Live Q&As

I think all startups should have an advisory board that can balance out any voids in expertise you might have and to help make additional connections.  Some advisory boards have equity and some are much more volunteer because they enjoy working with early stage companies.  You also need to differentiate between an advisory board and a Board of Directors.  A BoD has very specific rights and accountability whereas an advisory board does just that - advises the company but does not have the same kind of decision making powers.  Usually board seats refers to a Board of Directors and is related to equity stakes granted via a angel or VC financing. 

You don't need lawyers...yet.  If you and your professor are interested in spinning out a company based on university IP, the first place to go is your Office of Technology Commercialization.  They will help you through the process of licensing the technology back from the university.  I'd also suggest doing a lot of market research and speak to a lot of custsomers in different verticals to understand the commercial opportunities.  Steve Blank's Lean Launchpad class is a great model for this.  Startups based on university technologies have significantly better chances of success, so good luck!  

We see a lot of entrepreneurs start to stumble a bit while they transition from starting a business to growing a business.  At your stage you need to make sure you hire staff that are also self starters who will not need to be micro managed.  You need to find people who will be almost as passionate and committed as you are or your will lose momentum.  You also need to make sure that you keep your team focused.  A lot of startups fail because they lose focus and try to do too many things at once.  I'd make sure that 80% of what your team is working on is part of your plan (which will always be evolving) and the 20% of time is available to be opportunistic.  Have a checklist of top 3 priorities and if something doesn't fit, don't do it.  Also, make sure to understand your team's workstyle and make sure they understand yours.  If you'd like to be in touch via email let them know. If you want to have daily or weekly meetings, make sure they are on the calendar and don't get skipped.  

Thank you - glad to hear there are fans out there :) There are a number of new funding opportunities in Maryland through the TEDCO, such as the Propel Baltimore fund and Maryland Innovation Initiative but these are all more focused broadly on technology vs. apparel and retail.  I do not know of any breaks for a retail boutique.  

I'm certainly not an accountant, but sounds like you are at the point where you should keep a separate account for those expenses.  Business expenses are generally tax deductible (so I hear) so you are better off keeping them separate.  If you are charging for services it is kind of like being half pregnant - you either have a business or you don't.  

Our team at the Dingman Center is working very hard to create additional opportunities for student businesses on campus.  There are a few regulatory/bureaucratic hurdles we are facing, but we are working with a number of partners across campus to explore create student marketplaces. Stay tuned! 

I'd suggest networking with ice cream shops to understand who supplies their product.  If you create a flavor they like, they might be more likely to make an introduction! You may also want to look in the dairy cases of high end stores like Fresh Market and Whole Foods who carry a lot of upstart ice cream companies - I know a few are made locally.  Could be some partnership opportunities.  

I just gave a few answers above that indicated not needing lawyers -- but in the case of protecting your equity stake and rights you do need counsel.  When you are negotiating term sheets with VCs, make sure you understand the anti dilution provisions and what will happen in future funding rounds.  Most founders get diluted along the way, but need to make sure you understand how/why & when that will happen.  Many times you will have a smaller stake in a larger pie if the valuation of the company continues to increase.  I will repeat 3 pieces of advice  that one of our angel investors gives 1) READ THE DOCS 2) READ THE DOCS and 3) READ THE DOCS. 

I think the biggest driver in angel funding in 2013 will be more related to increased VC funding or exit opportunities.  Angel investing has been incredibly strong the past 2 years, but investors will hold back if they don't see their companies receiving follow-on capital to grow the business and increase value. Same goes for exit opportunities - if strategic buyers sit on cash and don't grow through acquisition angel investors will be less inclined to take the risk and will allocate investment $ in safer alternatives.  I think crowdfunding is only one aspect of the JOBS Act that will have an impact -- the increased cap on private shareholders, reduced disclosure requirements and broad classification of "emerging growth" public companies increase the access to capital and reduce the cost of taking companies public.  

Hard to say without knowig more about the product or the market you are targetting.  However, the key is just that, understand what part of this growing market you can get the best traction.  Is there a customer segment that will appreciate a feature of your product vs another, is it a high end product that differentiates by a high level of customer service or will you in fact gain more traction by being a low cost provider?  In a fast growing market, a newcomer can often be more nimble in attacking the fastest growing portion of the market but you have to do your research to find your own niche.  We often suggest that companies identify their first target market and 3 different ways to test attracting that market whether via social media, paid advertising, earned media, promotional events, word of mouth.  See what works and then double down.  

There are actually a couple of new local companies like Seva Call, Urgnt.ly and Trust Pages that are focused on connecting residential service providers to customers.  Word of mouth is really the best way when it comes to service providers coming in to your home so you need to think about how you can engage new customers that will make referrals.  You could think about going out to real estate agents and offering to clean houses before going on the market for free.  If you do a good job they may recommend you to whoever buys the house or will pay you to do the next job.  One free cleaning may pay dividends.  

There are a lot of great resources for startups around the area - FoundersCorp, Maryland's SBDC, Startup MD/DC/VA, Foster.ly, DC Tech Meetups, ProudlyMadeinDC, Rockville Economic Development Inc. etc.  Before you think about paying an advisor you need to find the right advisors that understand the problem your company is tackling and the challenges you are facing.  When you network, be very specific and say "I'm looking for someone with a skill set in X that can help me with Y." I'm always more likely to make connections when I'm making a good match.