Sample Questions and Issues
The Backstage Answer Vault and Video Chat libraries (video library launches in August 2024) initially cover over a hundred typical questions and issues about business formation, launch, funding, growth and market insights in many key industries and segments, including the 50 samples below, and many more:
- Where and when should I form a company?
- Proprietorship, LLC or corporation - plusses and minuses?
- Operating Agreements, By Laws and Board Actions: Are there some tips on these?
- What are some funding how-tos?
- What, in general, do investors look for?
- What are some common barriers for investors?
- How do I establish a defensible valuation?
- What are Regulation D and Sec 4a2 in fundraising?
- Do I need (or want) an Exit Strategy?
- Is crowdfunding a good option for me?
- What is the SEC's Regulation Crowdfunding and how does it work?
- What do I need to know about PPMs and Subscription Agreements?
- Will I need a full Business Plan or is a pitch deck enough?
- Ideally, what should be covered in a Business Plan?
- What separates a "Business Plan" from a fundable "Investment Plan"?
- What are some Pitch Deck "dos" (i.e., best practices)?
- Are there Pitch Deck don'ts?
- For websites, are there some best practices?
- Executives: What are the best types and the "not so best"?
- Consultants: Will I need one, or more, and what for?
- Lawyers: Will I need one, or more, and what for?
- Trademarks: Will I need one and what does it do for me?
- Patents: Should I/can I patent my concept or parts of it?
- Copyright, trade secrets, NDAs and MTAs: What are a few tips?
- Financial modeling: How necessary is this?
- Financial modeling: Are there any few rules of thumb?
- What are the benefits of a P&L vs. Balance Sheet and Cash Flow statements?
- How do I not get sued by disgruntled funders: Or, more importantly, how do I not lose?
- How can I/Should I try to utilize AI concepts (20 or more topics, see link)?
- Entertainment Industry subjects (20 or more topics, see link).
- CRE/Ag-Big Ag/Cannabis subjects (20 or more topics, see link).
- Tech platform subjects (20 or more topics, see link).
- How should founding team bios and team histories best be presented?
- What are the most common mistakes to watch out for?
- Potential future problems: How do I identify and address these?
- Is my marketing plan sufficient to pass muster with investors, other potential stakeholders and, most importantly, customers?
- Have I adequately identified the real market opportunity?
- Have I properly stated what is wrong with the market that my business model can fix?
- How can I know and show that my lead founder skills are comprehensive and demonstrate that I'm the right person to steer the ship?
- What if my seed money came from F&F, or what if my new investors want management roles?
- Have I adequately planned for supply and demand scenarios that might not be in the company's favor)?
- How do I effectively profile the competition?
- Have I adequately anticipated moves by rivals?
- Have I adequately shown differentiation from the competition, and how do I show that customer uptake and business scaling will accelerate quickly?
- Do I have the right team, are there weaknesses in team members (e.g., buddies who don't know what they don't know), or am I valuing
friendship over performance? - Do I have the wrong seed investors (e.g., creating undue pressure to grow, undue demand for profit, or investors that don't provide value-add)?
- How can I attach experienced management members with industry experience (e.g., advisory board, mentors)?
- What happens if my customer engagement is lower than expected, or if I have a lack of uptake in the market?
- How can I assess/ensure that our products/services have solid distribution avenues?
- If my Plan A fails, should I and how do I create and move to a Plan B?