Posts by Dan Fontaine
Guerrilla Marketing for Startups
Marketing is tricky for startups. Spending money to get the word out about your business tends to be expensive, and excess cash is usually not something that start up businesses have. TJ Muehleman and Jared Malan, founders of We&Co, say that their company doesn’t market a lot. Instead, they rely on guerrilla marketing—leveraging existing platforms…
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We&Co: Attracting Venture Capital
Startup businesses have many options for funding; We&Co co-founders TJ Muehleman and Jared Malan thought from the very beginning that the right thing for them would be venture capital and angel investment. It’s a very different model from what many small businesses need. Typically, a small business will get a loan and pay interest on…
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NOWaccount – Don’t Fall In Love With Your Startup Idea
Like all entrepreneurs, the path to startup for Lara Hodgson and NOWaccount was not a clear cut one. There were many potential dangers to navigate along the way — after all, more than 3 of 4 new startups fail. It’s easy to become overwhelmed when trying to get a new business off the ground. Lara…
Read This ArticleWe&Co – Advice for a Startup
TJ Muehleman and Jared Malan from We&Co shared some of their best advice for startup entrepreneurs. In a startup, there are only a few roles that are truly valuable, so you need to find your role at an early point. They also recommend having 6-9 months of pay in your savings account; no matter how…
Read This ArticleWe&Co – Embracing Failure
When you decide to be an entrepreneur, failure is part of the territory – especially in the startup world. According to TJ Muehleman and Jared Malan of We&Co, if you’re not failing all the time, you’re not trying hard enough. The key, though, is to learn from those failures. For example, they learned that some…
Read This ArticleFinding the Right Co-Founder
Finding the right co-founder for a business is critical; going it alone in the business world is extremely difficult. TJ Muehleman and Jared Malan are the co-founders of We&Co, and shared their past and current experiences with co-founders. Being great friends with someone is not enough to make someone a great co-founder. There is…
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Finding Customers
The first step in the search for your next customer involves understanding who your ideal customer is. Look to understand their pains and their problems, then make sure you understand exactly how your solution will meet their needs—then you’ll be able to find the right customers. TJ Muehleman and Jared Malan of We&Co focused on…
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Finding the Pain Point
A cool idea might inspire you and get you started on a business, but to build something that succeeds and lasts you need to find the pain point in the market. We&Co started off as a different kind of app than it is today—it was consumer-based, to thank people at restaurants. Co-founders TJ Muehleman and…
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