You have been dreaming of launching your own startup for a long time, but do not know how? We’ve put together resources for you to find investments, a team, create a site, monitor employee performance, and share stories of success and failure.
Crowdfunding
Kickstarter: All or Nothing
https://www.kickstarter.com/
Cost of using: free registration, 5% fee for funds raised, plus Amazon payment processing fees
Categories: art, comics, dance, design, fashion, cinema, food, games, music, photography, publishing, technology and theater
Duration of the project: 30 – 60 days
Kickstarter is a must have for any creative person who has an idea for a project and wants to implement it. Ordinary people here act as investors (backers) and get the opportunity to use technological know-how even before they go on sale. In order for the project to receive money, it is necessary to raise the declared amount, otherwise the backers will get their money back.
Since being launched in 2009 and up till now, the company has helped to raise $ 4.6 billions for 171,000 projects. You can create your project on the site for free, but Kickstarter charges a 5% commission on the funds you raise.
IndieGoGo
https://www.indiegogo.com/
Cost of using: free registration, 4% fee if the project reaches its goal and 9% if you have not raised the planned amount, plus 3% credit card processing fee
Categories: animals, art, comics, community, dance, design, education, environment, fashion, movie, food, games, healthcare, music, photography, politics, religion, small business, sport, technology, theater, transmedia, video and writing
Duration of the project: up to 40 days
Indiegogo crowdfunding site is one of Kickstarter’s competitors. Many users prefer this service because they do not need to reach the project goal (any amount raised will be transferred to the project creator), and the projects are published without moderation and contracting.
Indiegogo was founded in 2008. Since then, more than 200,000 advertising campaigns have been launched, which totally raised tens of millions of dollars.
Crowd Supply
https://www.crowdsupply.com/
Categories: technical equipment, entertainment, books, robotics, computers, music and more.
Cost of using: fregistration, crowdfunding platform fee and pre-order is 5%
Duration of the project: 90 days
Crowd Supply is a platform for fulfilling business dreams. Its main feature is the full assistance in creating and launching products on the market. Here each project goes through 4 stages:
- creating prototype and pre-crowdfunding;
- fundraising;
- production and pre-sales;
- market launch and sale.
It is this meticulous attitude towards Crowd Supply projects that gives great results: 70% of projects are finding financing here, and 100% of funded projects are delivered to investors.
Tracking the team work
IDoneThis
https://idonethis.com
This is an information-gathering service that sends emails to all your team members every night asking what they have done during the previous day. In the morning, the project manager receives one digest, listing everything the team has done the day before. With one click, you can get the team involved in the task as well as evaluate the performance of your employees.
Trello
https://trello.com
Trello is a must have for freelancers and startups. This service helps to manage business processes, effectively organize the work of the team in virtual mode. Here you can put deadlines, set tasks, the project manager will easily control the status of each project.
Email newsletter
MailChimp
https://mailchimp.com/
Startups always need a quick and easy way to keep in touch with their customers. MailChimp’s free e-mail newsletter service will make communication automated and painless. Dozens of free letter templates, customizable styling and detailed statistics.
Trend Analysis
https://trends.google.com
Not only to know current trends, but to create them yourselves. Google Trends will help you identify trends that can attract your audience. This is a simple and free tool that gathers up-to-date search topics in specific countries and industries.
Investor search
AngelList
https://angel.co
You have your own project but have no investor? Then AngelList is exactly what you need. This is a platform for startups seeking to raise funds from trusted investor angels.
Product Hunt
https://www.producthunt.com
Product Hunt has long become a platform for launching new technology products and innovative projects. Thousands of developers, journalists, and venture investors interact here every day.
Advices
Entrepreneur
https://www.entrepreneur.com
Start, manage and develop your business. Entrepreneur – it is an American website and printed magazine about entrepreneurship. Thousands of articles, tips from millionaires, stories about success and interesting lifehacks.
AllBusiness
https://www.allbusiness.com/
This site is just full of tips for beginner entrepreneurs. Here you will find information on how to create an online store, why etiquette is important in the office, and what and when to publish on social networks. There are also hundreds of publications on business topics, blogs and project exchanges.
Blogs
Medium
https://medium.com/
If you want to share news about your project, then a handy blogging platform from the creators of Blogger and Twitter is a great solution. The audience of this service consists of more than 650 thousand readers, and the site is built on the principle of social network.
Website creation
WordPress
http://wordpress.org
You no longer need to be able to program yourself to create your own site. WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world. More than 30% of sites are created on it. Here you can create a site for free, and if necessary, connect your own domain and buy hosting.
Team
https://betalist.com
BetaList is a site for searching the potential employees and a place to check your own project before it’s officially launched.
Insights from startups
https://startupsanonymous.com
It’s hard to find people who are willing to talk about their fuckups openly. StartupsAnonymous is a community for ambitious startupers who share their stories, ask questions, and give free advice.