#056: Brett Sharenow - Landmines to Avoid to Get Your Startup Funded

Startups aren’t easy. You will make mistakes and you will fail but success is there to be found in the end if you keep trying no matter what. In this episode of Establishing your empire, we have a fascinating conversation with Brett Sharenow, the CEO and founder of Broadscope Consulting, a trusted advisor for startup and high-growth firms on strategy, capital raising, and exit. Make sure to go through the full story to find out the valuation, funding, mistakes people make and how to avoid them, the foundation, advice, and more when it comes to startups. 

When life offers you opportunities, you have to take them. That defines who you are and what role you have in society. To create a startup you have to be open to new experiences, new directions, and new opportunities, and you have to work under people who know what they are doing. The same thing happened to Brett. According to him, working with his two mentors, Joe and Morris, was the best time he had as a mentee. Learning from them and experiencing new things with them is the very foundation of his career. 

When it comes to startups, it doesn’t matter if you have a product to change the world in a whole new direction. If you can’t make your investors excited about your product, it’s all for nothing. You only got one chance with your investors to make that happen. 

Wrapping up the episode, Brett shares that when you are starting a business it’s common and natural to make mistakes. We are human. We make mistakes all the time. But you have to be aware that you’ve made a mistake and do the needful to make it right. You have to learn from your mistakes, so you won’t repeat the mistake. Making mistakes, learning from them, and moving forward are one of the principles of anything in life. 

[01.40] Who is Brett- Brett explains the two major things he does as; increasing the chances to raise capital and reducing the time to race. 

[02.33] Path to Consulting- Brett shares his journey through building engines, becoming a chemist, working in Silicon Valley, and starting to consult on his own. 

[09.24] Magni Gyro - Vittorio Magni established the Italian aircraft manufacturer Magni Gyro in 1986. The company is situated in Besnate and focuses on the design and manufacturing of ready-to-fly autogyros.

[10.57] Finding Mentors- Brett explains how his two mentors, Joe and Morris, helped his journey as a mentee and gives some advice to people who are looking for mentors. 

[15.18] Changes In Funding- Brett talks about three capital raises going on at present in three separate companies. 

[20.20] Valuation- Brett shares his idea of valuation being two major parts; art and science, and he dives into the things that you need to do with the issues of valuation. 

[26.48] Rule Of Thumb- As the first principle of valuing a startup is to get to customers as early as possible, says Brett. And also, it’s hard and complex raising money in a business because every business is different. 

[32.40] Valuation Number- Putting less money into the financial model and hoping for an external market change are the two ways of dealing with valuation issues, according to Brett. 

[36.55] Avoiding mistakes in startups - Brett gives some important advice to all the people who are working with startups out there, and one of the major pieces of advice he has is that it doesn’t matter if you have the best product that can change the world unless u make the investors exited. 

[45.34] The Foundation- In the foundation of a startup, the balance between developing the product, the prototype of the product to show, and spending money to set up is the most difficult thing that people are going to face. 

[51.24] Advice For Younger Self- Brett shares some pieces of advice to the 16 years old himself back in the time. 

[56.32] Advice For Young People out there- The valuable advice which Brett has to give to young people out there trying to do something new is that we are human, we make mistakes, but we have to learn from them, step up on the ground, and plan the next step that you need to take. 

[1.00.00] To be remembered- Brett shares that he likes people to be remembered as a person who helped them to build their lives, a person who was there to listen to them. 

Resources

LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/broadscopeconsulting/#experience

Website- https://www.broadscope.com/

Magni Gyro- http://www.magnigyro.it/en

Quotes

‘’Being a mentee is about being open to taking direction and learning like a sponge, from people who really knew what they were doing.’’

‘’When you do a startup, you are walking into a minefield. There’s no way to avoid it.’’

‘’Whatever you do, stay in the moment, and the rest of the world would go away- 

‘’We are human. We make mistakes. Pick yourself up from the ground, brush it off and move on.’’