Ep. 228 – 12 Questions Every Investment Pitch Deck Must Answer – Part 1 of 4

SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 228 of the Success in Business Podcast where your host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles are getting the band back together with a great discussion on preparing to answer questions from investors! There are 12 questions every investment pitch deck must answer. We’ll break this into 4 parts. Today, in part one, we cover the first three questions:

1. What’s the big thing that you do for your customers? Meaning, what is your impact on the world and do your company’s name and tagline communicate it clearly? Here’s a great terrible example of a completely imaginary company right off the top of Jason’s head: “HydraDex – Because you shouldn’t have to.” What does this mean to you? It probably means nothing! Be sure to keep right on the forefront what you do for your customers.

2. What’s not easy for your customers to do today that you can fix? This is where you tell what you can do to improve the current market conditions.

3. How will you make your customers’ lives better? And, this is where you tell HOW.

Thanks for listening!


Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep. 227 – Insights From Crowdfunding Specialist Roy Morejon, Part 2

SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 227 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles have an incredible guest for today’s show. You are in for a real treat! We welcome back Roy Morejon, founder and President of Command Partners, which is a digital marketing agency in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their specialty is helping business owners manage their crowdfunding. They have raised over 80 million for their clients so far.

Roy Morejon, was a consultation for AOL and Microsoft as a teenager! As a 12-year-old he fell in love with AOL. (This is back when people were excited about getting e-mail. It was an event to log in and check your inbox. Now email marketing is everywhere.) He taught himself to code and hack the AOL system. He started up a little group on AOL called IQ. Eventually he was found out and he started consulting with AOL to help them fix their gaps. From there, he did some contract work for Microsoft when they were launching MSN. He realized that working for a large corporation wasn’t for him and he discovered his entrepreneurial spirit. He started his first agency in 2007.

Command Partners sets themselves apart by spending more time with their clients making sure that the manufacturing is truly teed up and ready for production so that there is no loss of trust with the community.

Tom Ryan asks Command Partners they really prepare their clients for the crowdfunding process and what business owners will they need to be ready to do, sacrifice and endure. Command Partners doesn’t just do advertising or PR; they manage all of the elements of the crowdfunding for the client. They take the ball; let them handle the anxiety and the worries for you. Request a Quote and Roy will be in touch with you.

What are the markers of a successful crowdfunding campaign? It’s getting the funding, of course, but also it is building up the initial community and getting the feedback from the beta testers. The whole idea is to get momentum faster and sometimes even fail faster if that will lead you to success sooner. Get the insight from your community before your official launch that way you are learning your lessons on a smaller scale first.

Tom and Roy discuss the difference between rewards-based crowdfunding and equity-based crowdfunding. What constitutes the right fit of business for certain types for crowdfunding. There must be a working prototype and there needs to be a marketing budget and a database of people.

So, what are the differences between the two most popular crowdfunding platforms? Kickstarter is the market leader and they have higher traffic and they are in the media more, they skew toward the male demographic. Indiegogo is the global crowdfunding platform, open to anything you want to launch including charity causes.

Check out our recent episodes to learn more about crowdfunding:

The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign – Episode 209

The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign, Part 2 – Episode 212

The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign, Part 3 – Episode 213

What You Need to Know About Equity Crowdfunding with Guest Leo John – Episode 214

Equity Crowdfunding in North Carolina – Episode 215

Thanks for listening!


You can hear more from Roy Morejon by checking out his podcast:The Art of the Kickstart.

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep. 226 – Insights From Crowdfunding Specialist Roy Morejon, Part 1

SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 226 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles have an incredible guest for today’s show. You are in for a real treat! Meet Roy Morejon, founder and President of Command Partners, which is a digital marketing agency in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their specialty is helping business owners manage their crowdfunding. They have raised over 80 million for their clients so far.

Roy Morejon, was a consultation for AOL and Microsoft as a teenager! As a 12-year-old he fell in love with AOL. (This is back when people were excited about getting e-mail. It was an event to log in and check your inbox. Now email marketing is everywhere.) He taught himself to code and hack the AOL system. He started up a little group on AOL called IQ. Eventually he was found out and he started consulting with AOL to help them fix their gaps. From there, he did some contract work for Microsoft when they were launching MSN. He realized that working for a large corporation wasn’t for him and he discovered his entrepreneurial spirit. He started his first agency in 2007.

Command Partners sets themselves apart by spending more time with their clients making sure that the manufacturing is truly teed up and ready for production so that there is no loss of trust with the community.

Tom Ryan asks Command Partners they really prepare their clients for the crowdfunding process and what business owners will they need to be ready to do, sacrifice and endure. Command Partners doesn’t just do advertising or PR; they manage all of the elements of the crowdfunding for the client. They take the ball; let them handle the anxiety and the worries for you. Request a Quote and Roy will be in touch with you.

What are the markers of a successful crowdfunding campaign? It’s getting the funding, of course, but also it is building up the initial community and getting the feedback from the beta testers. The whole idea is to get momentum faster and sometimes even fail faster if that will lead you to success sooner. Get the insight from your community before your official launch that way you are learning your lessons on a smaller scale first.

Tom and Roy discuss the difference between rewards-based crowdfunding and equity-based crowdfunding. What constitutes the right fit of business for certain types for crowdfunding. There must be a working prototype and there needs to be a marketing budget and a database of people.

So, what are the differences between the two most popular crowdfunding platforms? Kickstarter is the market leader and they have higher traffic and they are in the media more, they skew toward the male demographic. Indiegogo is the global crowdfunding platform, open to anything you want to launch including charity causes.

Check out our recent episodes to learn more about crowdfunding:

The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign – Episode 209

The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign, Part 2 – Episode 212

The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign, Part 3 – Episode 213

What You Need to Know About Equity Crowdfunding with Guest Leo John – Episode 214

Equity Crowdfunding in North Carolina – Episode 215

Thanks for listening!


You can hear more from Roy Morejon by checking out his podcast:The Art of the Kickstart.

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep. 225 – Keeping Up With Your Company’s Growth With Levi Morehouse

SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 225 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles pick up where they left off with part 3 of 3 of their conversation with guest Levi Morehouse founder and CEO of Ceterus. Ceterus an Inc. 5,000 Fastest Growing Company. You build your business. They’ll do your books.

Levi shares how he has turned his bookkeeping company into an incredible business consultant service, too because they can advice their clients so well, knowing their industry and market on a deeper level. When they acquire and begin to specialize in a new niche it takes a little bit of time for Ceterus to ramp up and that is how they can truly claim that they are proficient in that space. When the customers are really engaged, the process can be accelerated. Smart operators in that business can provide insights into the true drivers of the business and the financial markers that matter.

Ceterus has found a few niches in working with quick service and full service restaurants; health, wellness and beauty franchises like Massage Envy. They choose to stick strictly to their niches so they can only offer services that are truly the best services available.

46% of small business failure is due to are due to mismanaged book keeping or not understanding financial reporting. The biggest mistake that business owners make is that they do not have a current understanding of their financial health.

Thanks for listening!


You can hear more from Roy Morejon by checking out his podcast:The Art of the Kickstart.

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep. 220 – Startup Secret Weapon: See Risk Like an Investor Part 3

SIBP-Blog-NEW-5

Welcome to Episode 220 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan is joined by producer Jason Pyles. This episode is Part 3 of 3, where Tom shares his StartUp Secret Weapon: Approaching Risk Like An Investor.

Market risk is one of these iceberg or transformer topics where there’s more than meets the eye. But generally speaking, assessing market risk comes down to an investor believing what you’re creating will quickly solve an actual problem that’s significant and worth tackling. A problem the market will agree is worth solving.

Surprisingly, most startup business and investor pitches do a poor job of Continue reading

Ep. 219 – Startup Secret Weapon: See Risk Like an Investor Part 2

SIBP-Blog-NEW-5

Welcome to Episode 219 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan is joined by producer Jason Pyles. This episode is Part 2 of 3, where Tom shares his StartUp Secret Weapon: Approaching Risk Like An Investor.

There are four major risk categories that every entrepreneur needs to understand and to be able to reduce in order to be successful.

1) Team Risk
2) Product Risk
3) Market Risk
4) Execution Risk

Today Tom will be talking to us about Team Risk. The notion that people invest in people is never more appropriate than Continue reading

Ep. 218 – Startup Secret Weapon: See Risk Like an Investor Part 1

SIBP-Blog-NEW-3

Welcome to Episode 218 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan is joined by producer Jason Pyles. This episode is Part 1 of 3, where Tom shares his StartUp Secret Weapon: Approaching Risk Like An Investor.

There are four major risk categories that every entrepreneur needs to understand and to be able to reduce in order to be successful.

Having worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs both as an advisor and investor, Tom can confidently say that all but a few understood how to think about and manage risk when they started out.

He was in the same boat back in the early-90s when he launched his first company, but fortunately, got some great advice from a mentor that changed the way he Continue reading

Ep. 215 – Equity Crowdfunding in North Carolina

SIBP-Blog-NEW-1 Welcome to the Success in Business Podcast with your host Tom Ryan. Today in Episode 215 Tom is rejoined by producer Jason Pyles and guest Leo John, Legal Specialist with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State Securities Division.

There is no way around it: fundraising is essential to success in business. Leo John is back today to help us understand how Equity Crowd Funding compares to other types of fundraising. Have you ever wondered what the difference is between equity-based crowdfunding and other types of crowdfunding, like Kickstarter? Or, have you ever wondered how the funding caps might affect your fundraising goals? There are distinctions between federal and North Carolina crowdfunding regulations.

Learn more about Investor Protection and Education at the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. You can reach Leo John by emailing him at ljohn(AT)sosnc(DOT)gov or by phone at 919.807.2249. Thanks for listening and we’ll be back next Monday with another great episode full of business expertise!

Continue reading

Ep. 214 – What You Need to Know About Equity Crowdfunding With Guest Leo John

SIBP-Blog-NEW-1 Welcome to the Success in Business Podcast with your host Tom Ryan. Today in Episode 214 Tom is joined by producer Jason Pyles and guest Leo John, Legal Specialist with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State Securities Division.

There is no way around it: fundraising is essential to success in business. Leo John is here today to help us understand how Equity Crowd Funding compares to other types of fundraising.

Learn more about Investor Protection and Education at the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. You can reach Leo John by emailing him at ljohn(AT)sosnc(DOT)gov or by phone at 919.807.2249. Thanks for listening and we’ll be back next Monday with another great episode full of business expertise!

Continue reading

Ep. 213 – The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign, Part 3

SIBP-Blog-NEW-1 Kickstarter campaigns can be very successful if they are done right! Today in Episode 213 your host and business coach Tom Ryan discusses with Jason Pyles what makes a video effective. There are a lot of things that you need to do right to achieve that high production value in your video. Campaigns with good videos are funded twice as well according to Kickstarter.

Hiring a professional videographer is a big investment so you really want to check their portfolio and their references. Jason tells a couple of funny cautionary tales to illustrate the importance of finding good talent. If your have a tight budget for your project then Tom recommends approaching a local college or university’s Video Department.

If you have an iphone you might be surprised at the quality of the video you can shoot on this kind of device. Just make sure you have a steady hand. A perfect solution to this concern is a this GoWorx GoKnuckles Handheld Mount.

Check out an example of a great kickstarter video here.

Audio quality needs to be sharp our people will tune out. You need to make sure your subjects are properly wired and that you are using good microphones.

A great location can add so much to your video. Choose a location that is relevant to your audience.

Thanks for listening!

Links for Today’s Episode:

Kickstarter Rules

Kickstarter Success

Kickstarter Projects

Continue reading