Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2011

If you don't know any “high net worth” individuals, use your advisors to find them. Venture capital. An investment from a venture capital firm is usually expensive, in equity and control. An investment from a venture capital firm is usually expensive, in equity and control.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 233

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

Solicit venture capital investors. Most metropolitan areas have groups of local high-net-worth individuals interested in supporting startups, and willing to syndicate amounts up to a million dollars for qualified startups. The process is long, but it doesn’t cost you any equity. Apply to local angel investor groups.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Inevitably, things cost more and take longer than expected. Howell, Professor of Business Administration at Tuck, writes that you should turn your budgeting process upside down by “reformat[ting] planning and budgeting templates to highlight cash rather than accounting net income.”. Guest contributed to Techcrunch.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

Solicit venture capital investors. Most metropolitan areas have groups of local high-net-worth individuals interested in supporting startups, and willing to syndicate amounts up to a million dollars for qualified startups. The process is long, but it doesn’t cost you any equity. Apply to local angel investor groups.

Equity 436

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 436

Gust

JUNE 17, 2012

If you don’t know any “high net worth” individuals, use your advisors to find them. Venture capital. An investment from a venture capital firm is usually expensive, in equity and control. An investment from a venture capital firm is usually expensive, in equity and control.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2010

If you don't know any “high net worth” individuals, use your advisors to find them. Venture capital. An investment from a venture capital firm is usually expensive, in equity and control. An investment from a venture capital firm is usually expensive, in equity and control.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 149

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn. Gross burn is your cost base and net burn is the difference between your revenue and costs. GAAP Net Income, which at times isn’t a good reflection of cash burn). You start from the basics, which is if you raise $2.5

Burn Rate 212

Burn Rate Startup .Net Venture Capital 212

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital. Instead of measuring success in dollars of profit, …firms focus on measuring capital efficiency. Perhaps that’s because where established companies might see risks or threats, startups see opportunity.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 30, 2015

You incorporate expected company returns, mortality rates, and fee structures to try to predict how a venture capital fund works from a cash in, cash out, and NAV standpoint. And no, the numbers don't exactly add up--but they're more than close enough for venture capital. It's also not the "average fund".

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation IRR Valuation 60

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

When the need is high… For the rest of us, desiring to build large, valuable enterprises quickly, the need for outside capital is high on our list of requirements and even the source for some sleepless nights as we worry over the availability and cost of capital. Professional angels: This is the arena where I work and play.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Together, we mapped 89 companies, that collectively raised over £2 billion in venture capital across consumer experiences, enabling technologies and infrastructure. The pandemic was generally viewed to have been a net positive for the industry. Access to capital and talent remains the big barrier for growth.

Startup 123

Startup Generative AI Venture Capital Valuation 123

Austin Startup

MAY 22, 2020

At the time, WeWork charged less than Regus to use office space and WeWork had significantly higher unit operating costs, customer acquisition costs, higher churn, and a significantly riskier customer base. I pointed out to their pitchman that they had lower unit revenue and far higher unit cost than their competitors.

Venture Capital 99

Venture Capital Acquisition Valuation .Net 99

Reid Hoffman

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

During his long career in the venture capital industry, John, who invested in Amazon, Google, and Intuit, amongst others, became known for the emphasis he places on Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs, which he wrote about in depth in his 2017 best-seller, Measure What Matters. In John’s estimation, that means increasing the U.S.

Technical Review 28

Technical Review Green Nigeria .Net 28

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

LP’s who invest in funds are typically university endowments, public & private pension funds, insurance companies, large corporations and very high net worth individuals called “family offices.&# To give you an indication of how bad, for example, university endowments are suffering check out this chart.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Given how efficient markets are when a large market like LA starts to blossom it attracts capital pretty quickly. billion in venture capital to LA’s technology startups and 2014 will shatter that figure. But our best Internet software engineers have historically been exported on a net basis to the Bay Area.

Los Angeles 376

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Seattle 376

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

Solicit venture capital investors. Most metropolitan areas have groups of local high-net-worth individuals interested in supporting startups, and willing to syndicate amounts up to a million dollars for qualified startups. The process is long, but it doesn’t cost you any equity. Apply to local angel investor groups.

Entrepreneur 240

Entrepreneur Equity Small Business Administration SBA 240

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

If you hire 6 senior sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business 6 months. COGS” represents the amount that each sale costs you. After all, they doubled their operating costs when they weren’t even profitable.

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

David Teten

DECEMBER 16, 2015

Net Income (Loss). Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Net MRR Churn %. For example, for a direct sales model, Paul tends to first look at sales efficiency: the cumulative profit/loss generated by the sales team (and on a per rep basis), net of salary, commissions, etc. ff Venture Capital portfolio company.

Metrics 60

Metrics Analytics Balance Sheet .Net 60

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

The main drivers, from our viewpoint, are: Many tech entrepreneurs no longer view venture capital as an inevitability in their growth path, and have grown skeptical of the traditional “growth at all costs” mindset found in many startup circles; and An increasing number of VCs are growing comfortable with LLCs.

Delaware 48

Delaware LLC Startup Silicon Valley 48

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 15, 2017

If you deliver exactly the same results at the same net cost to the customer via a SaaS product, you may get a tech multiple 10X higher. Heck, there was no venture capital in Dixie in that era. Price is no longer cost + markup = customer price. What is your Customer Acquisition Cost?

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Nevada Silicon Valley 48

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. 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.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Reid Hoffman

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

Instead, it’s largely a product of the resources you are fortunate enough to have access to, and, as she expresses it, “a straightforward calculation of costs and benefits…. “It is deeply telling that the vocabulary of venture capital begins with ‘the friends and family round’,” she writes.

Technical Review 28

Technical Review America Government Silicon Valley 28

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Solicit venture capital investors. Most metropolitan areas have groups of local high-net-worth individuals interested in supporting startups, and willing to syndicate amounts up to a million dollars for qualified startups. The process is long, but it doesn’t cost you any equity. Apply to local Angel investor groups.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Small Business Administration 283

Growthink Blog

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

As opposed to the government granting a $100 billion annual tax break to homeowners with the mortgage interest deduction, give it instead to the entrepreneurs - who, on average create 4 net new jobs every time they start a new business - and those that invest in them. How transformative would this be? Just Stop Talking About It.

Software Review 91

Software Review Technical Review Government Venture Capital 91

David Teten

JANUARY 28, 2019

My former Partner John Frankel of ff Venture Capital observes that 20 years ago, the defining movie of the generation was “Wall Street”. NYU just widened the door for more people to benefit from and contribute to their network, at nominal cost. “CEO is the new Analyst.”. Everyone wanted to work in finance. Incubate non-Yalies.

Affiliate 60

Affiliate Connecticut Programming Community 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2012

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. The key issues here are time to market and cost. Cost structure. What are your costs? What is the need you fill or problem you solve? Target market.

Business Model 242

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 242

Version One Ventures

JULY 22, 2014

With lowered costs to build and run websites, acquire and retain users, virtually anybody can pick up coding and start a tech company. First, there will be a consolidation in the accelerator space, with the net effect of reducing the number of available spaces for start-ups. The ability to raise money no longer determines one’s fate.

Finance 167

Finance Seed Money Bootstrapping Angel Investor 167

Reid Hoffman

JULY 30, 2020

This is why top venture capital firms like Greylock and others are actively investing, especially at the seed and Series A stages. Using the decision window, you can then evaluate these questions on cost-benefit analysis, a return on investment per question. There is a hidden cost to inconsistency.

Hiring 36

Hiring Warrant Software Review Technical Review 36

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

That kind of story drives founders to take a “VC’s don’t know anything” approach to their business and trudge on despite legitimate criticisms of the business, often costing themselves tens of thousands of dollars or more of personal savings. So how do you know whether or not something is worth working on?

Startup 110

Startup Viral Venture Capital .Net 110

Steve Blank

JUNE 23, 2016

As a consequence, corporations used metrics like return on net assets (RONA), return on capital deployed, and internal rate of return (IRR) to measure efficiency. For the first 75 years of the 20 th century, when capital for new ventures was scarce, the smartest engineering talent went to corporate R&D labs.

Architecture 227

Architecture IRR Balance Sheet Liquidity Event 227

David Teten

AUGUST 6, 2015

My colleague Paul Bianco serves as interim CFO for a number of ff Venture Capital ’s portfolio companies, and has built and reviewed hundreds of financial models. While some of your customers may pay via credit card, perhaps some of your largest customers pay on Net 60 or even 90 terms. 17) Include a sensitivity analysis.

Balance Sheet 60

Balance Sheet Software Review Forecast Acquisition 60

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 22, 2009

While it may make sense to offer very slight adjustments for favorable payment terms and one time revenue, net additions to MRR should dominate the sales rep’s thoughts. What is my cost of capital and how much is worth an incremental upfront payment? 1 of MRR generates $12 of annual revenue, so $1 commission equals 1/12=8.3%

Software Review 91

Software Review Clawback Sales Salary 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2011

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. The key issues here are time to market and cost. Cost structure. What are your costs? What is the need you fill or problem you solve? Target market.

Business Model 246

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 246

Up and Running

JUNE 17, 2019

When investors look at your business plan , they will use your income statement to assess the level of risk involved in extending credit or venture capital your way. Whichever template you use, you’ll rely on the following formula to calculate your end balance: Operational Costs + Asset Investments + Financing = Cash Balance.

Balance Sheet 120

Balance Sheet Small Business Finance .Net 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

Reply Lots of low cost experiments « Open Ambition , on April 22, 2009 at 8:58 am Said: [.] Reply Broadening my Reading: 10 Sources I’ve Come to Love « Man in the net :: Ontology :: Semantic :: Knowledge , on December 30, 2009 at 1:13 am Said: [.] Good Enough Decision Making [.]

Silicon Valley 300

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 300

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

I have to say that it has netted far more than I would have thought. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. User Interface Beyond the Web Site ► November (7) Negative Customer Acquisition Costs - Creative Sta.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 19, 2018

Private investors could also be angel investors who form a small group of high net worth individuals, focused on investing in local businesses and offering services to help build your business up and see it succeed. Venture Capital. You can establish a budget based on what you know the principal and interest will cost.

Finance 157

Finance Equity Vesting Dividend 157