Cool Tools for Startups
Dr. Chris Stout
LinkedIn Top Voice | Best Selling Author | Adventurer | Startup Whisperer | (Accidental) Humanitarian | APA's "Rockstar" Psychologist | éminence Grise
In my series on “Cool Tools” I kicked things off with Cool Tools for Humanitarians. Next up was Cool Tools for Productivity. Now I am happy to be providing some very cool tools for those in startups or thinking about launching. What you will see below is pretty agnostic as to kind of business, so read-away and enjoy!
Better the Jockey than the Horse…?
I have been fortunate to run a number departments and centers over the course of my career. My first startup was my private practice (that is, if you don't count that short stint of doing stained-glass in the ‘70s). I did gigs in for-profits as well as government. I started a 501(c)3 as well as a LLC. I was recruited into positions of Chief/E/O/I/Officer over the years with as many as 500 staff reporting to me. Now I serve on the boards of several companies and startups with their CEOs reporting to me, and I like that a whole lot more.
Show them the money
One of the fundamental starting points for a new business is capital. I think this has gotten easier these days. You have your choice of Crowdfunding sites: Indiegogo, GoFundMe, KickStarter, and a bushel-basket of others. There are microfinance options like Kiva, generally for developing areas where a little goes a longer way for budding entrepreneurs.
But my favorites are more in the venture capital and angel investing areas. First is AngelList. I like it a lot. (Disclosure, I’m a user, too. But please, no solicitations or syndicates right now.) I also am a big fan of Gust, and that’s based on David Rose’s truly fantastic book, Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups.
Of course, there is also a growing abundance of incubators, accelerators, and other hot-houses and investor groups that can really be a help. Here are some of my favorites:
1871 (big fan of Howard Tullman)
But first….
Before you pitch your value prop to a VC for mez financing, you may need some tools to figure out your business plan or even how to build your website before you IPO. Asher Fergusson turned me on to a great site where he has posted (for free, thanks Asher!) a comprehensive guide on How to Start a Business. I also love the vast amount of quality tools that (the awkwardly named but super helpful) DocStoc has to offer. Need a quick Mutual Nondisclosure Agreement for your amazing idea, or a Financial Projections Template, or LLC Operating Agreement…? Just head over to DocStoc and they'll fix you right up.
Curation rocks (or at least saves a lot of time)
As you may know, I post a great deal in Linkedin on Startups (and its handsome cousin, Leadership). The problem with LinkedIn is that there is somewhat of a finite shelf-life to such posts as they eventually get squeezed out as new content comes in. Also, they are not organized in LinkedIn. So, I use Pinterest to curate Boards on Startups (>160 posts)...
...and Leadership (>100 posts):
These are always growing and always available pro bono. I also have a subscription-based service to access a curated library of over 500 full text articles and book chapters on these topics as well. (If you'd like to learn more on that, feel free to email me for details.)
Your Turn
What are some of your favorite Cool Tools that have helped you channel your inner-entrepreneur? (Bonus points for free ones!) Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section, and thanks for collaborating!
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If you'd like to learn more or connect, please do at https://DrChrisStout.com. You can follow me on LinkedIn, or find my Tweets as well.
If you liked this article, you may also like:
Productivity Hacks: Have Impossible To-Do Lists
What Happens When Pursuing Your Goals Goes Wrong (And What To Do About It)
Member of Executive THINK TANK Global Team for Strategy, Human Development & Global Health. University of Toronto.
9 年This a great pragmatic usefull article Dr. Stout and gives to entrepreneurs the hole picture to start up and valuable information about looking for seed capital under a solid structure through a feasible business plan. Greetings!
LinkedIn Top Voice | Best Selling Author | Adventurer | Startup Whisperer | (Accidental) Humanitarian | APA's "Rockstar" Psychologist | éminence Grise
9 年Hey Doug Adams PT, DPT, SCS, OCS, CSCS take a look at this from my Startup Library: https://www.dropbox.com/search/personal?is_advanced=false&query_unnormalized=patent&query=patent&last_fq_path=&previe
CEO @ RunDNA | Gait is an ESSENTIAL part of the Rehab and Performance paradigm...How do you measure it?!
9 年Great post as always Dr. Chris Stout, thank you! I'm going to check out the boards now (and maybe this is on there!) but does anyone have helpful links on the patent process and provisional patents?
LinkedIn Top Voice | Best Selling Author | Adventurer | Startup Whisperer | (Accidental) Humanitarian | APA's "Rockstar" Psychologist | éminence Grise
9 年You bet! (And this is only the third in this series, more to come!) Thanks.