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. Lighter Capital is a RBI VC which has provided over $100 million in growth capital to over 250 companies since 2012. of founders can’t or don’t want to build a business that way.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2013

Based on the latest Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom, personal money, or bootstrapping, continued to be the primary startup funding in 2012. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Startup 264

Startup Burn Rate Bootstrapping Valuation 264

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2013

Raise your first round of money, or bootstrap. There are two ways to start a tech business. You either do it on your own, taking all risks and responsibility yourself (“bootstrapping”), or you find investors that believe in your company. Your first salesperson who brings in your first customer is not likely to be your VP Sales.

Management 120

Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

Tim Keane

DECEMBER 14, 2009

   We worked all day building market strategies for customers while we tried to embody our expertise on software that would expand the company's reach.    Interestingly, the consulting business remained and is a mainstay even today.  October 2012. Bootstrapping.   (This was 1989.) 

Burn Rate 60

Burn Rate Angel Groups Seed Stage Startup 60

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. According to Brian Parks, “Bigfoot provides RBI, term loans, and lines of credit to SaaS businesses with $500k+ ARR. Our wheelhouse is bootstrapped (or lightly capitalized) SMB SaaS. Bigfoot Capital. Graduate.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 19, 2006

Eventually, the vendor abandoned the pricing model when initial users started canceling subscriptions. The customer comments were entirely negative. We communicate to customers and competitors by how we price, and it is not simple to change. The customer comments were entirely negative. October 2012. Bootstrapping.

Software Review 60

Software Review Wisconsin Technical Review Angel Investor 60

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 2, 2007

Is Business Model Analysis Important To You? Investors love entrepreneurs who understand their business model, and can describe it accurately. In my mind, a "business model" reveals the structure of the profit engine that underlies the venture. Is Business Model Analysis Important To You?

Business Model 60

Business Model Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Unfortunately Tracy would learn first hand not much later that the business model has two components: both buying and selling. Sam is the managing director of Launchpad LA and we were about to pick our 2012 class of entrepreneurs. She focused on her customer. How’s that for an ex painter? She’s infectious.”

Silicon Valley 363

Silicon Valley Cofounder Entrepreneur Startup 363

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 8, 2019

What makes me really proud though is we’ve been 100% bootstrapped for our 3.5 When we started this business it was out of necessity, as we didn’t have other options, and we were grinding to even stay afloat, let alone become profitable. Thanks to Joe Sinkwitz, Intellifluence ! #3- 3- Publishing a book.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Technical Review Vertical Las Vegas 117

Tim Keane

MAY 27, 2010

It was bootstrapped.   We had a customer and a value proposition.   We were fortunate enough to have customers like Boston Store, Carson’s, Penney’s, Sears, GNC – and they loved our exceptional customer service and ability to deliver a better value to their customers – and more sales and customer satisfaction to them.

Bootstrapping 60

Bootstrapping Startup America Employee 60

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

Where in your area will you find land or a building with the right zoning, size, facilities, and access for bringing in raw materials, attracting customers, and/or shipping out finished beer for distribution? Breweries don’t really win customers with one beer, but they can lose customers with one beer.”. Relationships.

Oregon 60

Oregon Jordan SBA Cofounder 60

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

All of us like leaders of ventures who:  Have a passion for the customer, and a deep understanding of the customer's business.     At the same time, understand their own business and its key achievements required for success. business model to reduce hypotheses to facts.

Ireland 60

Ireland Wisconsin Angel Groups Bootstrapping 60

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com. SMALL BUSINESS. September 19, 2012, 9:32 p.m. Copyright 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Back to Top « Customer Service. FourSquare.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107

Tim Keane

JANUARY 11, 2013

.  Sales goals have to involve first hand knowledge of the possible (how often people will buy, how much, what the demand is, why, etc.)  coupled with an ongoing creativity about solving customer problems to win the order. October 2012. Bootstrapping.   (See "The Challenger Sale.") Enter your Email.

Wisconsin 89

Wisconsin Angel Investor Startup Bootstrapping 89

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Long term thinking -- for entrepreneurs » October 03, 2012.  It implies that selling to the market is a task that needs to be accomplished, but that the business is focused on an existing market that has high demand for the product. . By Tim Keane, Angel Investor, Golden Angels Investors, LLC.

Technology 74

Technology Marketing Intellectual Property Montana 74

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

However, liked the team, and Dennis Mink, FootFeeds CEO, convinced me of the value in check-ins as a white label service for brands to market to their customers. ► 2012. (1). Bootstrapping 101. Everyone tries to have a memorable demo, often with a musical number, quasi celebrity or skit. We hope to see you again soon.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 38

Tim Keane

JUNE 21, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan. First develop a business model. " "What are your assumptions about how long it will take to get customers?" " "Where do you expect to find these customers?" Sales to segment A will be $500 per customer.

Forecast 68

Forecast Business Plan Sales Wisconsin 68

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 4, 2010

If your business sells to a quantifiable and identifiable group of business customers who are in the tens of thousands, or less, there's really no reason not to individually identify every one of them and track all of your contacts with them.  Any former customers from other places now working there?

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Marketing Angel Investor Startup 60

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 8, 2012

The Performance Appraisal » October 08, 2012. While it isn't always top of mind for entrepreneurs caught up in the rush of running and growing their businesses, long term thinking, including thinking about relationships, is pretty important. .  By Tim Keane, Angel Investor, Golden Angels Investors, LLC.

Wisconsin 68

Wisconsin Entrepreneur Illinois Startup 68

Tim Keane

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

(OVP Venture Partners) My own take on this is that a business plan with a bottom up forecast demonstrates an understanding of the potential market that investors love.  It welcomes feedback from potential customers and experts, reduces the cost and risk of the startup and can potentially drive success quickly.    Why?) 

Marketing 116

Marketing Wisconsin Startup Angel Investor 116

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

This got me thinking about the business model that Mike Keiser has built at the resort and a lecture began to form in my head. Also, if the weather gets really bad, they offer a full refund voucher good for your next trip - all about customer retention. Labels: Bandon Dunes , business models , golf. ► 2012.

Oregon 28

Oregon San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2019

Where in your area will you find land or a building with the right zoning, size, facilities, and access for bringing in raw materials, attracting customers, and/or shipping out finished beer for distribution? Know your customers and your financials. Step 4: Building relationships with vendors and the local community.

Oregon 24

Oregon Jordan Software Review Distribution 24

Tim Keane

JUNE 8, 2009

  In my case, in the first company, it was early customer selling that provided the startup cash.  These companies find capital primarily by finding customers and understanding trade-offs.    They get a purchase order, open for business, begin working on projects to generate cash, or in a thousand other ways.  

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Bootstrapping Angel Investor Startup 60

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 22, 2009

 They take risks, create opportunities, satisfy customers - the list goes on.  They take risks, create opportunities, satisfy customers - the list goes on. October 2012. Bootstrapping. Greg Gianforte: Bootstrapping Your Business: Start And Grow a Successful Company With Almost No Money.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Startup 60

Tim Keane

JANUARY 14, 2009

" In some ways this is analogous to bootstrapping, where the first principle really is "go ask the potential customer if they like what you want to do."  " In some ways this is analogous to bootstrapping, where the first principle really is "go ask the potential customer if they like what you want to do." 

Advisory Board 60

Advisory Board Wisconsin Bootstrapping Angel Investor 60

Tim Keane

MARCH 24, 2008

You (the entrepreneur and founder of this "company") hire a call center to take calls from customers who want an inexpensive medical diagnosis. Of course, in the interest of being a low cost provider, your call center is staffed by folks with a good customer service orientation, but no medical training. Ridiculous?

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Startup 60

Professor VC

JULY 31, 2008

Last year, I tried out a custom textbook through one of the major publishers, which seemed like a great way to go. I assembled textbook chapters, Harvard Business Review articles, cases, and notes to pull together my own textbook. This whole process got me thinking about the textbook business model. ► 2012. (1).

San Jose 28

San Jose Software Review Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Startups for startups – the top B2B tools used by Startups – Includes the list of top 50 startup vendors in 2012 by Vendorstack , a reviews and Q&A platform on enterprise vendors for startups and mid-market companies. Tools for Hackathons – added Dec 2012. Steve Blank on Lean Customer Development.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 3, 2007

« Is Business Model Analysis Important To You? It means that the entrepreneur hasnt done the hard work of figuring out a business model at a detailed level, nor allocated the total investment required to achieve their goals. The faster you can see repeatability from customers on the scale you estimated, the better.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Marketing Business Model IP 60

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

3]   However, if they are built bottom up, they demonstrate and make explicit a range of business model assumptions the entrepreneur is using to think about his business and its revenue model. October 2012. Bootstrapping. John Mullins: Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Tim Keane

JULY 16, 2008

Use your business model to build an early warning system. A business model reveals how the business plans to make money. It incorporates all of the assumptions you are making about your business. If the business model is proven and the input of cash at this level will create real growth, fine.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Startup Angel Investor Business Model 60

Tim Keane

JULY 20, 2007

Is Business Model Analysis Important To You? I was in Italy a couple of weeks ago at the request of the US State Department to discuss angel investing with IBAN, the Italian Business Angels Network. The most important person in the business is the customer. The most important person in the business is the customer.

Italy 60

Italy Angel Investor Wisconsin Harvest 60

Tim Keane

APRIL 14, 2008

Can we quantify success in terms of calls, visits, customer sizes, and so forth? Can we produce a market map to track what our customers want, and from whom they are getting it? Can we quantify success in terms of calls, visits, customer sizes, and so forth? October 2012. Bootstrapping. Signup for email updates.

Ireland 60

Ireland Wisconsin Forecast Sales Cycle 60

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 11, 2006

  Telling a customer you are busy--when you aren't 2.    Telling a potential business partner you are close to signing with his competitor -- when you aren't 5.    Being busy and prioritizing work based on customer criteria -- and raising prices 2.  October 2012.

Term Sheet 60

Term Sheet Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 60

Tim Keane

MAY 2, 2006

The company cannot get the pulse of the market into the product cycle and make the rapid, instinctive changes and improvements that come from customer contact if the customer contact is relegated to a “function” on the team. October 2012. Bootstrapping. It has to be the reason for being. It has to be the reason for being.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Early Stage 60

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 18, 2006

In a lot of startups (especially good ones) the founder/CEO/leader is a customer-oriented sales person. Because of the virtuous feedback loop right at the center of the company, innovations for customer benefit come more rapidly. Even with bumps along the way, the major customer facing components add up to more and more success.

Harvest 60

Harvest LBO Investment Bankers Wisconsin 60

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 13, 2006

They understand their customers and the market the customers live in. They get the idea of value creation, of delivering more for the customer than they promise. Sometimes the leader caves in to the customer. This is easy to do when the customer is big and you are small and knows you are starting out. October 2012.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Distribution 60