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Index
Cover
Praise for The Customer-Funded Business
Title Page
Copyright
Why This Book?
Chapter 1: Craving Crowdfunding? Pandering to VCs? Groveling to Your CFO?: The Magic of Traction and the Customer-Funded Revolution
A Customer-Funded Model
Customer Funding: The Vermas Are Not Alone
A Problem: Financing Your Startup
A Solution: The Magic of Traction
Customer-Funded Models: The Five Types
What Customer-Funded Models Have in Common
Craving Crowdfunding? What This Book Is—and What It's Not
Raising Capital Too Early: The Drawbacks Explained
An Even Bigger Drawback: Bad Odds!
So, Why Now? Is a Customer-Funded Revolution at Hand?
Is Customer Funding the Right Approach for Every Venture?
When Customer Funding Goes Wrong
The Vermas: The Rest of the Story
What Angel Investors Will Want to Know—and Will Ask
The Road Ahead
Chapter 2: Customer-Funded Models: Mirage or Mind-Set? Old or New?
Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures: Nothing New
From Dormitory Room to Dominance: The Customer-Funded Origins of Dell
Banana Republic: From the Short-Armed Spanish Paratrooper Shirt to Trend-Setting Fashion Retailer
Customer Funding: Mirage or Mind-Set?
What Angel Investors Will Want to Know—and Will Ask
Questions about You As an Individual
Questions about Your Business Sense
Questions about Your Target Markets and Marketing
The Entrepreneurial Process
Chapter 3: Buyers and Sellers, but Not Your Goods: Matchmaker Models
From Airbeds on the Floor to Silicon Valley Darling: Airbnb
Matchmaking Works for Dogs, Too: DogVacay
A Missed Opportunity for a Customer-Funded Matchmaker Model: ProFounder
What Angel Investors Will Want to Know—And Will Ask
A Question for Your Angel Investor: Can They Follow Their Money and Lead You to More?
Making Matchmaker Models Work
Chapter 4: Ask for the Cash: Pay-in-Advance Models
From a T-Shirt Design Competition to Crowdsourcing Poster Child: Threadless
Bringing India's Mom-and-Pop Travel Agents into the Twenty-First Century: Via.com
Loot Stores: From Small Consignment Retailer to 155 Stores—and Back Again!
What Angel Investors Will Want to Know—and Will Ask
Making Pay-in-Advance Models Work: Ask for the Cash, and for Good Terms, Too!
Chapter 5: Recurring Revenue: Subscription and SaaS Models
Subscription Models for Software: SaaS
Educating the World from India: TutorVista
Petals for the People and H.Bloom: Two Startups Come Together
When Subscription Models Fail
What Angel Investors Will Want to Know—and Will Ask
Making Subscription and SaaS Models Work: Final Lessons
Chapter 6: Sell Less, Earn More: Scarcity and Flash Sales Models
Vente-privee Invents the Flash Sales Model
Gilt Groupe: Large, Capital Efficient, and Growing, but Profitable?
Totsy and Zulily: Flash Sales for Little Kids' Moms
Lot18: Flash Sales for Wine
Flash Sales: A Difficult Game
What Angel Investors Will Want to Know—and Will Ask
Making Scarcity Models Work: Three Final Lessons
Chapter 7: Build It for One, Then Sell It to All: Service-to-Product Models
From Services to Products at Microsoft
GoViral Goes Viral
From Typewriters and Carbon Paper to SaaS: Rock Solid
How Else Might You Scale Your Services Business? QuEST Global Services
What Angel Investors Will Want to Know—and Will Ask
Making Service-to-Product Models Work
Chapter 8: Make It Happen: Put a Customer-Funded Model to Work in Your Business
Not Only for Startups: What Should I Do Now?
Implementation: The When, the How, and the Likely Pitfalls of Each of the Five Models
Points of Departure for Your Customer-Funded Journey
So, What Are You Waiting For? Why Not Now?
Acknowledgments
Notes
About the Research
About the Author
Index
End User License Agreement
Table 1.1
Table 1.2
Figure 1.1
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