#Featured

3 min

Navigating the Great Resignation

Navigating “The Great Resignation” and Lessons from a Lighter Capital portfolio company, by Melissa Widner, CEO Lighter Capital Nothing strikes terror in the heart of a company leader more than the prospect of losing valuable team members. The US has been in the “great resignation” since late 2020. According to the most recent JOLTS report, a record number of 4.3 million Americans left their jobs in December 2021. I assumed the CEO role at Lighter Capital in September 2020.

4 min

Client Spotlight

2021 Deal Roundup

2021 has been a very exciting year for Lighter Capital. We are proud and privileged to assist all of the companies that we provided capital and support to this year. With non-dilutive transparent financing, all of our clients can keep their equity, board seats, and vision intact and face no hidden costs or fees. We really appreciate and value our returning clients. Time and time again, clients seek additional funding from us because they truly value growth capital on their o

2 min

Tech & Tools

How to Easily Forecast Recurring Revenue Using Clockwork

Clockwork made a solution for forecasting and modeling recurring revenue. Startup founders will want to see how easy it is!

2 min

Events

Inaugural Founder and CEO Summit 2021: More Than Money

With over 10 years of providing revenue-based financing to our clients, we’ve built an impressive portfolio network of SaaS businesses. We take pride in helping our clients succeed. In an effort to give more than money (and partner perks), we are prioritizing community. The launch of our Inaugural Founder and CEO Summit was the first of many in-person events to educate and foster connections between entrepreneurs. Lighter Capital Founder and CEO Summit 2021 “Real people with

4 min

Trends

What Startups Need to Know About Seeking Financing During the Pandemic

In the midst of this global pandemic, startups are working tirelessly to keep their business running. For many, that means securing financing that will help to maintain business continuity today and also extend to future planning. The health of your business is more important than ever, and the capital choices you make now will have a lasting impact on the trajectory of your company. The pressure’s on, but this is not the time to rush blindly into a financing deal that may no

4 min

Trends

7 Ways Your Startup Can Thrive In A Tough Economy

In the span of a few short months, the entire global economy has changed. The way we work has changed. Even the way we live our daily lives has changed. It’s like there has been a huge tectonic shift in every aspect of life and business. Nobody knows with any certainty what the “new normal” is going to look like, whenever it finally arrives. What we do know is that many businesses will survive this economic turmoil just as they have in the past, and when the opportunity prese

4 min

Funding & Finance

Considering a Business Loan? Don’t Ignore the True Cost of Capital

When considering a business loan to finance your capital needs, you’ll no doubt encounter a number of funding options. There are several types of loan options that provide business owners with cash quickly to help them meet a short-term need for capital, but there are a number of elements you need to examine to better understand the true cost of capital. What to look out for when seeking a business loan Annual percentage rate Naturally, one of the first things you look at is

8 min

Sales & Marketing

An Intro to SaaS Sales: Sales Cycles, Commission Rates, Models, and Metrics

The most important thing you can do for your SaaS company when you’re starting out is to lay down solid foundations for success. This means not only having a thorough understanding of SaaS sales cycles, models, and metrics, but also knowing how to apply that knowledge in a manner that fosters a state of growth for your startup. It can be time-consuming and confusing – but having a detailed roadmap to follow can save a ton of headaches further down the track. You’ll never have

12 min

People & Culture

On Being a Startup CEO – Roles, Responsibilities and Priorities

Over the years, I have mentored a number of startup CEOs, and I’ve been one myself for over 30 years. I’ve made numerous mistakes over those 30+ years and have seen others in the same position making the same mistakes. In my mentoring role, I’ve been able to help CEOs and executive teams struggling with issues that seem to follow the role no matter what the company does. There’s a remarkable similarity in what I had to go through and learn as a CEO and what I am now helping o

5 min

CFO Insights

Alternatives to Venture Capital: Debt Capital vs. Private Equity [Infographic]

“I have built my company and have a shipping product or service. I have revenue. Are there alternatives to Venture Capital? Should I fund my startup with debt capital?” Well first, congratulations for getting to an actual shipping product or service! Having paying customers is huge if you have gotten to this point without having to give much of your company away to investors. Maybe you got here with just your own money, friends and family money or a seed investment. Having re

6 min

Accounting & Taxes

Why Fast Growing Startups Can’t Ignore Good Old Fashioned Bookkeeping

Startup founders have a million things on their minds: building a product, hiring a team, raising money, getting that early traction, figuring out how to scale, or frantically throwing water on whatever metaphorical fires are inevitably burning. Compared to those things that are clearly existential in importance — failure on any one can be the end of your company — keeping accurate books can seem a bit mundane, and something that a founder can outsource and call it good. But

2 min

Funding & Finance

When Opportunity Comes Knocking, Fast Funding Opens the Door

We live in a hyper-connected and fast-twitch world, so why does it seem that funding your growing tech business happens at the speed of clunky typewriters? In our daily lives, delay can be annoying and frustrating. But for entrepreneurs who are out hustling to land business deals, waiting months to receive funding can mean the difference between hockey-stick growth and failure. When Speed Matters horribly slow, inefficient, and distracting process. You can easily spend six, n

6 min

Startup Law

Equity Compensation for Startup Employees: Top Mistakes to Avoid

Equity compensation is a great recruiting tool and an effective employee retention strategy for startups and early stage companies. You might even say it is a critical tool. And it isn’t that difficult to deploy. However, there are a lot of rules you have to follow to do this correctly (federal and state securities laws; corporate law; tax law, etc.). From a public policy point of view, many of these rules ought to be revisited and re-imagined. And in fact, the SEC’s Advisory

3 min

Funding & Finance

Capital-as-a-Service: A Partnership Model to Help Startups Grow

Imagine that you run a SaaS startup and want to secure funding quickly online. You want the application process to be simple and the payment plan to accommodate the ebbs and flows of your SaaS business. You want follow-on funding to be available, potentially many times. And most importantly, you want to maintain full ownership of your company and not be pressured to run it a certain way or grow at a certain rate. Enter Capital-as-a-Service, a form of funding that leverages te

5 min

People & Culture

When to Hire Your First Employee (And Who to Hire First)

There are several sets of questions that face every startup entrepreneur in the early days of their business adventure. These include: When do I hire my first employee? Who do I hire first? What or how do I pay my employees? When do I start thinking about raising money, and from whom? No situation is the same. In this scenario, we will assume that you have a great idea, some mad skills and you are seriously wondering what to do next. In the first article in this series, I tal

4 min

Funding & Finance

How to Attract Investors with an Irresistible Story that Makes Your Company Shine

If you’re an avid reader of The Startup Finance Blog, you should know by now what financial metrics and growth metrics to focus on in your startup, and how to create solid financials projections. Once you’re mentally prepared for fundraising and armed with the right documents that show you’re on top of your game and properly managing your business finances, you’ll still need to attract investors by telling a great story. Your initial encounter with an investor or lender may c

5 min

Startup Leadership

Starting a Company? Here’s What to Do First

Every entrepreneur has questions when starting a company. There are several sets of questions that every startup entrepreneur will face in the early days of starting a company. Typically the first question when starting a company is, “What do I do first?” Others questions include, “When do I start hiring? Who do I hire first and what do I pay them? When do I start thinking about raising money, and from whom?” While there are no standard answers to any of these questions when

6 min

People & Culture

How to Hire Sales Reps for a Startup and Ensure Their Success

“Every person in your company is a vector. Your progress is determined by the sum of all vectors.” – Elon Musk Sustainable growth is essential for your startup. Whether you’ve signed up your first three customers or your first three hundred, you’ll eventually get to a point where you feel it’s time to hire your first sales reps to keep the momentum going. It’s a daunting thought for many founders. If you are doing research on how to hire sales reps for a startup, there are a

3 min

Accounting & Taxes

Silicon Valley Likes Section 1045 Exchanges: Rollovers of Gain from QSBS

You might have heard of tax free rollovers. And you might be familiar with Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, which allows you to rollover your gain on the sale of investment or commercial real estate if you buy a new property within a certain amount of time. But have you heard of Section 1045 exchanges? 1031 exchanges are for real estate. 1045 exchanges are for startup company stock. If you are in startup land, you should know about 1045 exchanges. Section 1045 of th

5 min

People & Culture

Why Teams Fail, Part 5: Personal Status Can Kill a Results-Focused Workplace

Another way to phrase this final dysfunction is this: if the team doesn’t feel accountable to each other for the process and results because they aren’t really committed to the cause, and that lack of commitment is because they didn’t really participate in the open and honest conversation because they didn’t really trust that their honest input would be taken the way it was intended and not personally, then why on earth would they give a damn about the results? That’s a lot t

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