Start Up Blog

DECEMBER 29, 2019

When blood diagnosis health startup Theranos was exposed as a scam – everyone started to understand that not all unicorns would live up to their hype, valuations or even their product promises. I liken it to the dot-com bubble of 1999. What happened: Cambridge Analytica scandal + Bitcoin bubble.

Technical Review 105

Technical Review China IPO Vesting 105

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc.

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

approx 1999-07. Villalobos & Payne: “Startup Pre-Money Valuation: The Keystone to Return on Investment” 117. John Frankel started as an individual angel investor in New York in 1999. After years of leading busy and productive lives, lying on the beach and sipping cocktails just does not cut it. 1961- 1996.

Angel Investor 114

Angel Investor Technical Review Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation 114

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Yes… he was a very successful PayPal exec and previously co-founder & VP Product of SocialNet. Not long after the product launch we began the initial conversations with VCs for a Series A round. round which closed in November 2003, and the pre-money valuation between $10 million and $15 million. It was a $4.7M

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

I care because by funding a product, you are giving voice to the idea that yes, it probably is necessary—and if we continue to ignore the contributions of women to the entrepreneurial space, we’re essentially concluding that their ideas hold less value. An incompatibility of product with venture capitalist.

Venture Capital 82

Venture Capital Lean Cofounder Technical Review 82

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

For many years preceding 1999, the 1982 vintage was known as the industry’s worst vintage year. There are five key risks in any deal: Market, Product (a/k/a technology), Management, Business Model, and Capital. Most losses happen when you combine Market and Product risk – take one, not both, and take it with a proven entrepreneur.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

Pascal's View

AUGUST 21, 2011

Welcome to the latest passionate debate over the ‘valuation bubble or not?’ For me Bubble will always be inexorably linked to what went down in 1999 and 2000 in the internet sector. Specifically, too much money has gone into VC-backed Internet companies at too high a valuation. question in venture capital. It is intentional.

Valuation 50

Valuation Social Media Media IPO 50

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

I was thumbing through Twitter messages on my Blackberry on Monday (I use Twitter as a “ mobile first, web second &# product) when I saw the following Tweet (see graphic). I freely admit this (along with nearly everything between 1999-2000) was a mistake. Valuation or percentages – it’s up to you.

Stock Options 294

Stock Options Stock Valuation Liquidation Preference 294

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

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 million in infrastructure just to get started and another $2.5

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Software PHP Open Source 334

thebarefootvc

DECEMBER 16, 2011

Discovery, in contrast to search, took center stage as Pinterest displayed hockey stick growth (and raised VC money near a $200M valuation in late 2011). Sites such as OpenSky and Send the Trend utilize recommendations by celebrities and experts to sell products.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review India Mobile Hockey Stick 110

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

If you’re thinking about joining as the director of marketing, product management manager, senior architect, international business development lead, etc. Let’s assume that the company raised it at a normal VC valuation, which means it gave up 33% of the company and thus $5 million / 33% = $15 million post-money valuation.

Stock Options 418

Stock Options Stock Liquidation Preference Option Pool 418

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

This is a huge recruiting year for data.world as we’ve found our product-market fit in the enterprise. As I’ve helped entrepreneurs find their own product-market fit and connected them to potential clients, investors, and Advisory Board members, I’ve spent a lot of time telling them about the “cool kids”.

Software Review 48

Software Review Sales Cofounder Analytics 48

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Back in 1997, Randy Parker was staring at a blank whiteboard, wondering where hed find the money to hire the employees and consultants he needed to build his new product. "We Before Roving Software could receive its first round of financing from professional investors, in early 1999, he had to put all the stock arrangements in writing.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Pragmatic cost cuts are always possible and often productive.” I started investing in 1994 and while there was some bumpiness in 1997 and again in 1999, the real pain happened between 2000 and 2005. But, as you raise more money at higher valuations, this will normalize. It’s simply not true.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70

Start Up Blog

AUGUST 25, 2013

They made a trade sale in late 1999. When asked how one should value a company that doesn’t make any – he said the ‘Cisco Valuation Model’ is best. Valuation is a funny thing: You’ll get 12 different answers from 12 different investors. Though he had a successful exit from it.

Australia 80

Australia Startup Valuation Cofounder 80

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

Companies that find product/market fit deserve to grow--and if there are enough of those, there will be enough capital to follow them. Valuations. There are a ton of companies being funded at $500+ million valuations--seriously limiting exit opportunities. Are their valuations justified?

Angel Investor 104

Angel Investor Valuation Startup Revenue 104

Austin Startup

JULY 23, 2010

Having been founded in 1999, Zilliant is hard to categorize as a startup anymore. What other products have they looked at? Which products are already in their shopping cart? These are some things to think about when pricing products dynamically, but I’m sure Zilliant’s products are not just focused on realtime web.

Balance Sheet 67

Balance Sheet Private Equity LP IPO 67

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Only a handful of so-called unicorns — companies that have achieved a valuation of over $1 billion in the last 10 years — come from Israel, and only one Israeli firm, Teva, ranks in the world’s 500 largest companies by market capitalization. Understanding the market and establishing product/market fit is a critical seed-stage milestone.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review United States 20

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

I’ve seen several cycles in the market since I first started venture investing in 1999, and I believe there has been no greater potential for wealth creation in the sector than there is now. Pay attention to who you’re taking money from and aim for a reasonable valuation. Build solid relationships with strategic partners and customers.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

I’ve seen several cycles in the market since I first started venture investing in 1999, and I believe there has been no greater potential for wealth creation in the sector than there is now. Pay attention to who you’re taking money from and aim for a reasonable valuation. Build solid relationships with strategic partners and customers.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

thebarefootvc

JULY 26, 2015

I’ve seen several cycles in the market since I first started venture investing in 1999, and I believe there has been no greater potential for wealth creation in the sector than there is now. Pay attention to who you’re taking money from and aim for a reasonable valuation. Build solid relationships with strategic partners and customers.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 26, 2022

We come in after a product has landed and found product market fit and has some escape velocity. So there’s a product side and a business side. . And, if you think of a company’s journey as a sort of there is that 0-1 phase, i.e., finding product-market fit stage. That’s a valuation number and pricing number.

Partner 132

Partner Cofounder Retention Acquisition 132

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 29, 2018

Tell us about your products and services. Tradeconductor.com connects manufacturers of products/services to distributors or end users. A lot of great minds have amazing products and ideas but not the right (global) network. I help my clients navigate their ideas and products into the world. How do you help clients?

Global 55

Global India Networking Cofounder 55

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

I’ve been founding and helping run technology companies since 1999. Most products that fail do so because users don’t understand how to get value from them. Most products that fail do so because users don’t understand how to get value from them. Many product fail by being too complex. Be technical.

Post-Money Valuation 92

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Advisory Board 92

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

I tried a bunch of jobs: I taught fourth grade, worked at a nonprofit, and made an ungodly amount of money doing odd jobs at a dot-com because hey, it was 1999. That can create a productive tension that benefits the larger public. I was going to have to figure out how to do it all day, every day.

Valuation 48

Valuation Bankruptcy California Media 48

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This can often happen when there is a good product built but no real customer adoption yet. We built 4 products simultaneously with no market feedback. Quick aside: how can VC’s invest in online businesses, digital media, social networks or mobile applications if they don’t actually use the products actively themselves?

Founder 299

Founder Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 299

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 3, 2012

But once the company has honed in on a strong value proposition and found initial product-market fit, what is the best approach to scaling it? Later joined by Jonathan Seelig, an MIT Sloan MBA student, the Akamai team raised an $8 million Series A based on the lab prototype in order to commercialize the product. Really hard.

Distribution 49

Distribution Lean Massachusetts Cofounder 49

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Yes, it’s true that FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving some irrational behavior and valuations amongst uber competitive deals and well-financed VCs. Try charging customers for your product when you have 12 competitors giving the product away free finances by $20 million of VC. The Exit Problem.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Mike Michalowicz

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Invest in quality ingredients, it is the only way to ensure a superior product is being provided to your guests. Charlie is a frequent speaker on subjects relating to Restaurant Valuations and Opening a Restaurant and I am thrilled that he has generously participated in this article.

Boston 120

Boston New York Hosting Cost 120

Professor VC

DECEMBER 8, 2015

I think we will see more of these in 2016 and beyond as IPOs are still far and few between and unicorns struggle to justify their stratospheric valuations. It takes time for the business to catch up to these market expectations and valuation. But what about the case where both companies are well capitalized and doing well?

Merger 28

Merger LP IPO Redemption 28

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

One key to this population growth has been the remarkable ease of the Unicorn fundraising process: Pick a new valuation well above your last one, put together a presentation deck, solicit offers, and watch the hundreds of million of dollars flow into your bank account. If 1999 was a wet (read liquid) bubble, 2015 was a particularly dry one.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Ben's Blog

OCTOBER 29, 2020

Demand matters: IPOs are a bull market product Gauging demand for an IPO can be difficult, in part because so many IPO order books are over-subscribed. Once again, the 1999-2000 dot-com bubble period shows the highest percentage of pricing above the initial filing range – 44% of deals were priced above. Are bankers simply irrational?

IPO 36

IPO Securities and Exchange Commission Demand SEC 36

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

While not 1999 all over again but I am observing first-hand the signs of funding frenzy. trillion out of our homes and spent 2/3rds of it on flat screen TVs, trips to Hawaii, time shares, Apple products and everything else we couldn’t afford. VCs get paid to “put money to work.&#. I know not everybody agrees. We took $2.3

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Technical Review Balance Sheet Government 298

abovethecrowd.com

JUNE 2, 2021

Not to be outdone, on May 20, Robinhood announced , “Today, we’re starting to roll out IPO Access, a new product that will give you the opportunity to buy shares of companies at their IPO price, before trading on public exchanges.” They can’t sell the stock at this multiple and therefore that valuation is not available to them.

IPO 82

IPO Customer Matching Silicon Valley 82

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

Of course our great technology industry did itself rise on the back of infrastructure created by telecommunications & cable infrastructure as well as decades of media production. In essence users like you probably used many of these products without complete awareness that your computer became a node and was being used to transmit files.

Government 280

Government Distribution Stock United States 280