Ever hear an entrepreneur confuse Run Rate and Net Margin in front of investors? Or mix up Restricted and Unrestricted Stock? Or how about the 83(b) election? Few entrepreneurs learn about that one until it's too late.
Learning everything you need to know as a founder is tough.
After starting two Midwest accelerators and making 50+ investments I learned that the thousands of sources of advice available to entrepreneurs -- books, blogs, videos, tweets and mentors -- are part of the problem.
All this info can be distracting, confusing and often harmful.
At my last accelerator we gave founders books on finance, lean techniques and term sheets. Know what? Hardly anyone read them. They were too busy trying to grow their businesses.
And lots of input founders get is contradictory, inaccurate or poorly explained.
This isn't an easy problem to solve.
There are so many things founders should know. But where to focus?
StartCards is a small attempt to fix this problem.
We made StartCards to help serious entrepreneurs learn the most important concepts.
Our goal is to level the playing field with continuously updated definitions of important concepts as flashcards. Always free for founders in a printable format.
Our plan is simple.
Right now we're offering a beta deck of 65 flashcards Key Concepts Every Startup Founder Should Know. Each month we'll add 5-10 new terms based on input from real founders and investors.
We also developed mobile iOS and Android flashcard apps that we'll make available for a small fee for founders that don't want to print flashcards.
Check out the mobile flashcards here.
We're also working on new flashcard decks including:
- 2015 Who’s Who in Silicon Valley and Beyond
- Top 50 Questions Investors Commonly Ask
- Top 30 Term Sheet Provisions Explained in Plain English
- 100 Conversation Starters for Nerds
StartCards are great for founders with no time to spare. If you know any please share this post with them and follow us on Twitter here.
You can check out StartCards here and get the free beta deck. Please share your feedback and any ideas you have for new decks or terms to cover[email protected]
Cheers,
-- Paul
P.S. Please participate in the conversation about StartCards at http://www.producthunt.com/posts/startcards and give us an upvote if you like them!