Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

IPOs in 2008, the market was up to a still trivial 128 in 2012 (compared to 675 in 1996). With the more popular Merger & Acquisition (M&A) exit strategy, the control stays with the new entity. Even though the Initial Public Offering (IPO) alternative for a successful startup seems to be coming back, it is relatively rare.

IPO 224

IPO Founder Exit Strategy Investment Bankers 224

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

I started the company in December 1996, we sold the company in March 2000 (3+ years). We had just under 20 people prior to the acquisition at over $100M — that’s a pretty capital efficient company by any definition. In fact, when starting K9 I used my own startups as an example such capital efficiency.

Silicon Valley 91

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Technical Review Acquisition 91

ConversionXL

MAY 1, 2017

Reporting in the Harvard Business Review on a major study of growth stalls they conducted, Olson and his colleagues cite the case of the iconic brand Levi Strauss, which hit a historic high mark of sales in 1995, reaching revenue of $7 billion, but then, starting in 1996, saw a decline in sales so precipitous that by 2000, revenue was down to $4.6

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Algorithm Channel Analytics 127

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

I started the company in December 1996, we sold the company in March 2000 (3+ years). We had just under 20 people prior to the acquisition at over $100M — that’s a pretty capital efficient company by any definition. In fact, when starting K9 I used my own startups as an example such capital efficiency.

Silicon Valley 90

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Technical Review Acquisition 90

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 11, 2021

From 1996 to 2001, I spent a lot of time with Len in New York, where Interliant was headquartered. He told me that Cable & Wireless wasn’t moving forward with the acquisition of Interliant – the deal was all but done. I learned how to complete a negotiation, walk away from the table, be empathetic, and be available.

SEC 164

SEC Cofounder Boston New York 164

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 27, 2014

I’ve known Cindy and her husband Terry Gold since 1996, shortly after I moved to Boulder. Throughout the entire process, Terry was a tireless leader who never gave up and, even after two acquisitions feel apart at the end, he still tried to find a home for the remaining employees. I read it last month and loved it.

Angel Investor 110

Angel Investor Acquisition Channel Revenue 110

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 28, 2013

The acquisition of someone’s essence by “ingesting” him or her is exhibited in the Eucharist, a ritual that millions of Catholics regularly practice signifying the consumption of Christ’s body and blood. Instead, we consider the deeper underlying realities or true natures of an activity, person or item.

Acquisition 176

Acquisition Security Cost 176

Software By Rob

APRIL 7, 2009

Front End Developer Resume, An 11-pound Notebook, A 2-pound Netbook, and Internet 1996 | Software by… [.] Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed. “Front-End Developer&# Resume – Awesome. inch screen that slides out of a 17-inch screen). Definitely needs to be a pyramid scheme though. #4

Software Review 27

Software Review Developer Fresno RSS 27

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

Believe it or not, three years after founding the company in 1996, Larry Page and Sergey Brin actually tried to sell Google for $1 million. eBay was ultimately unable to generate sufficient profits and synergies from the acquisition. . - Modest profitability. - The price offered was high for this type of business. Low profitability.

IPO 162

IPO Exit Strategy San Francisco Startup 162

David Teten

JANUARY 10, 2012

Fralic has 25 years of technology industry experience, with significant Internet business development roles since 1996. acquisition. Prior to joining First Round in early 2006, Mr. Fralic was VP of Business Development at social bookmarking and tagging company del.icio.us through the Yahoo!

Portfolio 122

Portfolio New York Social Bookmarking Philadelphia 122

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 26, 2022

I’m a partner at TCV, which we founded in 1996. The vast majority of their customer acquisition is word of mouth. When you put those two things together, you get high-quality customers, high LTV, and acquisition at super low costs. Here is the full YouTube — Please enjoy this episode: How to Scale Unicorns.

Partner 132

Partner Cofounder Retention Acquisition 132

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 22, 2018

When starting Career Central in 1996, my team & I identified three qualities that we wanted our employees to possess: tirelessness, selflessness, and fearlessness. A far more important hiring criterion is what I call “DNA.”. We ensured that every single hire shared this hardwiring.

Intellectual Property 138

Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Hiring Differentiation 138

Feld Thoughts

MAY 5, 2016

Between 1996 and 2002 I was co-chairman of Interliant, a company I co-founded with three other people. I was visiting the company post acquisition and wandering down the main hallway with the founder of the company we had just acquired. Your wall is dingy is one of them.

Cofounder 70

Cofounder Founder Equity Acquisition 70

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 30, 2015

Would you be surprised to know that almost half of the dot com companies founded when the boom started in 1996 were still around in 2004--four years after the peak of the NASDAQ? Instead of paid acquisition fueling an up and to the right hockey stick, these companies would grow organically.

Hockey Stick 60

Hockey Stick Valuation Startup Maryland 60

Software By Rob

MAY 4, 2009

at 5:33 am Hey Rob, I was just wondering – where/how do you look for decent acquisitions? 5 iWeb Blog » iWeb Tech News Highlights: web marketing, F.lux, micropreneurs on 05.05.09 at 9:58 am [.] a micropreneur’s perspective: Selling physical products vs digital products [.] #6 6 Jannik on 05.06.09 7 Rob on 05.07.09

Product 35

Product Software Review RSS Software 35

Growthink Blog

JUNE 4, 2012

So lots of companies went public - 1,272 of them from 1990 to 1996 - and Wall Street was very much about "long" promotion of companies' growth potential and as "analog" distributors of their stocks. Compare that to today's financial markets.

Private Equity 72

Private Equity Stock IPO Equity 72

Jeff Hilimire

MARCH 14, 2014

From GI Joes to Beanie Babies, baseball cards, Zippo lighters, comic books and even 1996 Olympic Pins, I was always finding out what was in high demand and determining how to get it for less so I could sell it for more. Tell the story of how you first became an entrepreneur. As a kid, I had a fascination with selling stuff.

Atlanta 51

Atlanta Acquisition Leadership Demand 51

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Are Israeli companies on the verge of developing a repeatable playbook to scale their companies and become market leaders, not just acquisition fodder for the Silicon Valley giants? To answer these questions, we built a database of 112 Israeli companies founded between 1996 and 2013 that have met or exceeded $20 million in revenue.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review United States 20

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

We alsothought wed be able to sign up a lot of catalog companies, becauseselling online was a natural extension of their existing business.But in 1996 that was a hard sell. When we got real funding nearthe end of 1996, we hired a great CFO, who fixed everything retroactively. We officially launched in early 1996.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

Pascal's View

MAY 13, 2011

i. Pre bubble period 1991-1996 totals $28 billion. ii. Bubble period 1996-2000 totals $243.6 How many of the next generation of future category leaders will be stillborn or lapse into obscurity through acquisition because they could not access the public markets to stay independent or viable?

Equity 31

Equity Securities and Exchange Commission IPO Marketing 31

Up and Running

DECEMBER 21, 2015

Everest climb in 1996, a story made famous by the bestselling book, “Into Thin Air.” No one doubted the guaranteed success of Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, but what remains to be seen is just how high The Force Awakens will soar. Everest” is inspired by the true events of a disastrous Mt. Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Finder 60

Finder Entrepreneur Redemption Curation 60

The Next Web

JULY 15, 2012

Gonzo is a passionate internet entrepreneur who has been doing business online since 1996. That happens here on The Next Web as well, when we read about the latest startup to getting funding, or the biggest acquisition this week. Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Gonzo Arzuaga. His goal is to be a motivational speaker.

PHP 148

PHP Internet Cofounder Email 148

Occam's Razor

APRIL 25, 2011

Have a balance in your spend between acquisition and website. Spend loads on acquisition, but also spend loads on creating websites that deliver on your promises. Your website was created in 1996, updated slightly in 2001, and left to rot ever since. Would you treat your mother like that?

Marketing 126

Marketing Flash Analytics Web 126

Software By Rob

MARCH 12, 2009

Front End Developer Resume, An 11-pound Notebook, A 2-pound Netbook, and Internet 1996 → How Third-Party Licensing Can Ruin Your Launch Micropreneurship , Startups If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place. Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed.

Software Review 31

Software Review Ruby Distribution RSS 31

Pascal's View

AUGUST 22, 2009

For a clear example, see the following list of 17 companies that went public and raised $50 million or less between 1971 and 1996: These companies only raised $367 million in the public markets and they account for 470, 000 U.S. The IPO chasm that exists today is the result of the death of the sub $50 million IPO. jobs today.

IPO 40

IPO Merger Institutional Investors Venture Capital 40

infochachkie.com

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Readily Pronounceable – A name’s proper accent should be obvious, as made painfully clear in the 1996 Tom Hank’s Movie, “That Thing You Do!” Even after spending hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing, numerous potential customers still misspell the company’s non-intuitive name. John is a CPA and holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Naming 40

Naming Technical Review Product Product Name 40

Seeing Both Sides

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

I first came across Bill when he was a Wall Street analyst and covered my company Open Market (IPO 1996). Bill Gurley’s excellent piece on Silicon Valley IPO Anxiety inspired me to take a companion look at the East Coast, particularly Massachusetts and New York, and evaluate the health of the local IPO economy and prospective pipeline.

IPO 34

IPO Massachusetts New York Silicon Valley 34

Pascal's View

AUGUST 21, 2011

I will post separately on valuation metrics and the implications of the dichotomy between recent public company valuations and merger & acquisition statistics. This is similar in effect to the epic 1996-2000 Internet Bubble cycle but for the expansion of the players in the pre-IPO inner bubble circle.

Valuation 50

Valuation Social Media Media IPO 50

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

I have been involved in startups since I graduated from college in 1996. It helps you when you’re investing in a marketing program even though what ad spend or what cost of acquisition you’re comfortable with. In a subscription business, there three to five times would be a really good multiple for that ratio.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95