Everyone has ideas… That said, ideas do not equate to success. Execution must be your core competency.

Every day I speak with numerous entrepreneurs who have excellent ideas for companies, products, websites, really everything you could ever imagine. But, rarely do I speak with someone who has something I’ve never seen or heard of. You must set yourself ahead of the pack, figure our how you can differentiate – possibly even disrupt the market.

I take it you’re reading this blog to figure our how to take your company to the next level. To do that you probably need funding. If you’ve successfully executed on my first two “musts” above (1. having more than an idea 2. differentiate), then you’re off to a good start. You’ve probably even raised some money, or invested yourself.

When it comes to raising early stage funding nowadays, here is the bottom line – Institutional investors are not investing into just ideas; the heyday of frivolous internet startup funding is over. (You might be asking “what do you mean by an institutional investor?” Check out my blog on investors for more information…).

Institutional investors are investing into people and / or scaling. Either you or your team has done it before, and you’re just churning out another solid vision, or you have a company that has tasted its first hint of success, and you simply need money to replicate and to scale.

I wish you the best of luck in your venture, and feel free to contact me anytime with any questions on this topic.

Make it happen — Stephen S.