One or two of every ten investments bring most of the returns to the portfolio of an angel investor, and it’s difficult to determine which of the companies will provide the returns.

Organizing a business can be a complex journey. Developing and filing the appropriate documents will create the foundation for a successful business.

I am amazed at the number of privately held business partnerships that do not have a formal buy-sell agreement in place. This one is absolutely essential. When forming your business, you chose your partner; make sure you have some rights when it comes to who your partner will be as time goes on too.

David S. Rose, the CEO of Gust and Founder of the New York Angels defines Due Diligence in his book, Angel Investing – The Gust GUIDE TO Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups. The careful investigation into a company prior to making an investment.

Should you quit now because you’re wasting your time? If you look at many of the giant tech “unicorns” —private companies with over $1 billion valuation — and the major players in the public markets such as Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Google, and Amazon, you will find that the founders were often software or electrical engineers.

We’ve all done it as children when working out a maze. Start from your endpoint and work backwards to the start. This same approach works for mapping out the path to startup success – Start from your endpoint and work backwards to the present.

How do we get there? Remember that your organization’s vision is the destination.

It is essential to understand your organization’s dreams for the future, prior to coming up with the pretty words you put on paper and hang in conference rooms. So, how does an organization create an effective vision statement?

“Sweat equity is the best kind of startup capital.”— Mark Cuban
This is a huge question for startup founders. If you are a founder, you know what I am talking about: how much of my startup should I give away?

There are many motives to start a business. In a market system at its simplest form, the purpose of a business is to make money. However, you must never forget your “raison d’être,” your company’s real reason for being.