Answers To
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some common questions from our investors that may very well give you the answer you are looking for.
What problem are you solving?
Many small business owners don't know where to start in developing their small business. They may understand their domain of expertise or service, but they find the task of managing/growing the business daunting and confusing. If small business owners could, they would gladly outsource business development functions like marketing and financing their new venture.
View Pitch Deck HereDescribe your solution – How do you solve this problem and how is your solution unique?
A guided crowdfunding and freelance service allows small business owners to outsource the stressful functions of their business to competent professionals allowing them to focus on delivering exceptional value to their customers. There are many crowdfunding platforms and there are many freelance platforms. We are the first to combine the two, making it a convenient solution for small business owners to grow their companies.
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Tell us about your team! Who are they? What do they bring to the team? Are they Full-Time? Is this their first startup rodeo? Who else do you need to add to the team to be successful?
I work full-time on Fsh Tank along with operating a small freelance web design agency. This is my first startup rodeo. I'm naturally a business guy, but I also have some proficiency in building websites - I built the MVP for Fsh Tank in 2 days using Webflow, a visual web development tool. I'm currently learning how to code to develop the real technical expertise that will allow Fsh Tank to become a real product. I believe as the company grows, I will be increasingly responsible for managing the strategic direction and the administrative functions of the company. I will have to hire a technical and product lead for the company. Seeing as this is my first startup and I'm in the initial stage of the company, it's difficult for me to know where we are deficient. I'm open to taking on more experienced and technically proficient people to partner with.
We're pretty personable 🙂
Do you have any mentors or advisors you are excited to tell us about?
Tim Kretzer of Integrity Roofing LLC. He's a small business owner that grew his company using Fiverr, a freelance service platform. Tim has good business sense so he offers us great advice and he's representative of our target customer. His mentorship has greatly helped us.
I've completed the introductory ICAP program as part of their July 2021 cohort, and I'm still working to prove product market fit through conducting customer discovery interviews. My ICAP mentors name is Somiah Lattimore.
While I haven't made much close contact with these people, I have followed their YouTube channels closely and will continue to engage with their content:
-Connor Finlayson, Founder of the Unicorn Factory NZ and thought leader in the no-code movement.
-Makerpad, an educational platform for the no-code movement.
-Zapier
-Airtable
-Webflow University
-Connor Finlayson, Founder of the Unicorn Factory NZ and thought leader in the no-code movement.
-Makerpad, an educational platform for the no-code movement.
-Zapier
-Airtable
-Webflow University
Tell us about your market – How big is it, how you calculated it, and how you stand out in it?
According to Forbes, the freelancing industry is a $1.2T industry. I believe our serviceable available market is $280M. I used figures from Fiverr's 2020 annual report and Wefunder's 2020 impact report to estimate our SAM.
Are there any legal or regulatory risks to your company?
Crowdfunding is an emerging industry that was legalized in 2016 with the law Regulation Crowdfunding. We will need to join the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and apply to become a regulated funding portal with the SEC.
What is our tech stack - how will we build the first live version of Fsh Tank?
We will use no-code and low-code tools like Webflow, Airtable, Zapier, Memberstack, Parabola, and Jetboost. These tools will allow us to build the initial roll-out of Fsh Tank very quickly over the course of the year. Fsh Tank will initially function as a lead generator for freelancers so we will implement a freelancer membership fee model to prove the market demand for our product. Once we have acquired sufficient traction, we will begin to hire more developers and use a coding tech stack like MERN. No-code tools will allow us to build quickly and inexpensively, so we can focus our efforts on proving market demand and gaining traction. As our tech stack evolves, so will our business model.
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Who are your 2-3 primary competitors and how are you different? Is your technology proprietary? Please provide URLs for competitors.
Our top 3 competitors would be Republic, Wefunder, and Fiverr. Upwork would be an honorable mention. Two are great crowdfunding platforms and two are great freelance platforms. None do both. We would be the first to offer a complete solution to small business owners looking to outsource the biz-dev functions of their companies to a one stop shop. As we are in the early prototyping phase of our company and we are living in the open source era of development, I can not definitively say that our technology would be proprietary. I can say that our company would be the first to offer this unique combination of services, so we'd have some first mover advantage. I can also say that our company's story and ethos is different. First, our company was founded in small town America - not Silicon Valley. The founder is a second generation American and a first generation business owners. I didn't grow up in the startup ecosystem, I'm just a dreamer kid that broke into it and found my way in. Fsh Tank is selling the American dream to people that live on main street. We're not just selling cheap gigs or services. We're selling people the American dream.
https://republic.co/
https://wefunder.com/
https://www.fiverr.com/
https://www.upwork.com/
https://republic.co/
https://wefunder.com/
https://www.fiverr.com/
https://www.upwork.com/
How have you validated your market? Tell us about your customers, who you have talked to, what you have learned, and what has to happen for them to use your product/service?
We are currently validating our market through conducting customer discovery interviews. As of today, our market research hasn't solidified product market fit, but it has challenged our assumptions and caused us to rethink our product. Through conversations with people starting small businesses and founders starting equity crowdfunding campaigns, we have gotten a feel of their pain points and where they can gain. The insights we've gleaned from these interviews have better informed our product offering and the design of the MVP.
I've completed the introductory ICAP program as part of their July 2021 cohort, and I'm still working to prove product market fit through conducting customer discovery interviews. My ICAP mentors name is Somiah Lattimore.
Tell us about your progress to date – time to show off! Describe your company’s journey, key milestones met, and what you will tackle in the next 6 and 12 months?
Our company is very early in it's development so I can't exactly sell you on the company. I can tell you we are the people you want to invest in. Forgive the long rant ahead, I just want to give you a chance to understand who we are as people before you consider investing in us. This idea has been my brain child for the past couple years, but really came into focus when I began fleshing out the idea in Fall of 2020. In May 2021, I quit my job at the shipyard and went full time on Fsh Tank and a small web design service. In two days, I built the MVP from scratch. I'm not totally a loose cannon entrepreneur though. This was not a sudden and impulsive decision. My decision to leave my job and go full time on the business was talked about at length with my wife since we first started dating. In October 2020, my wife and I began searching for a small 4 unit apartment complex we could live in and operate so we could live rent free and afford us financial stability while I transition to become a full time entrepreneur. Long story short - 6 grueling months after signing the purchase agreement, the deal fell through due to a zoning problem with the city and the strict requirements of the FHA rehab loan rendering the property ineligible for financing. In the past 8 months, I have graduated from ODU as a 7th year undergrad and I finished a 4 year pipefitting apprenticeship with Newport News Shipbuilding (a job I hated). I've wanted to give up many times, but I finished because that's what I do. I finish what I start. If you take a chance on Fsh Tank, you'll find we have what you're looking for. A great idea and the character to see it through to its fruition.
What is your business model? How do you drive value for your customers?
We will lower the cost and complexity of starting/growing a small business by offering main street founder access to mentorship, crowdfunding, and freelance services. The MVP will basically be a Tik Tok/ IG Reels experience where you can view a bunch of elevator pitches in a social media type of layout. We're going to make equity crowdfunding so easy and fun to use that your grandma will use it. It will be an addicting social media experience that's easy to use. Think Twitter + TikTok + Kickstarter.
What is your revenue model? How do you make money?
We will likely charge a small percentage transaction fee based on the amount of money a main street founder is able to raise via our crowdfunding service. We'll also charge a small percentage transaction fee based on the cost of freelance services they purchase on our online marketplace.
How will you acquire and grow your customer base?
We can launch a podcast/YouTube channel and interview local business owners to understand our target market. In doing so, we will build a following and adopt users. We'll also reach out to other podcast hosts for them to feature our ads or interview us on their channels. We’ll try Facebook Ads targeting people interested in entrepreneurship and angel investing. We can also reach out to other startup founders and tell them about our product so they can tell their friends.
One key difference in our go-to-market strategy is offering social media and YouTuber influencers equity in our platform to promote our services. If they have a vested interest in our success and highly relevant audiences, we can rapidly acquire users and gain traction in a rapidly growing industry.
One key difference in our go-to-market strategy is offering social media and YouTuber influencers equity in our platform to promote our services. If they have a vested interest in our success and highly relevant audiences, we can rapidly acquire users and gain traction in a rapidly growing industry.
Do you intend to sell your business and if so, who would be a good potential acquirer? Describe any recent acquisitions of competitors in your industry.
No, I don't intend to sell the company. However, a good potential acquirer would one of the competitors we listed above.