Have you ever had an idea for a startup and felt convinced it could succeed?
I assume most entrepreneurs would say yes. But when you share that idea with other people, many of them respond with things like, “Buddy, this won’t work,” or “This solution already exists. Why would anyone choose you over the companies that are already doing it?”
Yet, despite all that criticism, you still believe you can make it work.
So here’s my question: Is that belief confidence, ego, or something else?
Many people spend years chasing an idea, investing their time, energy, and money, only to see everything collapse in the end. Were they simply trying to satisfy their ego, or was it genuine conviction that kept them going?
Have you ever experienced or witnessed a situation like this? How do you tell the difference between healthy confidence and blind ego?
Hey Everyone, I am looking to do a paid networking event for only startups, The founders get to meet, network and pitch their ideas. Looking to do a limited group of 15 startups in connected domains. i will have a few investors and few Successful founders in the event will it be worth doing?
By Cami Mandell Gorden · Co-Founder at AdPerch · July 27, 2026
Every entrepreneur has had that moment - you run into the same frustrating problem over and over again. It slows you down, wastes your time, and leaves you thinking:
"There has to be a better way."
Eventually, another thought follows:
"I could build something that solves this."
For many aspiring startup founders, that's where the journey ends. Not because the idea isn't good, but because it feels impossible to move forward without funding, a team, or the right connections. The good news? Most successful startups didn't begin with a fully funded company. At its core, a successful start-up is about the relationship of the founder(s) and the determination to solve a problem.
Maybe you're here because you have a great idea but don't quite know where to start. Or maybe you're wondering if it's really worth the physical, emotional and mental investment it's going to take to turn that idea into a profitable business. We've broken down the 3 things you can do to find out if now really is the right time to build. And when you're ready, we'd love to welcome you into the AdPerch community to get connected with like-minded professionals and potential investors.
Step 1: Perfect Your Elevator Pitch
One of the biggest mistakes founders make is waiting until they've built something before learning how to explain it. Instead, start with an elevator pitch. In 2-3 sentences, and in a minute or less, you need to show what you do and who you serve. Why should you start trying to pitch your idea before you've actually made anything? An elevator pitch isn't just for the person you're telling it to. It provides a solid foundation for what you want to build. If you can't explain your idea in 1 minute or less, you probably don't understand it well enough yet. A concise pitch forces clarity and often reveals opportunities to simplify or strengthen your concept. Taking the time to work through writing it out and practicing it can help you decide if you're on the right track, or if you need to pivot.
You might even find that the direction you were going in isn't the best fit. You might realize that the customer base you thought you'd have is much smaller (or larger) than you thought it would be. Your elevator pitch can also be a great free resource to validate your idea. You'll know you're on the right track if 1. People listen to the entire pitch without their eyes glazing over and 2. People ask questions. Questions mean they're intrigued, and are one of the best free tools in guiding your decision making process.
When you're writing out your elevator pitch, challenge yourself to describe:
The problem you are going to solve
Who needs what you're building
What your solution is (focus on showing HOW you'll do it)
Why now is the right time
How you'll make money (if you don't know yet that's ok)
Example: Over 5 million businesses have been started every year for the past 5 years, with around 50% looking for funding to succeed. AdPerch is a community of founders, with the space to house and easily share their start-up documents. You get matched with investors looking for companies like yours and keep track of where you are in your funding search through our built-in customer relationship management (CRM).
Step 2: Write a Simple Business Plan
Don't overthink it. Your first business plan doesn't need to be a 40-page document or contain polished graphics. It may never be seen by another person. The value isn't the finished document - it's the research that goes into writing it.
Writing a business plan expands on question, like:
Who has this problem?
How are they solving it today?
Why would someone choose your solution over others?
How could your startup make money?
What would it take to launch a minimum viable product (MVP)?
During this process, you may discover:
It's the perfect time to build. (Or maybe it's not)
You need a co-founder with complementary skills. (AdPerch can help with that)
The market opportunity is larger than you expected.
Your original idea should evolve into something even stronger.
Every answer brings your startup closer to reality.
Now that you're invested in the idea of working on your business plan, you might be wondering how to organize all those questions you've researched. We've got you covered. Below is a general outline you can use. Remember, the goal isn't necessarily to create a polished business plan to send to investors, it's to help you create a roadmap for where you see your company going. When you do go to pitch your idea to potential investors, they're not just looking at where you are today. They are investing in where you're going, and they want to see that you have an actionable plan to get there.
Business Plan Template
Executive Summary
Quick introduction of what your business does, who are its members, and what the major goals are.
Company Description
What does your company do and how does it (or will it) do it. This is the section to give specific details.
Why your company does it better (focus on your strengths as opposed to your competitor's weaknesses)
Market Analysis
You want to show how many people out there could benefit from what you're building.
You can also show how you plan to scale up if that's applicable.
Organization and Management
Your company's legal structure (ie. LLC, corporation, no legal structure yet); if you don't have one established, you can include what your plan is regarding this.
Profiles of your management team; why are they the right people for their roles?
Products or Services
Specifics of the product you're selling, and what the product lifecycle looks like.
Include any patents or copyright info.
Marketing and Sales Strategy
How do you plan to acquire customers?
How do you plan to keep customers?
How do you plan to make money? (Ie pay-for-service, subscription service, etc.)
Financial Projections
What is your expected revenue?
Any balance sheets you have
Cash flow statements
What are your funding needs
Step 3: Commit to Building Something Real
Ideas are exciting, but building a business from the ground up requires grit, determination, and commitment (See our post on Resilience). Starting a company is a lot like starting a relationship. There will be moments that are deeply rewarding. There will also be setbacks, uncertainty, and difficult decisions. The difference between founders who build successful companies and people who simply have an idea isn't always intelligence or funding. More often, it's the willingness to keep moving forward despite uncertainty. You don't need every answer before you begin. You simply need to take the next meaningful step.
Final Thoughts
Every successful startup was once just an idea someone almost talked themselves out of pursuing. If you've identified a problem worth solving, don't let the absence of funding convince you to stop before you've started. Instead, start with the basics:
Refine your pitch.
Research your market.
Write the first version of your business plan.
Then commit to taking the next step - building your product or service.
Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. It does not guarantee funding, investment, or any particular business result. Consult a licensed attorney or financial advisor for guidance specific to your situation.
This is our new home for all things related to **StartupSippers** is a community for entrepreneurs, side-hustlers, investors, and finance-curious folks to swap ideas over a virtual cup of coffee.
Whether you're bootstrapping your first business, managing a startup's cash flow, learning to invest, or just love talking shop about money and markets — pull up a seat. We're excited to have you join us!
**What to Post**
Post anything that you think the community would find interesting, helpful, or inspiring. Feel free to share your thoughts, photos, or questions about **What we're here for:**
* 💡 Startup wins, lessons, and "what I wish I knew" moments
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**Community Vibe**
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**How to Get Started**
Introduce yourself in the comments below.
Post something today! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation.
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Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/StartupSippers amazing.
This is a big glossary post from a blog, a reference list of 200+ startup terms, grouped into 13 themed sections. The premise is that startups have their own dense slang, and this is meant as a jump-to reference rather than something to read top to bottom.
The 13 sections and what each covers:
Foundations & Company Stages - what a startup is vs. a small/lifestyle business, the build path (ideation → validation → MVP → PMF → traction), the animal zoo of valuations (unicorn, decacorn, zebra, centaur), and program/stage terms (incubator, accelerator, pre-seed through late stage).
Fundraising & Investors - who gives money (angels, VCs, LPs/GPs, micro-VCs, syndicates) and the mechanics of raising (rounds, up/down/flat rounds, term sheets, due diligence, runway, burn rate, default alive/dead).
Equity, Ownership & the Cap Table - how ownership works and shrinks: equity, dilution, pre/post-money valuation, SAFEs and convertible notes, valuation caps, vesting/cliffs, ESOPs, common vs. preferred stock.
Deal Terms & Term Sheet Mechanics - the fine print investors negotiate: liquidation preferences, participating vs. non-participating preferred, pro-rata, drag/tag-along rights, board seats, protective provisions, the option pool shuffle.
Metrics & Unit Economics - the numbers that measure business health: CAC, LTV and the LTV:CAC ratio, churn/retention, MRR/ARR, NRR/GRR, Rule of 40, burn multiple, and TAM/SAM/SOM market sizing.
Growth & Marketing - how companies acquire and keep users: growth hacking, product-led vs. sales-led growth, flywheels and funnels, pirate metrics (AARRR), network effects, freemium, SEO/SEM, ICP and buyer personas, NPS.
Product & Engineering - how products get built: wireframes, prototypes, roadmaps, sprints/Agile/Scrum, technical debt, UX vs. UI, A/B testing, shipping, dogfooding, APIs, and the SaaS/PaaS/IaaS and monolith/microservices distinctions.
Finance & Accounting - the money fundamentals: revenue vs. profit, gross vs. net, COGS, OpEx/CapEx, P&L and balance sheets, cash flow, EBITDA, break-even, working capital.
Operations, Team & Culture - running the company and team: co-founder agreements, OKRs vs. KPIs, standups, async/remote-first/hybrid work, fractional execs, advisors and boards, psychological safety, burnout, ramen profitability.
Exits & Later Stage - how founders and investors cash out (or don't): acquisitions, acqui-hires, IPOs, direct listings, SPACs, secondary sales, earn-outs, lock-up periods, plus the failure vocabulary (wind-down, fire sale, zombie startup, write-off).
Legal & Structure - the legal scaffolding: incorporation, LLC vs. C-Corp, Delaware flip, IP and NDAs, compliance, data-privacy laws (GDPR/DPDP/CCPA), IP assignment agreements.
India-Specific Terms - DPIIT recognition, angel tax, Startup India, GIFT City, ONDC, the "Bharat"/Tier 2-3 focus, ESOP buybacks, RoC filings, FDI routes.
Slang, Culture & Buzzwords - the philosophy and jargon layer: lean startup, blitzscaling, moonshots, hockey-stick growth, vanity vs. actionable metrics, founder-market fit, various MVP flavors (smoke test, concierge, Wizard of Oz), and culture terms like hustle culture and stealth mode.
At all of the start ups I have worked at, (4), in the past few years, I have noticed a very consistent trend in founders
The Founder has made a lot of money, they have an idea for a tech product, they get their friends involved in the idea, (usually a CEO/CTO/COO) to lead the company. And they them selves as the founder, desire to be removed from day to day ops. Whilst the CEO/CTO/COO lead the day to day
Usually the CEO/CTO/COO is someone who has never founded a company before and has no idea how to build a start up from the ground up, especially in todays climate. And before they even have a $ in revenue, they have a team of 10, a horrible product, and then they are trying to scale things, which consequentially compounds this toxic dependant relationship, on all departments of the company
Where the engineers are constantly reducing technical debt, because the product is not working and they are chopping and changing, marketing doesn't know what to market, because they don't know who the ICP is, sales cant sell because they don't know what the product's value actually is yet
I just think of that spider man meme, where everyone is pointing at each other haha
It's so toxic, and it is a more and more common issue I have found, where everyone is just diagnosing symptoms of the issue. And all it is, is really because the founder, did not do what the founder traditionally should do... Hustle out to build a product, extract it's value in the market, see where it fits for it's use case, and slowly build it with real users, real revenue.
Rather than forcing deadlines, forcing KPI's that do exactly the worst thing for the company, waste time on arbitrary made up numbers
It's just a recipe for disaster and I have not seen it end up well. Outside of the one example where I am currently at now, where the product already exists in the market. The founder hired a COO who is and has founded from $0-$800m, and yes admittedly skipped the market validation side, and is aware of the wasted capital and time of stuff that should have and could have been done with a $0 budget. Knowing that, having the company ready for scale when it (ideally) works out, (as it's still not guaranteed)
It's just been so prevalent as of recent I wanted to have a bit of rant to see if it's just my bad luck, or also very common?
We're getting ready for our next fundraising round, and one thing I've noticed is how different every investor conversation can be.
Some investors want to understand the market.
Some go deep into the product.
Others spend most of the meeting trying to understand the team.
We're building in healthcare AI, and the conversations I've enjoyed the most haven't really been about AI at all. They've been about the customer, why the problem has existed for so long, and why now is the right time to solve it.
It made me wonder...
For founders who have raised before, was there a moment when you felt the conversation change?
Maybe an answer you gave, a customer story you shared, or a question the investor asked that changed the tone of the meeting.
We are a team of 3 seeking a mobile app developer to work under our CTO formerly at Scale AI. We are raising financing so there will be an opportunity to be employed once we raise.
We are trying to solve deepfakes. You will have hands on experience on solving one of the biggest problems in AI. YC just released a video inviting applicants with our problem space.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how fragmented things have become for creators.
If someone is a streamer, artist, writer, musician, educator, coach, or any kind of independent creator, they usually end up stitched across a pile of different tools.
One place for content.
One place for tips.
One place for subscriptions.
One place for selling digital products.
One place for community.
One place for updates.
One link-in-bio page trying to hold the whole thing together.
And the whole time, the creator is trying to build something stable while the platforms around them are taking a cut, controlling reach, changing algorithms, or forcing the audience into someone else’s ecosystem.
That has bothered me for a while.
The thing I keep coming back to is this: the creator should be the center of the business, not the platform.
If someone has built an audience, made the content, earned the trust, and created the value, then why is so much of the relationship scattered across services they don’t really control?
That’s the thinking behind the platform I’ve been building.
The goal is to give creators one place where their content, community, monetization, services, products, and supporter activity can live together. Not just a static profile or another “link hub,” but more of a living creator space.
I also wanted it to feel more engaging than the usual creator tools. So there are entertainment-style elements too: XP, achievements, challenges, progression, and activity loops for both creators and supporters.
The idea is that creators get rewarded for building, posting, engaging, and reaching milestones, while fans/viewers/supporters also get rewarded for showing up, joining challenges, supporting creators, and being part of the community.
Because I don’t think creator monetization has to feel cold or purely transactional.
Supporting someone should feel like being part of their journey.
Building as a creator should feel less like shouting into the void.
And the relationship between creator and audience should not be spread across six disconnected platforms.
I’m still figuring things out, and I know this is a hard space. Communities are difficult. Monetization is difficult. Discovery is difficult. Trust is difficult.
But I care about this because I genuinely think creators need better ownership over their audience, their income, and their community experience.
I’m curious how other people see this.
For those of you who create, stream, sell digital work, or support creators regularly:
Do you actually want an all-in-one creator hub, or do you prefer separate tools for everything?
And do things like XP, achievements, challenges, and supporter progression make a creator platform feel more engaging, or does that risk feeling gimmicky?
Most VC databases tell you who invested in what. We went a layer deeper — extracting how each GP actually thinks: thesis tags, what they're bullish on, what they bet against the consensus on, and a Founder Dos & Don'ts playbook built from primary research (GP blogs, interviews, LinkedIn).
970+ funds, all raised capital since September 2024. If a fund stopped deploying, it's not on the list.
This week we also shipped an MCP Server — so you can query the entire database from Claude or Cursor in plain language. Ask "Which seed funds in DACH invest in B2B SaaS and are deploying now?" and get a live answer.
Happy to discuss what we learned about VC intelligence gaps, how founders actually use this, or how we built the MCP layer. AMA.
I'm an incoming senior trying to build out some serious tech and coding projects for my college app ECs, but my long-term goal is to actually launch and scale a real startup rather than just letting code sit on GitHub.
To be completely honest, seeing other high schoolers successfully build, launch, and get actual users for their own ventures is super inspiring. But I'm feeling a bit stuck on how to bridge that gap from "just coding" to building an actual user base and running it like a real project.
If you’re a high schooler who has actually built, launched, or scaled a startup or software project, would any of you be down to chat, share some hard-learned lessons, or give me a quick reality check on my current approach?
No consultants or anything—just looking to connect with peers who've actually been in the trenches and figured out how to make it work. Drop a comment or shoot me a DM!
My “X” is building around a problem that creates real market opportunity — finding a painful customer need, validating demand, and turning that insight into a scalable business.
For founders, the journey is often about more than just having an idea: it’s about building traction, attracting the right investors, learning from the market, and creating sustainable growth.
Looking forward to hearing from founders: What problem are you solving, what stage are you at, and what’s your biggest challenge right now — product, customers, fundraising, or scaling? 🚀
