

Finding your niche in the marketplace could, therefore, be the most important thing you do in business. But how do you do it?

HOW TO FIND YOUR NICHE
The easiest way is to start a business in a sector you’re already familiar with. If you’re part of the target market you’re looking to sell to, you’re in the perfect position spot a gap in the marketplace. If you do, then you know there’s space for success in that niche.

In the digital age, you have access to potential customers all around the world thanks to the internet. The further you narrow down your niche, the better chance you’ll have of being the very best in the world at it, meaning you could make sales to people in every corner of the globe through an online store or a seller’s page on sites like Amazon and eBay.

According to a recent article from Entrepreneur, niche micro-companies are set to gain more and more of the market share in the future. These small, specialised businesses can often outperform bigger companies who spread their focus over hundreds or even thousands of niches by focusing all of their attention on one.

In your search for business success, you could therefore be better off aiming to be a David rather than a Goliath — while your competition tries to be a jack of all trades, you can quickly rise to the top of your niche by being the master of one.

HOW A SUCCESSFUL NICHE HELPS YOU TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
As an example, when we set up our clothing store in Glasgow, we focused on urban streetwear. We would never have been able to compete on price or service with international brands like Topman and H&M, so we had to find another way into the men’s clothing market.

After gaining a loyal customer base, doors opened for us to expand into related markets. When we became aware that a lot of our customers were part of the Glasgow street art scene, we experimented with stocking spray paint.

A few years later, Banksy came along and the scene exploded. By this time, we’d already gained a reputation as the place to go in Glasgow for spray paint, so we’ve ended up having great success in that niche as well, both offline and on.

Spray paint saw another rise in popularity when upcycling — taking old, worn out pieces of furniture, sprucing them up, and turning them into something new — became a craze in the interior design world.

Because of the reputation we’d built up over the years, people from this scene came to us when looking for their spray paint. Between these customers and the graffiti artists, we now sell thousands of cans a month.

My advice for any business with an already-established reputation is to consider expanding into a related niche that your target audience is also likely to be interested in.

For example, if you sell artisan coffee online, consider expanding into teas as well. Continue in this manner from one niche to the next, and you’ll soon have a seriously successful business.

LISTENING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL HELP YOU FIND NEW NICHES
Make sure to always listen to your customers to learn what other products they’d be interested in buying. For example, if you’re always being asked about products that you don’t already stock, then you should consider entering that market.

A few years ago our customers were always asking if we sold shaving products such as beard oil, shaving kits, and open razors. We did our research and stocked up on some up-and-coming shaving products, and this is now a consistent earner for us in-store and online.

Whether you’re just starting out on your journey as a business owner or have an already-established brand, the best way to stand out from the competition is to find a gap in the market and fill it. Hopefully the experiences and advice I’ve shared here will help you get there as fast as possible.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/how-to-find-a-niche-in-the-market-and-stand-out-from-the-competition

Fundseeker's presentation: Medicohealth: The biggest doctor-patient environment based on blockchain

Medicohealth platform improving healthcare system by creating doctor — patient environment based on blockchain. Application creates possibility for fully anonymous, safe, and efficient communication with world’s leading healthcare specialists and provide own tokenized and secure payment system. Decentralized ledger technology enables traceability, data immutability and creation of secure methods for privacy protection that makes such platform perfectly fit for using in healthcare and other systems.

Website - https://medicohealth.io

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/medicohealth-the-biggest-doctor-patient-environment-based-on-blockchain

You can see our presentation here:

https://talentico.io/img/doc/presentation_en.pdf

https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/talent-ico

Have you ever wondered why some brands needs to work extra hard to get a few customers, while the launch of some brands brings immediate customers?

Talking point: The Apple Inc., after a lost PC battle to Microsoft, appreciably went from the production of Apple-1 desktop computer, to the production of modern smartphones. And as they launch new iPhones, their customers are always willing to upgrade to the latest — but the reverse is the case for some brands!

Howbeit that if you can beat your competitors, you’ll have more market shares, more sales and more loyal customers.

Below therefore, are six (6) effective business strategies to beat top competitors in your in your industry.

#1. IDENTIFY THE COMPETITION:
The very first and most important thing in business is to identify the competition. The competition is divided into three categories:

The competitors: This comprises of you and fellow manufacturers of your brand-like products and services in your industry.
The Customers: It is impossible to launch into a business competition without knowing who the customers are and exactly what they want. Identifying your customers would help you to serve them the rightful service they need at a point in time as well as meeting up to their expectations. Thereby drawing they close to your brand.
The Goal: Whether you’ll win or not in any competition depends on your goal. Your goal would help you recognize areas you need to compete in. And as to how quick you win, depends on how quick you are to identify this goal.

#2. EFFECTIVE BRANDING
Effective branding gives you a significant edge in the competitive market. Your kind of branding gives your customers an instant mental picture and a quick definition of who you are and what you have to offer.

A lot of companies are offering a similar kind of product and services and customers are sick of seeing the same thing more often. The only reason you give to already existing customers and new ones to come to you is when your brand marks a difference.

Furthermore, an effective branding, helps you to tone-up your product to the price of your choice.

#3. REALISTIC DISCOUNTS
Another effective business strategy, to outshine fellow competitors in your industry is the offering of realistic discounts.

Giving potential customers discount, does not only improve your customer’s loyalty, it attracts newbies and boosts your company’s reputation. For example, some media houses gives seasonal bulletins/magazines to their customers, also some auto transport companies now offer their customers with very cheap ways to ship their car. Thereby making lives better for their existing customers and enticing new customers to come patronize them.

However, trying to base your competition on cost alone, is a race to the bottom; as customers tend to suspect the geneuity of a product/service if discounts come too often. So watch it!

#4. MAINTAIN YOUR CUSTOMERS LOYALTY
Another effective strategy to gain a competitive edge in your industry is to maintain your customers’ loyalty. Research shows that loyal customers are worth ten times the value of their first purchase.

Also, given that it is six to seven times more expensive to get a new customer than to maintain an already existing one, maintaining customers loyalty is a must for any brand that wants to remain competitive.

In addition, your existing customers would be your competitor’s main target; as if they can succeed in convincing people that have used your brand over to their side, it would be a reference point to get the newbies.

#5. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Some big and mid-sized firms find it difficult to provide a better customer service. They tend to channel the greatest investment of attention and expense into getting new customers to patronize their brand and after the sales have been achieved, they get casual.

With an excellent customer service, you can start beating top competitors in your industry.

Make your customer service agent available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to address any customer’s issue as well as give speedy answers to any after sales question.

#6. IMPROVE YOUR TEAM’S MORALE AND MAKE EMPLOYEES HAPPY:
Do you know that your employees’ creativity, effectivity and collaboratively depends on how happy they are? A recent study by economists at the University of Warwick states that happiness has led to a 12 percent increase in the productivity of workers, while unhappy workers proved more than 10 percent less productive.

Your employees are just one vital component of your business which must be managed effectively if you want to outshine your competitors.

Business is a game which requires a collective effort of all team members to win. So when you make your employees happy, you practically induce them with a positive spirit to face the competition and come out in flying colors.

IN CONCLUSION:
The growth of your business depends on the steps you take to maintain a competitive edge in your industry. “Show me an entrepreneur who says he’s not comfortable with competition and I will show you an entrepreneur whose brand has started diminishing right from the moment he made that statement.”

However, just like sport, the field of business is a contest  where the smallest advantage can determine whether you lose or win. It’s thereby recommended that you use these business strategies more than often to stay on top of the competition in your industry.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/6-effective-business-strategies-to-beat-top-competitors-in-your-industry

Fundseeker's presentation: Invest in Dataeum, the first Blockchain-based platform using Crowdsourcing for Data Generation.

Website: https://dataeum.io/

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Private sale stage. An existing company (startup) for several years, with many fundraising completed. A proven solution, with a scalable, and profitable business model.

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: Token, and depending on the amount Equity x Token can also be envisaged.

Needed amount: HardCap of 8 Million USD. ($1.5M has already been raised).


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/invest-in-dataeum-the-first-blockchain-based-platform-using-crowdsourcing-for-data-generation

The road to profits is paved with unfair advantages.

Think about that statement. It's the reason why some of the best ideas can flop, and why some of the most average people can be wildly successful. Somewhere along the way there was a competitive advantage.

But it's also one way to pull ahead of your competition -- find and create unfair advantages. Here are four ways you can leave your competitors in the dust.

1. Position strengths to weaknesses.
Even if your competitor has a better product and is willing to sell it at a lower price, you can still win. Every competing company has weak points -- places where your brand can outperform. Things like domestic customer service or extended guarantees on a product can go a long way if done right.

Your job is to find these points and exploit them in your marketing and presentations. Let your prospective customers know why these selling points are important and why it makes your brand a better choice.

2. Stay lean.
This is about maximizing value and minimizing waste. Value refers to features a customer wants to pay for while waste essentially is everything else.

This means you must be in constant contact with your clients and understand why they're buying your product. Ask them how you can enhance it. Any additional features your product offers -- no matter how attractive -- should be dropped if your clients don't want them.

3. Go after large clients.
Larger clients can often result in more business and increased revenues, which means more resources for marketing and hiring new employees. But large clients can also be easier to service than smaller companies. It's a strange phenomenon, but smaller companies sometimes need more hand holding and have more service issues than middle-market companies with established systems.

Additionally, larger clients can give your company credibility when meeting with other potential prospects.

But don't worry if the idea of approaching a larger company scares you. Your smaller size should be an advantage since it allows you to move faster and continually think outside of the box. Also position the idea that a change in vendor will inject a sense of freshness into the project its working on.

4. Know your numbers.
I'm surprised how many entrepreneurs don't know the critical numbers that can either make or break their business. Here are a few of the basics that every startup should be tracking:

• ACV (Average Customer Value). This refers to how much money the average customer spends with you over a given period of time.
  CPA (cost per acquisition). This is your cost every time you acquire a new client.
  ROI (return on investment) on marketing campaigns.
  Break even. This is the volume of sales you need to cover the cost of making sales.

Every company will have different numbers, but identify them for your business and then commit yourself to tracking and improving them.

Just like football, business is a game of inches where the smallest advancement or advantage can mean the difference between winning and losing.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/4-ways-to-pull-ahead-of-your-competitors-in-business

It is certainly good that you help people find an investment tool to make money. But the real and successful investor has always relied only on himself and his mind

What to do on such market?

And when will growth begin?

We absolutely agree with your opinion. Our goal is to offer projects for investment, to make platform for investors and fund seekers communication. We cannot influence on the decision of investors, they decide where to invest money themselves.

That's really good question.. We think that we must remain calm and not make hasty conclusions and actions. We expect growth at a time when Bitcoin falls so low that large investors start investing in it. And then it will begin a rapid growth. This is only an assumption.

Website: http://www.envilope.com

Industry: Data Security

Stage (idea, ready business, pre-startup, etc): Private sale stage. An existing company (startup) for several years, with many fundraising completed. A proven solution and working product, with a scalable, and profitable business model.

Type of investment, proposed share for investors: 400,000,000 Tokens available within the private sale prices at 0.05 cents, and Equity 20% of the company available for $15 Million

Needed amount: $10 Million Hard Cap $1.5 Million has already been raised


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/invest-in-envilope-the-worlds-first-blockchain-postal-service

The final two episodes of the Spike TV show Bar Rescueshow two struggling bar owners who have to confront a tough problem: The names of their establishments aren’t cutting it.

Sometimes, tough as it may be to hear, your business name or even your overall concept is wrong from the start. But sometimes, the only way to save it is to start over — even if it means changing the name of your business. This season’s final episodes, which aired the past two Sundays at 10 p.m., EST, profile two bars in big trouble — The Canyon Inn in Yorba Linda, Calif., and Angry Ham’s Garage in Framingham, Mass. Both have troubled concepts that are holding the business back.

The Canyon Inn sounds like a hotel, but it’s not — it’s just a bar and restaurant. The bar keeps getting calls about how much the rooms cost, but owner Pauly Ambrus isn’t grasping that the name is a problem.
When bar expert Jon Taffer points out the obvious, Ambrus doesn’t want to hear it. As part of a complete makeover of the bar, Taffer changes the name to the Canyon Saloon. Presto! Traffic goes up, and the calls about renting rooms stop.

But Ambrus changes it back a few weeks later. Unsurprisingly, when the Bar Rescue crew check back a few months later, the initial sales bump the show gave the bar has evaporated. The outlook isn’t good.

The other bar starts in even worse shape. A ‘ham’ is a derogatory nickname for someone from Framingham, so the name Angry Ham’s Garage is a slap in the face to the whole town. Also, the bar is in a former garage, and still looks like a garage from the outside, complete with oil-change ads in the windows.

The bar had three original owners — but one is a former hockey player with a DUI on his record and a reputation as a brawler. The bar is full of signs that indicate it’s a rough place, such as “We don’t call 911.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, when Taffer arrives, one of the owners, Tim Hanna, has just sold his car so he can put more money into the failing bar.

At first, Hanna rejects the idea of a name change. Then he seems to approve after Taffer revamps the bar and renames it Octane. The new concept pays tribute to the site’s past as a garage, but makes it clear it is now a bar and grill, with pictures of food and cutlery on the outside of the building.

The TV show ends on an up note, but there’s an epilogue: A few weeks after the TV crew departed, the original name crept back in, becoming Angry Ham’s Octane Bar and Grill. Much of the new decor was removed, too.

I think these entrepreneurs missed a major opportunity to transform their business but only time will tell. I hope they do an update on all the bars visited this season when next season kicks off, so viewers can see what happened after the bars’ 15 minutes of fame ended.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/bar-rescue-asks-is-your-business-name-hurting-your-business

Naming a product or a company is a difficult decision. Unlike most challenges you’ll face, this one is in a field in which virtually everyone claims expertise. The first thing to remember when naming something is not to rely too heavily on another’s advice. Names created by committee are usually losers.

Don’t forget about the law. Your name can cause a Jurassic Park-size problem if you don’t first conduct a legal name search. The last thing you want is to hit it big, then be forced to change your name because a tiny company has the same name and wants $100 million from you for the rights to it.

Start by sitting down and making a list of what you want your name to stand for in the mind of the consumer. Your name should reflect your name and your positioning. Haagen-Dazs is supposed to make you think of cold fjords and rich, creamy milk. It doesn’t matter that there’s no such person as Haagen or no such place as Dazs–the name serves its purpose.
You must decide what you want your name to imply. It’s usually the first thing your prospects learn about you. Here are some of the things your name can tell your prospects about you:

• Quick
  The best
  Convenient
  Highest quality
  Experienced
  Fun
  Outrageous
  Reliable
  Inexpensive
  Guaranteed
  Recommended
  Honest
  Dangerous
  Unique

EIGHT SIMPLE RULES FOR CHOOSING A BUSINESS NAME

1. Your name should have a positive ring. Avoid anything negative. Your name should make people enthusiastic and optimistic about working with you.

2. Avoid difficult names. If people have trouble pronouncing it or spelling it, they won’t remember it. (Embarrassing exceptions: “Haagen-Dazs” and “Guerrilla.”)

3. Make your name unique. You don’t want people confusing you with a business that already exists, especially if it’s one with a poor reputation.

4. Don’t use a name that will limit you down the road. Acme Sleep Shop will limit you to selling sleep products. Acme Interiors is more open to expansion.

5. Use a descriptive name, such as Jiffy Lube. Note that this name also conveys a benefit.

6. Don’t get caught up in trends or fads. While it may be profitable in the short run, you can’t ride a fad for the long haul, and focus on the long haul.

7. Your name should reflect your identity: dignity, largeness, local identification, quality and other descriptive elements.

8. Pick a name that looks and sounds attractive on the phone, on the radio, on your letterhead, and on your website.

Once you’ve got your list of attributes, try it out on peers and focus groups. For example, if you’re starting a dry cleaning service, ask them if the attributes you’ve chosen — fast, reliable and inexpensive — would meet their needs. If not, adjust your list and try again.

Now that you’ve got a list, you’ve got to make a decision. Do you want a name that’s generic, descriptive or fanciful? Any lawyer will tell you that a fanciful name is the best sort of trademark. It’s the easiest to protect from encroachment by competitors, and eventually it makes the strongest name. A fanciful name is one where no picture comes to mind. No one knows what a Nike or a Xerox looks like.

The problem with fanciful names is that it takes an awful lot of time and money to persuade the consumer that they stand for something. The name itself doesn’t begin by positioning the product or the company. So for most guerrillas, a fanciful name is too expensive to develop into an asset.
The second alternative, which is more difficult to protect, is a descriptive name. These names help position your company or product, and they telegraph information about what you do. Some examples:

• Speedy Muffler
  Ultimate Auto Body
  College Pro Painters

Descriptive names are my favorites. They communicate enough about your product to help the sale, but they’re unique and stick in the customer’s mind and help stop the competition.

Lastly, you can use a generic name. These names are virtually unprotectable, but they have the ability to immediately telegraph what your business does.

SOME GENERIC NAMES INCLUDE:

International Business Machines
U.S. Steel
Park Avenue Cleaners
General Foods
As you can see, sometimes a generic name takes off and works, but in general, it’s an uphill battle–you’ve positioned your company, but your company has no identity.

EXAMPLES OF GOOD NAMES

Faith Popcorn–a memorable name that reminds you that she doesn’t take things too seriously.
National Public Radio–a simple name that immediately connotes weight, seriousness, and the fact that everyone is involved.
Staples–a simple word that brings together a ubiquitous office supply with another word for “essentials.” Once learned, the user never forgets what it stands for.
Head and Shoulders–the name lets you see the benefit of the product–no dandruff on your shoulders.
Apple Computer–simple, friendly, basic, easy to remember.


https://www.investorlegends.com/blog/a-quick-guide-to-naming-your-business

Fundseeker's presentation: Participate in iCumulate 30th November ICO. iCumulate is an industry changing Social Investment Trading Platform and Ecosystem based on the Ethereum blockchain

Website: https://www.icumulate.io

Industry: Finance

Stage: Pre-Sale (30% Bonus) November 30th - December 7th, Main Sale December 10th - December 31st

Type of investment: ICO, Utility Tokens (ICU)

Needed amount: Hard Cap of 23.5 Million USD


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/participate-in-icumulate-30th-november-ico-icumulate-is-an-industry-changing-social-investment-trading-platform-and-ecosystem-based-on-the-ethereum-blockchain

Fundseeker's presentation: Steve Wozniak - Apple stock at April1 1976

Nearest comparable Apple stock at April1 1976. Best and brightest FinTech incubators / VC being mentored by the best in LA CA.

100,000$ minimum invest


https://www.investorlegends.com/forum/topic/steve-wozniak-apple-stock-at-april1-1976

That's your choice. Someone see future in altcoins. Do you invest in BTC?