by Mike Goodrich | Jan 12, 2022 | 2021, 2022, Birmingham, Birmingham Funded Start-Ups List, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups
As always with the new year, we’re taking some time to pause and reflect. First Avenue does so by compiling our annual list of funded start-ups in Birmingham, which helps us analyze the health of the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. I also like to take stock...
by laurelfain | Aug 11, 2021 | Uncategorized
In May, Laurel Mills, Vice President of Marketing & Strategy for First Avenue Ventures, a firm specializing in professional and business services for entrepreneurs and startups, successfully completed training to be a StoryBrand Certified Guide. StoryBrand offers...
by laurelfain | Jul 30, 2021 | 2021, Business Lessons, Marketing, Sales, Services, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, StoryBrand Framework
On a recent trip to Michigan, I stumbled upon an old letter in an antiques store. While I initially wanted the letter for the Alabama stamp on the envelope, when I opened it up to discover the contents inside, I was hooked. In my hands, I had a 50-year-old sales...
by laurelfain | Jul 16, 2021 | 2021, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Sales, Start-Ups
My middle son is in the midst of a passionate love affair with French fries, so I’ve done what any good mother would do – I’ve turned that love into a bargaining tool. He doesn’t like swim lessons? I’ll buy fries after. He hesitates to clean his room? I offer to make...
by laurelfain | Jun 29, 2021 | 2021, Advising, Business Lessons, Competition, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups
My children are obsessed with the musical Hamilton (to be fair, they come by this obsession honestly. It’s not an accident that I have children named “Alexander” and “Philip”). As a result, I’ve listened to Hamilton nearly non-stop for the last two months. My kids...
by Mike Goodrich | Jun 28, 2021 | 2021, Birmingham, Birmingham Funded Start-Ups List, Business Lessons, COVID-19, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Services, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups
“You need to make hay when it rains.” I first heard this axiom — in that instance, in connection to a business in high-end consumer goods — in my early days as a lawyer. Simply put, the goal is to make your money during the good times, knowing that the...
by Mike Goodrich | Apr 30, 2021 | 2021, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Football, Mission-Driven Businesses, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Social Capital and Social Entrepreneurialism
Last week, a group of 12 European soccer teams tried to form an exclusive league unto themselves only to see it crumble. The plan became the business mistake du jour and had even the most casual soccer fan engaged and enraged. Since I follow it only loosely, I didn’t...
by Mike Goodrich | Apr 9, 2021 | 2021, Business Lessons, Competition, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups
Part Three of Three: Competitive Landscape[1] Read Part One: Valuation here and Part Two: The Five-Year Pro Forma here While you and your company are indeed unique and special, do not delude yourself into thinking you are so unique and special that you created...
by Mike Goodrich | Mar 19, 2021 | 2021, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Founders, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups
Part Two of Three: The Five-Year Pro Forma[1] Read Part One: Valuation here Budgets are crucial — and usually provided to investors — for even the most nascent start-up. Even if no revenue is expected within the first year, money is still needed to run the...
by Mike Goodrich | Feb 26, 2021 | 2021, Business Lessons, Entrepreneurialism, Financing, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Start-Ups, Valuation
Part One of Three: Valuation[1] The question of how one should value an early-stage company is often asked, but usually has no good answers. If the opportunity is large enough (which is the goal with venture capital), a thorough valuation is perceived as irrelevant....
