Starting a New Company. Need Advice

[RajaMag]

I'm launching a magazine in India and I need advice on how to raise money. Can anyone provide tips on how to charm banks, venture capitalists, or private investors?

[laal mia]

Wat A Dumb Ass. No Muther Fuker My Advice Cost Money. I Dont Give Out Anything For Free.

[Rogue]

I'm launching a magazine in India and I need advice on how to raise money. Can anyone provide tips on how to charm banks, venture capitalists, or private investors?well, it's important to have a vision of what you want your magazine to be and why. i mean, what makes you think there's a market for it? what type of content will you have? what do you want it to look like? what's your strategy? how will you implement? how much will it cost? all that sort of thing. you need to be able to know and answer those questions so that banks/venture capitalists feel that you are confident about what you want, why you want it, and how you're going to get there...

confidence and a strategy is vital in order to interest them, captivate them, and convince them about why it's a viable opportunity.

[laal mia]

well, it's important to have a vision of what you want your magazine to be and why. i mean, what makes you think there's a market for it? what type of content will you have? what do you want it to look like? what's your strategy? how will you implement? how much will it cost? all that sort of thing. you need to be able to know and answer those questions so that banks/venture capitalists feel that you are confident about what you want, why you want it, and how you're going to get there...

confidence and a strategy is vital in order to interest them, captivate them, and convince them about why it's a viable opportunity.
:eek2: when did u get soo smart??????

[Rogue]

:eek2: when did u get soo smart??????you just were too busy to take notice, weren't you :hand:

[laal mia]

you just were too busy to take notice, weren't you :hand:

ohhh please :hand:

[Rogue]

ohhh please :hand::bhapi: it's okay. i forgive you.

[laal mia]

:bhapi: it's okay. i forgive you.


ohhh tankooo u, ur so niceee, so how bout it????? :naughty:

[Rogue]

ohhh tankooo u, ur so niceee, so how bout it????? :naughty:what do you mean "how about it?" :sarb:

[laal mia]

what do you mean "how about it?" :sarb:

ohhh stop acting dumb now, u know wat i mean :naughty:

[Rogue]

ohhh stop acting dumb now, u know wat i mean :naughty::think: thinking....thinking....thinking...

a little help here would be nice. ;) :angel:

[laal mia]

:think: thinking....thinking....thinking...

a little help here would be nice. ;) :angel:


aahhhh you suck. im gonna go get some sleep. my family coming back from back home today, i gotta go pick em up at the airport in few hours.

[desi_uk]

I'm launching a magazine in India and I need advice on how to raise money. Can anyone provide tips on how to charm banks, venture capitalists, or private investors?
go on dragons den

[RajaMag]

"Wat A Dumb Ass. No Muther Fuker My Advice Cost Money. I Dont Give Out Anything For Free."


Nobody pays the village idiot to speak.

[bender]

I'm launching a magazine in India and I need advice on how to raise money. Can anyone provide tips on how to charm banks, venture capitalists, or private investors?

Do you have a business plan? How are you going to make money?

[RajaMag]

I have a business plan. Money is made mostly through advertising. I've met with some major advertising players already but it's hard to sell a product that doesn't exist.

2 years ago when I came to India I looked at the magazine selection and thought that it was horrible. When I came back this year I saw that Maxim India launched and within 8 months they are the hottest selling men's magazine in the country.

I can't complain though because they have millions and I only have thousands.

[RajaMag]

well, it's important to have a vision of what you want your magazine to be and why. i mean, what makes you think there's a market for it? what type of content will you have? what do you want it to look like? what's your strategy? how will you implement? how much will it cost? all that sort of thing. you need to be able to know and answer those questions so that banks/venture capitalists feel that you are confident about what you want, why you want it, and how you're going to get there...

confidence and a strategy is vital in order to interest them, captivate them, and convince them about why it's a viable opportunity.

I have confidence because I worked in publishing for 3 years in New York City. There is a craving in India for Western style entertainment. There is a huge market here because 50% of India's population is under the age of 25.

My content will be fun, entertainment type pieces as well as informative articles. Thanks for your advice and I agree with everything you say. All that is in place but the problem I'm having is that Indian culture doesn't take young people seriously. We have to always respect our elders no matter how they treat us. The other problem is that I don't have much equity. I think the only thing I can do right now is finance it myself unless you know of some VCs that fund radical ideas.

[bender]

I have confidence because I worked in publishing for 3 years in New York City. There is a craving in India for Western style entertainment. There is a huge market here because 50% of India's population is under the age of 25.

My content will be fun, entertainment type pieces as well as informative articles. Thanks for your advice and I agree with everything you say. All that is in place but the problem I'm having is that Indian culture doesn't take young people seriously. We have to always respect our elders no matter how they treat us. The other problem is that I don't have much equity. I think the only thing I can do right now is finance it myself unless you know of some VCs that fund radical ideas.


You might want to search for vc's, specifically firms that invest in media companies, that provide seed capital. Do you have rich uncles? You could give them a partnership.

[Rogue]

I have confidence because I worked in publishing for 3 years in New York City. There is a craving in India for Western style entertainment. There is a huge market here because 50% of India's population is under the age of 25.

My content will be fun, entertainment type pieces as well as informative articles. Thanks for your advice and I agree with everything you say. All that is in place but the problem I'm having is that Indian culture doesn't take young people seriously. We have to always respect our elders no matter how they treat us. The other problem is that I don't have much equity. I think the only thing I can do right now is finance it myself unless you know of some VCs that fund radical ideas.cool sounds good, but still a bit vague (what type of western entertainment what do you even mean by western entertainment? what's so different about it than from what you already have in india? have you scoped out the competition yet?) If you haven't done so already, it would help to actually have some kind of business plan in written form, have examples of the types of content that you want in there. A rough preliminary layout would work wonders, too (not just of content, but also think about printing materials? glossy? matte? black and white? color? costs? gannt chart of predicting the content/readers..how do you plan to infiltrate the market? i'm sure. If you can toss those hard documents in visual form out to potential investors, there would be more chances of them being interested because you will seem to have everything together and in place...and it wouldn't just be all talk. you will have visually shown that you have thought long and hard about it and that you have a lot of pieces together.

The other concern that i would probably think about if i were in your shoes is that there are tons of other magazines in India currently. Why would people pick yours over them? What's so different about yours and what's the competitive edge (if any)? How are you going to make your magazine stand out on the racks?

(don't get me wrong, but i'm just posing questions that i know investors usually will ask or think about because they won't just give their money in so easily unless they're really sure that it's going to be profitable to them)

[Rogue]

You might want to search for vc's, specifically firms that invest in media companies, that provide seed capital. Do you have rich uncles? You could give them a partnership.that's true, but he really needs to have his homework done and his shit together in visual form. otherwise it will just be all talk and they will lose interest if they're not convinced about WHY it's a good investment.

plus...it's also a tough thing because we're all progressively using the internet more and more. so perhaps it would also make sense to have some kind of extension of the magazine on the net? he needs to think about the future of how he plans to proceed as part of his vision that he presents to his potential investors, too.

[akuza]

Can anyone provide tips on how to charm banks, venture capitalists, or private investors?

believe me you can't do that :no:
investors are ruthless once in a while you will find someone who is tolerant enough to make the investment, and even so, there will be strict rules to follow. Best bet is to network really that's the only option if you want to worm your way into venture capitalists etc. with them it's who you know as well as what you know.

[RajaMag]

that's true, but he really needs to have his homework done and his shit together in visual form. otherwise it will just be all talk and they will lose interest if they're not convinced about WHY it's a good investment.

plus...it's also a tough thing because we're all progressively using the internet more and more. so perhaps it would also make sense to have some kind of extension of the magazine on the net? he needs to think about the future of how he plans to proceed as part of his vision that he presents to his potential investors, too.

I think you're right about the visuals. I have a media kit but that's probably not enough. I already have a website (www.rajamagazine.com) but that only contains a part of what I'm going to publish. Eventually I want to offer mobile content as well.

The internet is not something to worry too much about over here because the main form of media is tv and print. A lot of people still can't afford a computer. People usually go to the cyber cafe to check email and chat.

As for the number of magazines. There aren't as many as you think. US has a lot more. Most of the magazines are boring and catered towards an older audience. Nobody has faith in the younger audience.

[Rogue]

I think you're right about the visuals. I have a media kit but that's probably not enough. I already have a website (www.rajamagazine.com (http://www.rajamagazine.com)) but that only contains a part of what I'm going to publish. Eventually I want to offer mobile content as well.

The internet is not something to worry too much about over here because the main form of media is tv and print. A lot of people still can't afford a computer. People usually go to the cyber cafe to check email and chat.

As for the number of magazines. There aren't as many as you think. US has a lot more. Most of the magazines are boring and catered towards an older audience. Nobody has faith in the younger audience.point is that you should not just think about now, but you should be able to think about later down the line as well. later on down the line, i'm sure it will become increasingly popular as well as the younger generation that is more technologically savvy becomes part of your mainstream market.

[RajaMag]

people between the ages of 18-30 are buying like mad in india. every month over 5 million cell phones are bought. if people want to make some real money they should provide mobile content like ring tones, pictures, games

anyway i'm going to the bangalore marathon this weekend to market my company.

[Desi MC]

1st you need to change your magazines name.....
Raja Magzine thats a paindoo low class name....
change to some stylish upper class

:)

[reaz]

Can you guys help the guy instead of making fun of him?

Keep it up and you'll be banned from this forum.

[Rogue]

people between the ages of 18-30 are buying like mad in india. every month over 5 million cell phones are bought. if people want to make some real money they should provide mobile content like ring tones, pictures, games

anyway i'm going to the bangalore marathon this weekend to market my company.make sure to have visuals and a list of content. maybe even quantitative data (ie: stats) to proove why it's such a viable opportunity. best of luck to you :bhapi:

[RajaMag]

1st you need to change your magazines name.....
Raja Magzine thats a paindoo low class name....
change to some stylish upper class

:)

How is Raja a low class name? It means "King" in hindi and it goes back to the time of majarajas who ruled the kingdoms of Inida.

[RajaMag]

make sure to have visuals and a list of content. maybe even quantitative data (ie: stats) to proove why it's such a viable opportunity. best of luck to you :bhapi:

Thanks for the tip. I'm preparing a dummy copy. I have a media kit already but that's mainly for advertising.

[jspot]

why not make a prototype.

something with real articles and pics. when the investers grab hold of it, then they can really tell if they like it or not.

[jspot]

what is it all about.

[kaseem]

well, it's important to have a vision of what you want your magazine to be and why. i mean, what makes you think there's a market for it? what type of content will you have? what do you want it to look like? what's your strategy? how will you implement? how much will it cost? all that sort of thing. you need to be able to know and answer those questions so that banks/venture capitalists feel that you are confident about what you want, why you want it, and how you're going to get there...

confidence and a strategy is vital in order to interest them, captivate them, and convince them about why it's a viable opportunity.

yea known as pitching and having a good business plan luv.

[Arshy]

you're targetting the indian market with a western idea great ...now let's give you some tips on how to go about it...

1) Act western...change the name of the product so it identifies itself to the western world...

2) advertise the product using western faces...who an earth is gonna buy an western product from an indian face?

3) how much are you investing? you can't expect to borrow the whole amount!

and last but not least....rehearse everything inside out....if you don't know your product, then nobody else does!

Good luck!

[w1ld]

I'm launching a magazine in India and I need advice on how to raise money. Can anyone provide tips on how to charm banks, venture capitalists, or private investors?

Charity concerts, fundraising dinners may be an option.

[RajaMag]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm working on getting a dummy copy ready.

The magazine is half entertertainment and half serious.

Entertainment portion will have reviews, interviews, fiction, gadgets, etc.

Serious portion will have articles on relationships, sex, immigration, career, etc.

[royalbengal]

I'm launching a magazine in India and I need advice on how to raise money. Can anyone provide tips on how to charm banks, venture capitalists, or private investors?


first and foremost you need a business plan... no ones going to touch you without a business plan.. and banks are wary about giving out money for overseas operations..

i suggest you open up the corporation here in usa, build up corporate credit and use your personal credit to guarantee the loan to start the business.. if you need any more advice feel free to ask or pm me..

if you dont know how to do business plans.. you can ask me... i can give you tips

good luck