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6 Stories of Successful New Entrepreneurs to Inspire Your Business

Up and Running

Seeing a 200-percent revenue growth in just the first year after securing that loan, TRISTAR took out an additional $500,000 SBA-backed loan to expand its physical presence into two more locations. It has grown from five employees generating $120,000 in annual revenue to 350 employees generating annual revenues of $16.5

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Is the Lean Startup Dead?

Steve Blank

Tech IPO prices exploded and subsequent trading prices rose to dizzying heights as the stock prices became disconnected from the traditional metrics of revenue and profits. Startups wrote business plans, generated expansive 5-year forecasts and executed (hired, spent and built) to the plan.

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Venture Capital Q&A Session

Both Sides of the Table

The A round was done in February 2000 (end of the bull market) and my B round was done in April 2001 (bear market). People buy companies for 3 primary reasons: 1) they want the management team / talent 2) they want the technology or 3) they want the market traction (revenue, customer base, profits, etc). Minutes 18.30 – 26.30.

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New Rules for the New Internet Bubble

Steve Blank

VC’s worked with entrepreneurs to build profitable and scalable businesses, with increasing revenue and consistent profitability – quarter after quarter. The Business Plan (Concept- Alpha-Beta - FCS ) became the playbook for startups. 2001 – 2010: Back to Basics: The Lean Startup. 1970 – 1995: The Golden Age.

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How Customer Development Failed Us

Steve Blank

It made more sense than our 60 page business plan predicated on a B-school class and a supernatural ability to predict the future. Well, it just so happens that we’ve fitted Ross’s 2001 Subaru with a flux capacitor, gotten our hands on some plutonium and we’re about to hit eighty eight miles per hour! Make Money or Take Money?

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What is the Right Amount of Money to Raise at a Startup?

Both Sides of the Table

But there are also problems / risks: - the funding environment might change dramatically – there may never be a next round (see: March 2000, September 11, 2001 and September 2008). - Your revenue will take longer to ramp then you think. It should pop out of your business plan. - .&# If it works you’re a hero.

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Plank’s Cupid Cup Business Contest at U of Maryland is Open

Campus Entrepreneurship

From the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland , the application period for the Cupid’s Cup Business Competition is open. Notice, this competition is for those who have launched businesses and reaches to alumni since 2001. I attended the finals last year and it was excellent.