Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

Instead, we do everything possible to validate the founders belief. Most people cant sustain more than a few of these iterations, and the founders rarely get to be involved in the later tries. In order to do this, we have our customer development team work hard to find a market, any market, for the product as currently specified.

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

The net result: we sold exactly zero presidential debate avatars. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. We finally settled on a $1.99 Nothing made any difference.

Demand 167

Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 6, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Lo, my 1032 subscribers, who are you?

Agile 76

Agile San Francisco Software Review Continuous Deployment 76

Hunter Walker

MARCH 8, 2014

There aren’t yet four layers of management between you and the founders. The Early Team Still There and They’ll Be Your Tribe for Years : The founders and early team are still in place because there hasn’t been a liquidity event and the work is still exciting for them.

Liquidity Event 134

Liquidity Event Early Stage Seed Stage Startup 134

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

And from a financial perspective, any investor would be better off buying stock in Amazon than buying and share of a corner bookshop; if you invested $100 in Amazon’s 1997 initial public offering (IPO), those shares would have been worth about $120,000 in 2018. I [Reid] remember when Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky told me about the offer.).

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

Today, when I talk to startup founders, the most common answer I get to the question "do you talk to your customers?" Some techniques that Ive found especially helpful: Build your own tracking survey, using a methodology like Net Promoter Score (NPS) to identify and get a regular check-up from promoters (and to screen out detractors).

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Lo, my 1032 subscribers, who are you?

Lean 102

Lean San Francisco Agile Continuous Deployment 102

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Some companies and founders refuse to serve existing customers, and are always lurching from one great idea to the next. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th.

San Francisco 88

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 88

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

In previous posts, I’ve mentioned quite a few of these, including these most important ones: having engineers post on the forums in their own name when they make a change routinely split-testing new changes routinely conducting in-person usability tests and interviews Net Promoter Score Each of these techniques is fundamentally bottoms-up.

Advisory Board 151

Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

www.mint.com

MARCH 9, 2010

What is your net outflow per month? If the answer to the question centers around “We will achieve revenue soon so our net will improve and give us more runway,” it means the company is in trouble because no product ever ships on time nor achieves the company’s “conservative forecast.” These days revenue is the best source of capital.

Software Review 68

Software Review Startup Post-Money Valuation Technical Review 68

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Lo, my 1032 subscribers, who are you?

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 60

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 26, 2009

The net result was powerful: within six months of starting the company, we were able to get a basic version of our product into open beta. In the end, I believe they co-created our product with us. Each of these tactics was effective, and Ill return to them in detail in a moment. Leveraged distribution channels.

Product Development 88

Product Development Developer San Francisco Product 88

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 18, 2010

Ash Maurya is the founder of WiredReach , a bootstrapped startup that he has been running for seven years. With staged releases, time provides a (somewhat illusory) safety net. Ash Maurya is the founder of WiredReach , a bootstrapped startup that he has been running for seven years. Read on to find out. Read on to find out.

Continuous Deployment 151

Continuous Deployment San Francisco Lean Wiki 151

ConversionXL

AUGUST 13, 2019

Here are seven insights on SaaS metrics from successful founders and consultants. . Once you’re growing, focus on Net Dollar Retention (NDR). Perhaps the most unspoken metric of SaaS success is Net Dollar Retention (NDR). Net Dollar Retention (NDR) is a magic SaaS metric. So what should you focus on when?

Metrics 117

Metrics SQL Retention Churn Rate 117

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

A wide net from the start, and gradual elimination of weaker solutions, makes finding the best or better solutions more likely. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th.

Software Review 87

Software Review Design Software San Francisco 87

VC Cafe

MARCH 11, 2010

T aking a company through an initial public offering (IPO) is not an easy task. It’s also an uncertain exit for the entrepreneurs, as they are typically restricted to sell any of their stock in the first 180 days following the IPO, and even then they can sell no more than 1% of stock a month. million in 2009. percent). —

IPO 68

IPO SEC Initial Public Offering Stock 68

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

Thanks to those of you who were willing to fill out the survey, I learned my net promoter score (about 25) as well as some clear other segmentation insights: about 80% of you are founders of or work at a startup, you read many of the same other blogs, and many of you would like to engage with Lessons Learned in formats and venues beyond this blog.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

David Teten

JANUARY 10, 2012

Howard Lindzon is Co-Founder and CEO of StockTwits, a social network for traders and investors to share real-time ideas and information. Michael was the lead research analyst for the IPOs of Internet companies like UUNET, Yahoo!, He joined Goldman Sachs & Co. which was acquired by Microsoft Corporation in May 2006.

Technical Review 128

Technical Review Technology North Carolina Switzerland 128

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 5, 2023

We’ll be sharing lots more about the content of this conference and the perspectives that our investor and founder speakers shared over the next few weeks. If you worked for a company from seed to IPO, you’ve got a better story to tell than someone who hasn’t seen an exit yet. 2) Most startup events suck.

Founder 142

Founder Startup Curation Cofounder 142

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table. Founders however are asked to take low salaries and never really get back the time they worked for free.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

Almost all of them got scooped up by pre-IPO Google this time. That year, right before the IPO, those months mattered a great deal in terms of financial outcomes. In fact, I remember sending him and his obscure-to-me co-founder (aka Reid Hoffman ) a bug report early-on, instead of taking them up on their offer of an in-person meeting.

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 94

ConversionXL

JUNE 2, 2022

Fullfunnel co-founder Andrei Zinkevich says, “ABM is not that complicated, and it’s also oversimplified.”. If leads-based B2B marketing is fishing with a net, ABM is using a harpoon. How do you sustain growth that precedes the highest IPO in history for a software company? Results from Snowflake’s ABM efforts post-IPO.

Marketing 105

Marketing Campaign Artificial Inteligence Sales Cycle 105

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 5, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Lo, my 1032 subscribers, who are you?

Advertising 60

Advertising San Francisco Media Continuous Deployment 60

online.wsj.com

JULY 11, 2012

Andreessen Horowitz is telling entrepreneurs it prefers situations where the founders have controlling stakes, reckoning that theyll be better able to resist outside distraction and focus on making great products. One of its champions includes Jason Goldberg, the co-founder and CEO of online design retailer Fab.com Inc.,

Silicon Valley 42

Silicon Valley Founder Software Review Technical Review 42

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 19, 2008

Im Community Manager at VenCorps, co-host of commandN. I worked at Flock, ConceptShare and co-founded Raincity Studios in Vancouver. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 60

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 22, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 22, 2008 Net Promoter Score: an operational tool to measure customer satisfaction Ive mentioned Net Promoter Score (NPS) in a few previous posts, but havent had a chance to describe it in detail yet. Net Promoter Score NPS is a methodology that comes out of the service industry.

.Net 158

.Net Operations San Francisco Lean 158

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Underaddressed market.

Revenue 60

Revenue SBIC Cofounder Venture Capital 60

David Teten

MARCH 5, 2021

(co-written with Katherine Boe Heuck , a MBA candidate at MIT Sloan (class of 2022); past intern at Versatile VC ; and a current intern at Metaprop NYC.). All of the 40 companies’ 92 founders were male. Of the 19 Western Europe/Israel-based founders, all were white. Of the 43 U.S.-based Of course, this dataset is incomplete.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 78

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 11, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Lo, my 1032 subscribers, who are you?

Silicon Valley 68

Silicon Valley San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 68

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 27, 2009

The full formula works like this: runway = cash on hand / burn rate # iterations = runway / speed of each iteration Very few successful companies ended up in the same exact business that the founders thought theyd be in (see Founders at Work for dozens of examples). The hardest costs to cut are those that are embodied in sacred cows.

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 117

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 29, 2008

I was wondering if you could expand on finding a technical co-founder. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. December 2, 2008 10:56 AM Ryan said.

San Francisco 146

San Francisco Lean Agile Java 146

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2009

The net effect of all this was to make new engineers incredibly productive right away – in most cases, we’d have them deliver code to production on their very first day. So far, it's been a net win to keep supporting it. We never set out to build a world-class engineering-training process.

San Francisco 164

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 164

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 19, 2016

7/ Net/Net: VC is a hard f **g business but simplification in press makes it seem glamorous & easy – almost swashbuckling. Fortunately Steve Schlenker, co-founder of DN Capital has captured most of them in his Quora answer to the question: How hard is it to be a venture capitalist. NotGlamorous.

Europe 60

Europe IPO LP Venture Capital 60

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 13, 2008

Since we were only paying per click, it didnt cost us anything to cast a wide net. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Take a look and let me know what you think.

SEM 164

SEM San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 164

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Lo, my 1032 subscribers, who are you?

San Francisco 79

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 79

Agile VC

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

The IPO market remained closed to IT startups, but there were big acquisitions like Google buying YouTube for $1.65B (Fall 2006) and late stage financing rounds for companies like Facebook (Microsoft round at $15B valuation in Fall 2007). A16Z today or Founders Fund or General Catalyst a few years ago). So at a fund level (e.g.

LP 154

LP Portfolio Venture Capital IRR 154

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 29, 2008

Revenue is always my preferred measure, but you can use anything that is important to your business: retention, activation, viral invites, or even customer satisfaction in the form of something like net promoter score. If an optimization has an effect at the micro level that doesnt translate into the macro level - who cares?

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68