Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition. Every startup demands logical changes along the way. Equity investors realize that they won’t see any real return until an exit occurs, such as a sale, merger, or IPO.

Exit Strategy 406

Exit Strategy Merger Angel Investor IPO 406

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2021

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. That implies that a board of directors has no value to the founder, and is just another burden that to be assumed for the privilege of attracting outside investors or going public.

Advisory Board 362

Advisory Board IPO Government Acquisition 362

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Congratulations!

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

It seems that most of you entrepreneurs I meet in my role as business advisor are convinced that starting a new business requires equity investors, exponential growth, and a plan to go public via IPO. If your passion is customers, you definitely will be happier as a lifestyle entrepreneur. You want to be your own boss, and do things your way.

Small Business 311

Small Business Small Business Administration Equity SBA 311

View from Seed

MARCH 3, 2015

Ellie Mirman was the first marketer hired by the CMO of HubSpot, the Boston-based marketing software startup that IPOed in 2014. NextView Ventures: Thinking back to before anyone knew HubSpot or the company was headed towards an IPO, where did you even start to market the company? Did you feel that pressure to deliver immediately?

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Marketing Sales Cycle Startup CTO Hire 120

Ben's Blog

OCTOBER 29, 2020

Since then, the debate over IPOs has continued, with a particular focus on allegedly underpriced offerings that jump shortly after opening — the dreaded “pop.” ” As some criticism has it, this supposedly deprives companies of millions of dollars that should have been theirs if not for underpricing the IPO.

IPO 36

IPO Securities and Exchange Commission Demand SEC 36

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” If there was strong market demand for their product then this investment might pay off handsomely. One of them is profitability.

Startup 418

Startup Revenue Technical Review Flash 418

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

This method was perfected by Gil Elbaz and his team at Applied Semantics in LA and in what some have called “ the most important acquisition ever made by Google ” they acquired the company for $102 million before Google had even IPO’d. He built & IPOd Demand Media. He built & sold iMall in Internet 1.0

Los Angeles 376

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Seattle 376

Agile VC

MARCH 8, 2012

Tech IPOs Are Back – So Now What? Three of the five “blockbuster” tech IPOs I predicted have happened (LinkedIn, Groupon, Zynga) and the biggest of all (Facebook) has filed and will likely go public within the next 90 days. I see several dynamics at work in today’s IPO markets. March 8, 2012.

IPO 100

IPO Silicon Valley Revenue Seed Stage 100

Austin Startup

MAY 10, 2021

three companies he previously worked for had successful exits including two acquisitions and one IPO. I’m excited to join Hologram because they’re on the front end of an exploding IoT industry and Hologram is seeing increased demand and usage across every industry from healthcare to retail to agriculture,” said Georgoff.

Hiring 104

Hiring Product United States Startup 104

Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

The collapse of the IPO market and dysfunctional math in the venture capital community has stacked the odds against you. Startup lifecycle in an IPO Market. Netscape’s 1995 IPO changed the rules. Depending on your industry, in this decade it’s 5 to 10x less likely that your company will have an IPO as an exit.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

Dot.com Bubble ( 1995-2000): “ Anything goes” as public markets clamor for ideas, vague promises of future growth, and IPOs happen absent regard for history or profitability. With Netscape’s IPO , there was suddenly a public market for companies with limited revenue and no profit. The New Bubble : (2011 – 2014): Here we go again…. (If

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

Even still, in the context of all three points, I recommend that you evaluate the most common exit alternatives and considerations, and integrate the right one into your startup strategy and plan: M&A - merger or acquisition by another company. IPO – public company initial public stock offering.

Exit Strategy 264

Exit Strategy Private Equity Equity Technical Review 264

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. The value ascribed by subsequent investors (in a secondary); buyers (acquisition); or the public markets (IPO). Santa Clara University shares their demand dividend structure. . 15-20% sold per round.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Dividend Equity 78

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Congratulations!

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

View from Seed

MAY 28, 2020

Farmers need to know how much to grow, distributors need to know how much to order and sell to maximize sales and reduce spoilage, restaurants need to order more efficiently, and consumers are demanding more transparency and less waste. Pepper is one of several startups founded to address these problems.

Memphis 256

Memphis Distribution Bankruptcy Operations 256

prosperati.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

There must be a healthy acquisition or IPO pipeline in the market. Malaysia unfortunately does not have a good technology IPO pipeline. Malaysia tried but there simply wasn’t enough liquidity, or institutional demand. Without an “exit&# , you will never exercise your options.

Offshore 40

Offshore Malaysia Developer Stock Options 40

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

So here are the most common exit strategies and considerations these days for planning purposes: Merger & Acquisition (M&A). Initial Public Offering (IPO). But since the Internet bubble burst in the year 2000, the IPO rate has declined every year until 2010, and is now at about 15%. Sell to a friendly individual.

Exit Strategy 241

Exit Strategy Initial Public Offering IPO Startup 241

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

Even still, in the context of all three points, I recommend that you evaluate the most common exit alternatives and considerations, and integrate the right one into your startup strategy and plan: M&A - merger or acquisition by another company. IPO – public company initial public stock offering.

Exit Strategy 376

Exit Strategy Startup Private Equity Equity 376

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

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). Typically, they must also change and tune their executive team, to keep up with the increasing demands of a growing company on process discipline and sustainable success.

Investment Bankers 241

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 241

Version One Ventures

JUNE 30, 2021

It is also the first IPO in the Version One family and hence, a special milestone for us as a fund. Acquisitions. Booster expanded their service for mobile energy delivery to include on-demand electric vehicle charging. . Here are just some of many activities and accomplishments in the V1 portfolio during the past quarter….

Portfolio 60

Portfolio Valuation Canada IPO 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2011

So here are the most common exit strategies and considerations these days for planning purposes: Merger & Acquisition (M&A). Initial Public Offering (IPO). But since the Internet bubble burst in the year 2000, the IPO rate has declined every year until 2010, and is now at about 15%. Sell to a friendly individual.

Exit Strategy 231

Exit Strategy Initial Public Offering IPO Startup 231

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

is an elegant way to model any service-oriented business: Acquisition Activation Retention Referral Revenue We used a very similar scheme at IMVU, although we werent lucky enough to have started with this framework, and so had to derive a lot of it ourselves via trial and error. The AARRR model (hence pirates, get it?)

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Congratulations!

Angel Investor 232

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 232

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 11, 2015

With the daily demands of running a business along with the financial pressures and challenges inherent in early-stage companies, a business valuation may not be the first thing an entrepreneur thinks of when he awakes each morning. by Janet Chase, Kaufman Rossin.

Valuation 100

Valuation Stock Options CPA Merger 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2016

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. That implies that a board of directors has no value to the founder, and is just another burden that to be assumed for the privilege of attracting outside investors or going public.

Advisory Board 145

Advisory Board Entrepreneur Government IPO 145

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

Today one of our portfolio companies BigDoor announced the acquisition of San Francisco-based OneTrueFan , a community and web check-in company. Recently the market demand has been outpacing their ability to keep up, so they turned to OneTrueFan as a means of accelerating their product development and overall growth.

San Francisco 115

San Francisco Cofounder Acquisition IPO 115

abovethecrowd.com

AUGUST 23, 2020

If you are looking past or through Covid — and why not, all of Wall Street is — the topic du jour in Silicon Valley is Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs. So while the underpricing and true cost of capital of a traditional IPO is trending worse, the economics behind SPACs are actually improving.

IPO 118

IPO Silicon Valley Warrant Matching 118

Duct Tape Marketing

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Since leaving GrubHub, he founded Fixer.com, an on-demand handyperson service focused on social impact. Questions I ask Mike Evans: [1:46] Could you give us a high-level overview of the startup of Grubhub to IPO to what you’re doing now? He founded fixer.com and on demand, handy person service focused on social impact.

Founder 82

Founder Chicago Kansas Startup 82

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

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). Typically, they must also change and tune their executive team, to keep up with the increasing demands of a growing company on process discipline and sustainable success.

Investment Bankers 231

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Initial Public Offering Startup 231

Austin Startup

AUGUST 8, 2020

Over that time period, this newsletter has emerged as a must read for the city’s startup community because of its aggressive coverage of investments, IPOs, launches, Central Texas re-locations, mergers, founder-related events and (more recently) COVID-related layoffs. In fact, the Beat now counts more than 10,000 subscribers.

Austin 62

Austin Minnesota Silicon Valley Entrepreneur 62

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Congratulations!

Matching 120

Matching Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers 120

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 15, 2020

acquisition of Plaid by Visa, in a highly competitive deal, shows how even the largest incumbents are feeling pressure to innovate and need to think outside of their current business models. Along those lines, I have been spending time thinking of the the continued digitization of the financial services sector. The recently announced $5.3B

Disintermediation 69

Disintermediation Aggregator China API 69

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Don’t let your passion convince you that word-of-mouth and viral marketing will suffice against well-funded competitors and ever more demanding customers. The options here include going public (IPO), merger/acquisition, liquidate, or no exit, just paying off investors. Include marketing, sales, and customer rollout plans.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2015

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. That implies that a board of directors has no value to the founder, and is just another burden that to be assumed for the privilege of attracting outside investors or going public.

Advisory Board 120

Advisory Board Startup IPO Government 120

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

They hired a biz dev team to work on deals where their product could be embedded in other people’s products as a way to increase customer demand. If there was strong market demand for their product then this investment might pay off handsomely. I also wouldn’t be so quick to say that Company B is run worse than Company A.

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

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). Typically, they must also change and tune their executive team, to keep up with the increasing demands of a growing company on process discipline and sustainable success.

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital Investment Bankers Angel Investor Initial Public Offering 171