How likely is it that another entrepreneur will steal your idea? Is it best to tell anyone and everyone who will listen about your great idea?

I’d be smart about this … look at the risk/reward of each encounter … don’t tell someone about a unique idea unless that risk/reward is positive … pick your conversations carefully. However, once you have launched, and are well under way … tell as many people as you can :–)

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Jen, I have a startup which is currently being develop. A "Pre-launch" sign up Web page is up this weekend. Launching in January. My question is, should I go full bore to...

Answered by Jen Evans – Founder, Sequentia Environics

As much critical mass as you can garner before public launch is a good thing. It's a fine balance though because if you get people to sign up and can't deliver anything for... (more)

How likely is it that an investor will overlook a horrible UX/UI design at first, if a company has already developed a huge audience and can show a solid business model?

Answered by Dharmesh Shah – Co-founder, HubSpot. Founder, OnStartups.

Relatively likely. Great UI/UX is helpful -- but it's not the end goal. The end goal is to create lots of happy users/customers. Savvy investors will know that it's *m... (more)

Hi April, As a new company with a new product, much weight is given to identifying a target/niche market so as to gain better traction and be heard. example: (product is fo...

Answered by April Dunford – Product Marketing Expert. Posted in Product Development

That's a great question and a common concern when you start dividing up your market. First of all you need to have a hard look at your target market and figure out if it's ... (more)

I try to promote my business(online web application) through popular sites like TechCrunch, PCWorld, WSJ and others, but they don't wish to write about it. The product is r...

Answered by Tim Berry – Founder of Palo Alto Software

I will say that your problem is a lot easier today, with the world we live with online, than it was when I was starting with Business Plan Pro back in the early 1990s. We d... (more)

If your competitors have received $2mm - $10mm in first round funding while still in the IDEA/Product Beta stage. How can you prove that your valuation is also in that rang...

Answered by Roger Chabra – Partner at Rho Ventures.

Stage of company, revenues, # of users, engagement level, IP, patents, unique access to suppliers or channels, pedigree of management team, growth rate of industry, cash on... (more)

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