num_pages: 304
description: Who needs investors? More than two generations ago the venture capital community  VCs business angels incubators and others  convinced the entrepreneurial world that writing business plans and raising venture capital constituted the twin centerpieces of entrepreneurial endeavor. They did so for good the sometimes astonishing returns they've delivered to their investors and the astonishingly large companies that their ecosystem has created. But the vast majority of fast-growing companies never take any venture capital. So where does the money come from to start and grow their companies? From a much more agreeable and hospitable source their customers. That's exactly what Michael Dell Bill Gates and Banana Republic's Mel and Patricia Ziegler did to get their companies up and running and turn them into iconic brands. In The Customer Funded Business  best-selling author John Mullins uncovers five novel approaches that scrappy and innovative 21st century entrepreneurs working in companies large and small have ingeniously adapted from their predecessors like Dell Gates and the Through the captivating stories of these and other inspiring companies from around the world Mullins brings to life the five models and identifies the questions that angel or other investors will  and should!  ask of entrepreneurs or corporate innovators seeking to apply them. Drawing on in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and investors who have actually put these models to use Mullins goes on to address the key implementation issues that characterize each of the when to apply them how best to apply them and the pitfalls to watch out for. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur lacking the start-up capital you need an early-stage entrepreneur trying to get your cash-starved venture into take-off mode an intrapreneur seeking funding within an established company or an angel investor or mentor who supports high-potential ventures this book offers the most sure-footed path to starting financing or growing your venture. John Mullins is the author of The New Business Road Test and with Randy Komisar the widely acclaimed Getting to Plan B .
language: English
title: The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Company with Your Customers' Cash
publisher: Wiley