My 60-minute talk to the integrated marketing graduate students at NYU on April 28, 2014. Topics presented include 1). why it is relatively easier to start a business in today's environment; 2). what challenges are facing most first-time entrepreneurs; 3). the fundraising options for today's startup entrepreneurs and small business owners; 4). key success factors to survive and thrive with your business; 5). what resources are available to help startups succeed; 6). the definition of "happiness" through different lenses of business professionals.

1. Startups, Fundraising,
& Entrepreneurship
by Andrew Wong (@andyrwong)
andrew@nyebn.com

2. Why Startups?
• Lower cost
• Sufficient seed financing
• Inspirations (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
• Support network (YCombinator, TechStars, NYEBN,
etc)

3. – Drew Houston, Dropbox Co-Founder and CEO
“Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be
right once.”

4. Challenges
• Fundraising
• Assembling the right team
• Marketing
• Time management
• Short-term vision

5. –Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Apple
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your
life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to
do what you believe is great work. And the only
way to do great work is to love what you do.”

6. Fundraising
• Small Business Loans/Debt
• Friends, Family and Fools
• Angels/VC’s
• Crowdfunding (Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc)
* Optional reading material: How do you get your startup funded (www.andrewwong.me)

7. – Paul Graham, Founder of Y Combinator
“You need three things to create a successful
startup: to start with good people, to make
something customers actually want, and to
spend as little money as possible.”

8. Key Success Factors
• Passion
• Team
• Domain Knowledge
• Connections
• Confidence

9. – Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO
“I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I
knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.”

10. Resources
• Local Meetups
• Industry specific-blogs (Techmeme, etc)
• Twitter
• Books (Amazon, iBooks, etc)
• Mentors/Accelerators/Conferences
• Google/Company Websites

11. – Elon Musk, Tesla & SpaceX Founder
“If something is important enough, even if the
odds are against you, you should still do it.”

12. How Do You Define “Happiness”?
• Change the world
• Freedom to do what you want
• Build a 1,000-person organization
• Life security/Raise your family
• High 6-figure income for Wall Street bankers

13. – Nick Denton, Founder of Gawker Media
“(PLAYBOY: What's your relationship to money?
What does it mean to you?) Mainly it gives me
the joy of being free. It gives me the freedom I
always wanted…..”

14. Thank You!
Andrew Wong!
Twitter: @andyrwong
Email: andrew@nyebn.com
www.andrewwong.me