Benefits of an Accelerator

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Founders face a daunting challenge in launching a startup.

There are many things the first-time founder doesn't know.

Accelerators bring many benefits to the startup founder.

Here is a list:

Accelerators bring education to the founder to fill in their knowledge gaps.

This is often around sales, marketing, and finance.

Accelerators provide support.

This is often in the form of administrative support, such as email marketing and graphic design.

Accelerators bring a network for finding co-founders, developers, and providers.

The startup founder leans on their network for help with legal, financial, and HR support.

Accelerators bring an additional level of credibility to the startup.

Investors will appreciate the fact that an accelerator provides the basics of business development.

This takes the burden off the investor.

Finally, many accelerators provide access to funding.

Through pitch events and demo days, founders can hone their presentation skills and meet prospective investors.

Consider an accelerator for your startup.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

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For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
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In this episode of Investor Connect, we hear a pitch from Jason on Ticket Rewards, a ticketing company offering "live entertainment as a service" to help enterprise brands drive engagement, retention, and loyalty through access to live event tickets. Ticket Rewards works directly with presenters, promoters, sports teams, and venues, with about $500M in consigned ticket inventory and access to $1B+ of marketplace inventory across 35,000+ events, powering a mobile-first, co-branded, white-labeled redemption platform that integrates into loyalty programs via email and push notifications.

Jason shares case studies showing how ticket offers outperform typical brand messaging, including Celebrity Cruises' "Captains Club" emails delivering 40% higher open rates and 20% higher click-through rates, and a six-month pilot with Max (HBO Max) moving forward into their loyalty program. He explains how monthly ticket credits (such as $25 that expires each month) can reduce churn, provide unsubscribe leverage, and create emotional connection back to brands like Hearst and newspaper partners, with Ticket Rewards also moving about $2M in tickets through its own marketplace.

The conversation covers monetization through SaaS subscription fees (including flat fees or per-member pricing), ticket sales margins up to 40%, incentive codes sold in volume, and advertising/packaging partnerships, along with current margins (~36% overall and ~80% in SaaS). Jason outlines a $2M raise with $320K committed on a SAFE with a $10M cap to scale sales and marketing beyond a seven-person team, noting an acquisition-focused exit strategy and interest from strategic partners; the segment ends as the program transitions to "term sheets 101."

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For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https:/_/tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

An Overlooked Factor of Startup Success

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Investors screening deals look for momentum and traction before investing.

They also look for the team and its capabilities.

An often overlooked factor is the team's genuine interest in the field.

Passion for solving a particular problem can be a strong factor in startup success.

The founder who wants to solve the problem no matter what can carry the business through the down times.

Many teams are motivated by money, success, or other factors.

Investors should look beyond the current revenue growth to the team's motivations.

Those with a passion have a stronger chance of success than those who are just running a game plan around a business model.

Look for founders who are driven to solve a particular problem and then back them.

This could be by making an investment, fostering connections, or providing guidance on running a startup.

Consider the founders' motivations.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.