When I left my job at Deloitte to launch my startup, These eight resources were incredibly helpful: 1. $150k 💰 worth of Azure, OpenAI, Stripe, and other Microsoft products: The Microsoft for Startups program is an amazing offering for startups building scalable cloud solutions. Thanks to Aishwarya Srinivasan, who helped me with the application. It has enabled us to experiment with the ChatGPT API at no cost. If you also need free credits for ChatGPT, Cloud, you can apply here https://lnkd.in/e9t9ci9g 2. Free AWS Credits: We needed a cloud platform to host our website and automation applications, but AWS was expensive. Thanks to our investors, Heroic Ventures (Michael Fertik) who provided us access to the AWS for Startups program, which provided us with $25k worth of AWS credits. Check here https://lnkd.in/eTf7MCiW 3. YC SAFE Note Template: Raising funds through angel, pre-seed, and seed rounds is best done with a SAFE note. It is quick and easy to execute. Y Combinator offers three SAFE Note templates that you can directly use. Find them below: https://lnkd.in/eNKUjN3h 4. Difference Between different forms of fundraising: When I left Deloitte, I had no idea about the differences between SAFE, Convertible Note, Priced Round, etc. The founder of Slidebean, Caya (Jose Cayasso) has explained all of these in a perfect short video on YouTube. You can find it here. https://lnkd.in/e4GbNd_t 5. Founders Institute's advisor agreement template made it extremely easy to onboard great advisors. Find it here https://fi.co/fast 6. Deferred Payment Legal Services: We utilized legal firms that provided free services until we raised $500k in funding. Here are some examples: Gunderson, Cooley. Britton Silberman & Cervantez LLP. Fisher Hudson Brown Horton. Know more such law firms? Comment below. 7. Crunchbase and LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Crunchbase was instrumental in identifying relevant investors, while LinkedIn Sales Navigator helped find initial customers. Microsoft for Startups program offer free access to LinkedIn Sales Navigator. 8. Incubators and Accelerators: They were crucial in refining the idea, creating a go-to-market strategy, and facilitating investor introductions. Some of the top ones also provide capital of up to $1M. Here are some of my favorites: - 500 Startups - Y Combinator - Village Capital - gener8tor - FalconX - Techstars - LAUNCH (Jason Calacanis) - FoundersEdge - Launchpad LA - Founder Institute - The Batchery - Pear VC - Unshackled (Especially for immigrant founders) ---------------------- If you enjoy my content, please reshare ♻️ and join over 110k newsletter subscribers here (https://lnkd.in/gPBziwZ3)
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