What do you think is the difference between the "small biz's" that make it and the ones that don't?

Sometimes timing is your worst enemy. Also, many companies overspend. When I worked in SF in the late 1990s the start-up I worked for wasted tens of thousands of dollars a day. I like, personally, to always plan for those rainy slow days and I don’t like debt.

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Hi Dan. I am starting up a small social media marketing firm. To start, it would be myself and a virtual assistant from time to time, and, we plan to do the social media ma...

Answered by Dan Martell – Founder & Investor.

Since your starting off and doing services, just build it around your personal brand. That's what people buy anyway. If down the road you grow to over 6+ people and you f... (more)

What % of a company do you think a CEO should receive as part of his/her compensation package? Assuming they are not part of the founding team? And, what % do you think fou...

Answered by Robin Axon – Partner, Mantella Venture Partners

The biggest question that i'd ask in this scenario is how much more capital do you think the company will require prior to exit (or being independent of traditional venture... (more)

What do you think of "teaser" landing pages to sign up beta users?

Answered by Benjamin Yoskovitz – Partner, Year One Labs

I think they work to attract people and get people signed up. There's a bit of fatigue already with them and making them or attempting to make them viral, but they do work.... (more)

The daily deals space is way too overcrowded and innovation has been lackluster. What do you think about creating a local marketplace for offers where customers can search...

Answered by Dan Martell – Founder & Investor.

You need to understand the psychology behind the daily deals offerings. I'm not sure your idea would work. The #1 challenge for anyone selling anything online is to get v... (more)

I have a target list of top investors - what do you think is the best way to get a meeting with them?

Answered by Micah Baldwin – Founder, Graphic.ly

intro - email - call in that order. Intros are the strongest way to meet investors. If you are "outside looking in" go do some informational interviews where you ask more a... (more)

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