Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

In the old days, every entrepreneur planned on taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is finally up from the dead zone of the last two decades, and is now double the rate back in 1999. Going public is an expensive process.

IPO 245

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger. Most public shells ready for sale are not listed on a national securities exchange, but are instead traded in a less glamorous setting, such as the OTC Bulletin Board. Yet reverse mergers are not all bad.

Merger 198

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 22, 2017

Corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings (IPO) bring necessary capital and resources to a growing company. Mergers and acquisitions can be fairly contentious and not all shareholders agree that it is in their best interest for Company A to buy Company B.

IPO 147

IPO Prospectus Merger Initial Public Offering 147

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 7, 2014

Its customer acquisition costs are roughly 85 times that of Moz (if Krager’s figures are accurately comparing apples to apples). Since investors (whether private or public) like to see growth, Hubspot’s story is more impressive from that standpoint. News Hubspot Initial public offering IPO Moz Software as a service Unbounce'

Initial Public Offering 148

Initial Public Offering IPO SEC Valuation 148

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2018

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to stay low, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. You better have lined up a major international expansion, some major acquisition candidates, or a wealth of unfilled orders.

Exit Strategy 128

Exit Strategy IPO Initial Public Offering SEC 128

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

A reverse merger is the acquisition of an already public company (usually a dormant shell) to avoid the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process and cost, to quickly get your startup on a public exchange for fund raising through visibility and selling stock. It takes real money to get into the game.

Merger 246

Merger OTC IPO Stock 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2015

The visibility of Google, Facebook and a few others continues to propagate the myth that the ultimate objective of every entrepreneur should be to take their startups public via an initial public offering at the earliest opportunity. All strategy and operational moves become public.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering Entrepreneur Private Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2016

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to decrease, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. You better have lined up a major international expansion, some major acquisition candidates, or a wealth of unfilled orders.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering SEC Stock Options 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2015

Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the backdoor as a reverse merger. Most public shells ready for sale are not listed on a national securities exchange, but are instead traded in a less glamorous setting, such as the OTC Bulletin Board. Yet reverse mergers are not all bad.

Merger 120

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 120

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 7, 2014

Its customer acquisition costs are roughly 85 times that of Moz (if Krager’s figures are accurately comparing apples to apples). Since investors (whether private or public) like to see growth, Hubspot’s story is more impressive from that standpoint. News Hubspot Initial public offering IPO Moz Software as a service Unbounce'

Initial Public Offering 78

Initial Public Offering IPO SEC Valuation 78

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control. With the more popular Merger & Acquisition (M&A) exit strategy, the control stays with the new entity.

IPO 224

IPO Founder Exit Strategy Investment Bankers 224

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control. With the more popular Merger & Acquisition (M&A) exit strategy, the control stays with the new entity.

Exit Strategy 239

Exit Strategy IPO Investment Bankers Entrepreneur 239

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2011

It has been at least a decade since going public via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been considered a credible exit strategy for startups. Do you need the IPO for your acquisitions strategy? Of course, you’re going to have to perform well to make that stock useful in the acquisitions process.

IPO 223

IPO Social Media Media Exit Strategy 223

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

At this stage, your startup better be selling a commercial offering, have price and cost validated, with significant customer sales and a real revenue stream. At this stage, you need investment bankers to negotiate a merger or acquisition (M&A), go private, or help you go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Investment Bankers 241

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 241

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control.

Exit Strategy 235

Exit Strategy IPO Investment Bankers Entrepreneur 235

VC Cafe

JANUARY 20, 2014

222 firms held initial public offerings last year, raising $55 Billion, the most since 406 companies went public for $97 million in 2000. Now the cost of entry to the Party is rising. The bull market will celebrate its 5 th anniversary in March (NASDAQ grew 38.3% Seed-stage deals now require $5.1

Venture Capital 155

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation IPO 155

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The reward for doing so was a liquidity event via an Initial Public Offering. Tech IPOs were a receding memory, and mergers and acquisitions became the only path to liquidity for startups. Startup exits in the next three years will include IPO’s as well as acquisitions. The New Exits. Wide Adoption. Visibility.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

At this stage, your startup better be selling a commercial offering, have price and cost validated, with significant customer sales and a real revenue stream. At this stage, you need investment bankers to negotiate a merger or acquisition (M&A), go private, or help you go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Investment Bankers 231

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 231

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

At this stage, your startup better be selling a commercial offering, have price and cost validated, with significant customer sales and a real revenue stream. At this stage, you need investment bankers to negotiate a merger or acquisition (M&A), go private, or help you go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital Investment Bankers Angel Investor Initial Public Offering 171

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

It probably had more to do with the fact that they had doubled their sales annually for several years, and still managed to squeeze out a profit of $11M in their year of acquisition. They are looking for solutions that will reduce their costs by 20%, or double productivity, or cut traffic accidents by a third.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Initial Public Offering Merger Acquisition 48

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 2, 2012

The real truth is, since the "Internet bubble" burst in 2001, initial public offerings have not resumed the vitality levels of the late 1980s, let alone the boom years of the '90s. Doing so would reduce costs for companies while still adhering to the first principle of investor protection.". Stock image by Shutterstock.

IPO 121

IPO Startup Florida Seed Capital 121

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

In early 2011 an acquisition by a Fortune 500 company fell apart. based companies initially funded by venture capital between 2006 and 2011, 84% now are closely held and operating independently, 11% were acquired or made initial public offerings of stock and 4% went out of business, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107

Pascal's View

MAY 13, 2011

2002: Sarbanes-Oxley creates more friction for companies that want to go public, but likely much less of a factor than people think, by imposing accounting and compliance costs for small companies that easily exceed $2 million per year. cents or 6.25

Equity 31

Equity Securities and Exchange Commission IPO Marketing 31