Startup Q&a With Matthew Paulson

This week's questions: How can you tell if you should bootstrap your startup or seek outside investment? - Robert Mehling What are your keys to networking, and how do you follow up with those you meet? - Shannon Ward What should an entrepreneur look for in a bank (e.g. I chose one that was "free" but it can't do international wire transfers to pay manufacturers in China)? - Amanda Dixon How do you stay abreast of changes in your industry? - Lisa Groon How far out should you plan your exit strategy for a business in a time when tech, trends, and new ideas are around every corner? Should you have more than one exit strategy? - Justin Dyson Growth Hack of the Week: putting a Facebook pixel on your website Resource of the Week: Built to Sell by John Warrillow

http://www.startupqa.co/ This week's questions: Steve Brumwell asks, "How do you approach current Angels to invest more when your metrics have not hit the hockey stick yet and you need to buy more time as you know exactly the right route?" Thadeus Giedd asks, "In a small or medium size organization, does it "need" it's own marketing department? Or can you assign marketing duties and roles among the staff and have them responsible for it? Obviously anything is possible... but can it be done to the same standard without hiring a "professional" to operate that and that alone (brand, marketing, social media, PR, etc.)" Kevin Gilbertson asks, "How do you figure out pricing for a SaaS business?" BigJohn Small asks, "What should I do BEFORE I try to start my own business? (Schooling... training... saving... research... trials... etc.)" Troy Klongerbo asks, "How do you vet start up ideas that are purely in their infancy?"

Growth Hack of the Week: Export your contact list from LinkedIn Resource of The Week: The Publisher Lab Podcast This Week's Questions "If you have a decent profit and you want to reinvest it in your company, how do you decide what to spend it on?" - Anthony Fasano "When should someone consider taking some money home from their business to enjoy or just to live on?" - Jordan Dekker "What are some good steps to follow when looking for an attorney or an accountant?" - Lisa Groon "I have a modest equity stake in a startup. How can I find another investor to buy my share?" - Anonymous "How do you hire great talent? How do you vet people, find people, and how do you let go of control?" - Kevin Gilbertson

Growth Hack of the Week: Stop doing low-value tasks in your business. Focus on high-value tasks and outsource, delegate or automate the rest. Resource of The Week: Automatic Income by Matthew Paulson This Week's Questions "What is your take on MLM and other direct marketing companies? Worth it or do something solo? How long might a person "give " themselves before backing out. (I've done direct sales before and enjoyed it. Left for other reasons) thought this might be a good Q for your next episode" - Laura T. Wingert "What do I need to do in order to form an LLC. And how does that differ from a DBA. And when do I need both... Or neither... Or one versus the other." - Ryan McKeever "When would you recommend getting a company credit card, bank account and company specific accounts? Right now I use a personal account because this is a side business. Thanks!" - Micah Kennedy "What do investors expect from an initial contact? An informal pitch? A formal pitch?" - Lisa Groon "What are your successes and failures

This week's questions: "How do you build a high-margin business that relies heavily on automation?" (from Alan Park) "How do you feel about investing in commercial real-estate?" (from Tyler Stunes) "How do I find a mentor and what can I expect from a mentor-mentee relationship?) (from Joshua Sopko) "How do you create good content without writing it all yourself?" (From Kevin Gilbertson) "Is there ever a time I should go into debt for my business?" (From Adam Huber) Growth Hack of the Week: Use Web Push Notifications on Your Website Resource of the Week: The Automatic Customer by John Warrilow (Note: I changed the name of this thing. The first episode was called "Business Q&A". Now it's Startup Q&A.)

The questions: #1 – How do I tackle a big idea that I lack the skills to accomplish? "I have this great idea, but lack the immediate skills to accomplish it. Do I find partners or other companies to help me develop and grow it, or do I spend the time to learn the skills and develop it myself? It would deal with app development (yes, yes, cliche…), so it would be at least learning a new language I'd imagine. Then there would be a portion of it that would deal with handling payments of money between two people through the service (so laws and regulations to take into consideration there)." from Andrew Cedergren #2 – What is your best lead generation source? "What is your best lead generation source? You mentioned that Adwords is not working as well anymore, what are you doing to get around this?" from Hilawe Semunegus #3 – How can I hire someone when I don't need a full-time employee? "I'm at a point in my business where I need additional help, but I don't have enough work to keep them busy for 40 hours a week.