This week on The Trep Talk we’ve taken a side step and are excited to answer questions from our listening audience. The two key areas we get asked about most often are what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and what does it take to get funded? We’re answering your questions and look at both of these critical areas. Get the real answers and great insight from years of experience working with entrepreneurs! You won’t want to miss this week’s show!
Catching the eye of IBM and having a company incubated by them, with no strings attached, demonstrated to James Felton Keith, founder of the Keith Institute, that predictive analytics was the next wave of technology. James is the guest this week on The Trep Talk. Listen to the visionary conversation surrounding entrepreneurship as culture and defining Personal Data as an asset class and the next wave of valuation.
Valuation
By Michael S. Melfi JD, MBA
They often say how much something is worth is based on what someone is willing to pay for it - the ol’ supply and demand rules. However when dealing with inventions and emerging brands, it is important to develop a valuation that is based on industry standards, investor criteria and reliable financial data. A valuation is a financial number generated to various accounting and financial models to create a representative financial value of the idea, invention or business. The reason why this is so important is that any type of funding for lending will typically take into account this financial number. Plus, it is necessary that any inventor or business owner at least understand the value of their business. The tricky part is that many people often overvalue what they have worked on or the amount of sweat equity they have put into a business.
This week Stephen Lehtonen, the Engagement Partner for Growthink, is the guest on this week’s The Trep Talk. The secret to Entrepreneurial Success is revealed from someone who had been working with thousands of successful companies. He knows what will get funded, how to break into a market, the things an entrepreneur needs to know to grow and be successful – and he shares them with us!
Funding advice from one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Michigan and included in Crain’s Top 25 Women in tech in 2015 and current President of Grand Angels is not something to scoff at!
Laura St. John, co- founder of StrongConfidentLiving.com, believes the most success you have is because you endured the most challenges. She would know; she turned a lost multimillion-dollar deal into a strategic pivot for her company and in the process learned a lesson that has proven useful throughout her many ventures.
Jacques Panis, President of Shinola is this week's guest on 'the Trep Talk' – find out how this leader keeps his culture alive with the meteoric growth the company "Shinola" has experienced in Michigan as well as continuing the mission of creating great jobs here in the U.S.
The Real Talk About Crowdfunding
By Michael S. Melfi JD, MBA
As many readers know, I have significant experience in the Crowdfunding industry, from authoring a book, to assisting portals with their launch, consulting emerging brands and even speaking to the Chinese Delegates on a recent visit to America. With all this experience, I wish there was a magic pill to a successful fundraise and despite the secrets my recent book alludes to, there definitely needs to be all the right pieces and players in place to run a well orchestrated campaign.
Ken Nguyen, co-founder and CEO of Republic, gives advice needed to be successful in equity – or for that matter any funding campaign. As a spin off of Angels List, Republic gets an assist with mission support and the psychological support of the entire team. But Republic, while a spin off, is entirely independent of Angels List.
The Trep Talk has three-time author, Martin Zwilling as the interview guest this week. Martin discusses what he saw in Bill Gates and why he was successful and why you can be too. Listen to his sage advice to leaders to ‘do the work,’ and what that work entails. Find out the qualities this successful entrepreneur and Angel looks for in any company and see if you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
