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Praying to the God of Valuation

Both Sides of the Table

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics.

Valuation 466
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Why Has Seed Investing Declined? And What Does this Mean for the Future?

Both Sides of the Table

The reality is that as a result of two major trends the costs of starting a technology startup went down massively. Between 1999–2005 the costs went down by 90% and between 2005–2010 they went down a further 90%. I launched my first startup in 1999 so I know the economics of launching from first-hand experience.

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What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. So if your costs are $500,000 per month and you have $350,000 per month in revenue then your net burn (500-350) is equal to $150,000.

Burn Rate 383
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Revisiting Paul Graham’s “High Resolution” Financing

Both Sides of the Table

Legal costs of early stage financing should be cheap – this is one of the final remaining arguments for convertible debt but even Paul acknowledges that this is no longer necessarily the case: “Different terms for different investors is clearly the way of the future. That’s OK, but it gives you a max (read: price!)

Finance 286
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7 Reasons To Reconsider A Planned IPO Exit Strategy

Startup Professionals Musings

According to Investor's Business Daily , even though IPOs in 2018 through July were up nearly 39 percent from last year, the total of 115 companies so far is still nowhere near the rate required to match the yearly total of 486 hit way back in 1999. There are real ongoing costs of maintaining a public company.

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409A Valuations

Venture Chronicles

Don Dodge wrote about a very dry but critically important issue facing private companies that issue equity to employees… 409A valuations : IPO bump? – If private investors have already bid up the valuation, will there be an IPO jump in the stock price? It is called the 409A Valuation requirement from the IRS.

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Understanding Changes in the Software & Venture Capital Industries

Both Sides of the Table

The trend of funding anything from the first $25k to funding $50 million at a billion+ valuation is unlikely to last as the skills and style to be effective at all stages are diverse enough to warrant focus. When I built my first company starting in 1999 it cost $2.5 When I built my first company starting in 1999 it cost $2.5