Hi everyone. This is such an amazing topic. It reminds me of my business and how I started. I have received several emails, suggestions and lot of questions on how to start up a business, most especially during COVID19. Some people are tired of a paying job and they feel they deserve to be self employed, some are even scared of what may happen to their jobs after the Corona virus pandemic. Some don’t just know how. Some ask questions like I have an idea but how do I convert it into a selling product that will yield massive return? How do I get started with my business? Some even get discouraged with the saying that most business fails and they wouldn’t want to risk it, this and that.

Things you need to know before starting a business:
1) Develop your income skill first to be an entrepreneur. Remember the reward of small business ownership are not instantenous, so you need to be patient and willing to make sacrifices.

Questions to ask yourself as an entrepreneur: How much does it cost for rent? What’s my population? Who are my suppliers? Who are my competitors? What is my market strategy? How much cash flow do I have to sustain the business?

2) Dont start a business if you dont understand the industry. Ask your self these questions why you and why now, for example if you want to open a restaurant why dont you work in a restaurant for a while to understand how the industry work.
Don’t start a business if you want more free time: No free time for entrepreneurs only if your company has blossom
So ask your self this question are you actually ready to be an entrepreneur.

Well. Having look at a summary of what we will be dealing with. It is important to know that everything about life is taking risk. But it is advantageous to take calculated risk. Even when you travel you are taking risk. So let’s get to the topic.

How to start a business from scratch.

1) Start with an idea: The first step is having an idea. Well someone may ask a question like I don’t know how to come up with an idea, what should I do? The simple answer is think and if you can’t dedicate time for researching or reading, read books and materials that interest you and don’t be among folks who have this believe that everything that is needed has been created by people, so why do I disturb myself.

That’s a terrible mindset which could be worked on. Ideas comes when you change your mindset by thinking as a success. Get a book on something you admire and always ask yourself is there any problem you can create solution to. Look at yourself and ask what do I wish was in this world that could of impact. Challenge yourself at all times. Idea could be in two face; Creativity and innovation. Creativity is coming up with something that isn’t in existence, while Innovation is developing what is in existence but modifying it in a better way.

Okay. So we are starting with an idea in this section. Having idea is great but not all ideas turns out to be superb or worth implementing. So you have to research about your ideas, carry out a feasibility study and see how realistic it is. Play with your idea, Google your idea to see if anyone is currently doing it. Ask yourself can I convert this idea to business. Mind you when we talk business, we lay great emphasis on value. You should be more focused on value when starting up a business and consider profit too, but most importantly focus on Value.

In summary, you should focus on the big 4, when making your idea a reality.

• Research about it?
• Is it successful?
• Is there competition?
• Is the market saturated?
• How are you going to beat your competitors.

At this point two things should be in your mind while brainstorming. If you want your business to succeed, you have to be different or to be better than the rest. Maybe you want to start a cookies business, been better means that your prices are lower or the cookies taste better. While been different means that you are unique, maybe your company has defined look and size of the cookies, but your company allows your consumer to design their own cookies and buy them afterwards.

Another point to note is how much value you bring your consumers?

Do you bring more value than your competitors? The more value your product or service offers the easier it will be further down the road. So you should analyze your idea and the market and also state how it should work.

2) Build your idea into reality. This is where most people get stuck, they just come up with idea and never act upon them. Having idea is great but it means nothing if you never make it a reality. It is so important to get started. It’s far better to try it and fail than not to try at all. Believe that you will figure it out as you go.

When you get to work on your ideas, you will face obstacles that you might have never thought of and you will be forced to come up with new solutions to overcome those obstacles. As a result, your ideas will change and modify into something very different than when you first started. Always learn new things everyday.

People get discouraged because they feel their ideas is not good and it will fail. Just like Thomas Edison said, it’s not failure, it’s just finding out different ways that don’t work.

3) Text your Ideas:.

• Get feedback.
• Adapt and change.
• Repeat the process.

A lot of people make this mistake, they build their business without testing and they think since they have spent too much time on the business people must like it. Build something as fast as possible, show it to people, get their feedback, adapt and change then repeat the process.

4) Building a business without money: Building business without money can be a little bit tough. A simple advise to get started is build your idea around your skills and knowledge. If you are good at marketing, you start drop shipping, affiliate marketing. If you are good at cooking start a cooking business. For me I am good at making natural soap that tone skin, remove stretch marks and pimples. So building my business on this was very easy.

I would like you to know that not every business can be started without money. This is no big deal actually because there are lots of opportunities to get your business started which includes; finding investors online or venture capitalist, crowd funding, getting capital or supports from friends and families. However, you need to come up with a compelling idea and an outstanding business proposal.

So after this, build your idea which is within your skills and knowledge online. You can start with YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp. Simply use your skill to give your audience value. After that monetize your audience and continue to grow

It is important to note that not all business can be started without money. For business idea that requires huge capital, you need to find investors online or around you, a venture capitalist. Support from friends and families. However, you need a compelling idea and an outstanding business proposal that cover the interest of the investors and as well as the organization.

It is possible to start a business without money, the only thing holding you back is your creativity and willingness to start. The business you see around was created by a person who are in no way smarter than you. If they can do it, you can. Don’t let your mindset restrict you.

Procedures to take in order to start your business:

• Idea Generation: That is strategizing and carrying out feasibility study on how realistic your business is.
• Write a business proposal: Write a detailed proposal that would cover your vision statement, mission Statement, goals and objectives, your marketing strategy and lot more. If you have a problem up with a business proposal, you can comment below.

2) Obtain Startup Capital or leverage on your skills and knowledge.

3) Set up a legal business stature.

4) Satisfy business licensing requirements.

5) Establish a web presence.

6) Open a bank account for your business

7) Have mentors, lawyer who could get help from.

8) Follow Government rules.

I am very sure you all have an idea on what to do and how to do it. You can comment below to express your view on the topic. Stay safe guys.

CRV has secured $750 million toward the 55-year-old venture firm’s twentieth flagship fund, it announced on Friday.

The new fund is smaller than the $1 billion early-stage fund CRV closed in the fall of 2022. At that time, the firm also announced a $500 million second Select fund, a capital pool for backing late-stage rounds of existing portfolio companies.

It’s no surprise that CRV is not raising a late-stage fund as part of its new fundraise. Last year, the firm told The New York Times it was returning $275 million from its $500 million Select fund to investors. The firm explained that it would not be raising another late-stage vehicle because follow-on rounds for many of its companies would lower its overall returns.

CRV’s limited partners were eager to back the firm’s smaller fund, the firm said. It raised its entire $750 million fund in just four weeks, with demand for double that amount, CRV wrote.

The latest fund will be used to invest in seed and Series A startups and it will focus on backing consumer and devtools companies.

CRV is known for leading DoorDash’s seed financing and the Series A rounds for both Mercury and Vercel, a cloud platform for web developers, which was last valued at $3.25 billion.

Since its founding in 1970, CRV has backed over 750 startups, with 80 of them eventually going public.

The firm’s latest investments include CodeRabbit, a startup for AI code review, and Outtake, a company that uses AI for cybersecurity.

Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr has raised $100 million in an all-equity Series B round led by General Catalyst, as the startup aims to boost its R&D and local production capabilities amid growing demand for drones in battlefields and for border surveillance.

Drones are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in global military operations. In recent and ongoing conflicts, countries have turned to drones for rapid infiltration and high-impact strikes. The recent India-Pakistan war is a prime example, with both militaries deploying drones at scale despite having advanced fighter jets and missile systems. The conflict spurred New Delhi to triple its drone spending to $470 million over the next 12 to 14 months, according to the Drone Federation of India, an association representing over 550 companies.

While China remains the dominant force in global drone manufacturing, Raphe mPhibr aims to strengthen India’s indigenous drone capabilities.

Co-founded by siblings Vikash Mishra (chairman) and Vivek Mishra (CEO) in 2017, the Noida-based startup currently offers nine different drones with payloads ranging from 4.4 pounds to 441 pounds, covering an average distance of between 12 and 124 miles. These drones include the mR10 operational drone swarm, the mR20 for high-altitude logistics resupply, the X8 compact platform for maritime patrol and situational awareness at sea, and the Bharat lightweight man-carried drone for quick surveillance in complex terrain.

The startup has more than 10 customers, all of which are Indian government agencies, including the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as armed police forces such as the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

The Mishra brothers conceptualized Raphe mPhibr in 2016 while Vikash was studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Vivek was at the Georgia Institute of Technology. For the initial three to four years, the co-founders focused on understanding the operational needs of the defense forces, along with other requirements, such as environmental and terrain considerations. Then they began building multicopters to meet the needs of the Indian troops, gradually expanding to fixed-wing and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

“In the process, we understood that since the need is new and the area is niche, we focused on both research and manufacturing because we didn’t want to be constrained by what [already existed],” Vivek said in an interview.

The startup began its journey with a 2,000-square-foot research facility in 2017 but expanded to a 100,000-square-foot combined research and manufacturing facility. This has now been expanded to a 650,000-square-foot facility as a result of the fresh capital infusion, which also saw the participation of its existing investor Think Investments.

“From day one, we have been against the transfer of technology,” Vivek told TechCrunch.

Raphe mPhibr domestically produces its flight controllers, batteries, and all components and materials required to build drone structures, including subtractive metals, thermoplastics, carbon fiber composites, and even wire harnesses. It also develops proprietary autopilots and inertial navigation systems at its facility. However, the startup imports radars and high-end cameras, which it also plans to manufacture in-house within 18 months.

Vivek told TechCrunch that the startup does not rely on China for any of the components it uses, thereby avoiding some supply chain challenges.

“The biggest challenge was setting up the facility and doing research,” he said. “Because doing research in India is slightly more expensive compared to the U.S., just because the infrastructure is quite well set up there … getting the machinery is a challenge, installation, and commissioning is a challenge, and then operating it, again, is a challenge because finding the people who can operate these is hard.”

Raphe mPhibr has addressed some of these hurdles by focusing on training and developing its employees from its early days, he added.

The startup also utilizes AI on its drones for object detection in surveillance scenarios, automatically switching between frequency bands to adapt to electronic warfare and employing operational UAV swarm intelligence to make decentralized decisions using AI.

In recent months, Raphe mPhibr has partnered with Germany’s Hensoldt and France’s Safran to collaborate on developing new sensors, as well as with France’s Dassault Systèmes for software simulation requirements.

Raphe mPhibr also plans to expand beyond India and enter new markets. To this end, it has already participated in defense air shows, including those in Dubai and Paris.

Vivek told TechCrunch that the startup already has some export licenses and is seeking more but declined to share specifics.

“There are very advanced talks happening with a few government agencies across the world, and very soon, hopefully, this year, we will start delivering there as well,” he said.

In the past 12 months, Raphe mPhibr has sold over 300 drones and has experienced up to 4x revenue growth over the last four years, Vivek said, without disclosing specific numbers. He also stated that the startup has been profitable for each of the last four years and is projected to go public within the next two to five years.

Raphe mPhibr has around 600 employees, with 150 dedicated to research and over 250 to production. To date, the startup has secured a total of $145 million in equity funding.