This is how startups make money

Going the startup way is riskier but more straightforward than working a job. Here there’s no boss to decide what happens to you. You’re the boss. There are just 4 people who matter- you, your customers, your investors, and your co-founder.

BI India lists how making money looks to startups (with some help from the guys at Funders and Founders):

· Find a product (or idea) that is popular but not yet perfect
· Buy one and study it in detail
· Figure out how to improve it
· Make a prototype
· Show the prototype to 100 people
· Remake it until people are willing to pre-order (for example on Kickstarter)
· Find a co-founder who can build it with you
· Split the equity – give your co-founder 50%, but use a vesting agreement so that their share becomes worth more the longer they work on the company
· Find an investor. This can be a person who has a lot of money (an angel investor)
· Give her or him 10% of your company
· Make the product
· Sell your product to 1 Million people
· Get more money (this time from VCs)
· List your company on stock exchange (this is after you’ve either raised a lot of money or have a lot of revenue, or better yet profit)
· Sell a lot of shares when you list on stock exchange
· Then just wait out the cooling off period (about 6 months) and you will have your money

Image credit: Funders and Founders