If the Shoe Fits: Revenue Makes It Real
by Miki SaxonA Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
You build an app that is greeted with raves.
You have 15 million installs and counting.
You have 36 talented, motivated employees.
You raise 35 million dollars from top investors, including Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
What’s your next step?
You shut it down before you run out of money.
Why?
Because you can’t identify a viable business model.
In short, you can’t figure out a way to generate revenue.
That’s what just happened to Everything.me.
The startup had seasoned founders and did everything right.
The investors were smart, savvy and experienced.
But one thing slipped by everyone’s radar.
No clear, or even murky, path to revenue.
Not profit.
You can live without profits, but you die without revenue.
Lesson learned: no vision/business plan is complete without a viable way to make money.
Image credit: HikingArtist