Securing funding is one of the largest initial challenges you’ll face as an entrepreneur of a pre-revenue business. But if you know what your potential funders are looking for, your odds of success are drastically increased.
Recently, we asked Jimmy Roussel, Entrepreneur in Residence at the New Orleans Start-up Fund, for his perspective. The New Orleans Start-up Fund is an evergreen fund focused on high growth companies.
Jimmy specializes in starting up small technology firms and taking them through the initial round or two of venture capital. He has experience on both the business/finance and technology sides, and can easily translate between the different stakeholders.
The Interview with New Orleans’ Start-up Fund’s Jimmy Roussel
Tech Park Question: What are a few characteristics that you commonly find in successful startup companies that you work with?
Jimmy’s Response: “The first characteristic I look for is “the problem space.” Is the start-up solving a problem and is it a problem that people are willing to pay for? This is a necessary common trait of a high-growth startup company.
The second characteristic I look for is the team. It must contain not just one critical person, but an entire team of several people. A startup team should consist of key people that are capable of leveraging their experience, industry knowledge and expertise to execute the company’s growth plans.
The third characteristic I look for is the solution itself. It not only has to solve the problem, but it also has to be achievable with the amount of resources and capital available. So your company should provide a solution for the problem mentioned before. But diving a little deeper, the details of the proposed solution must be feasible and able to be executed from a business standpoint.” Read more >>>