Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

This requires a visible focus on the company’s revenue model, the costs to get there, and cash on hand. Exit strategy. What’s most realistic these days is an exit via sale to an existing major company for which you solve a meaningful problem. That means merger and acquisition (M&A), not initial public offering (IPO).

Cram Down 269

Cram Down Angel Investor Intellectual Property Venture Capital 269

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

Assuming your startup takes off, you will probably find that the fun is gone by the time you reach 50 employees, or a few million in revenue. So here are the most common exit strategies and considerations these days for planning purposes: Merger & Acquisition (M&A). Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Exit Strategy 241

Exit Strategy Initial Public Offering IPO Startup 241

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 2, 2021

And even though an LLC is legally required to report its revenues, profits, and losses, it does not have to pay corporate income taxes on profits. One primary consideration in creating a tech startup is the long-term strategy, per the owner/founder’s goals, especially regarding exit.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review LLC IPO Stock 78

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

Detail all revenue streams. Be sure to include all revenue streams. Depending on the type of business, these may include sales of products/services, referral revenues, advertising sales, licensing/royalty fees, and/or data sales. Provide a clear exit strategy. The most common exits are IPOs or acquisitions.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

How much revenue are you generating on an annual basis? Is there an exit strategy? Further Customer Acquisition. You need to improve your customer acquisition process. These partnerships need to bring in more revenue. There are two ways to exit a company. There is a complete process to go for an IPO.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Five Quarters of Profitability During the 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s startups going public had to do something that most companies today never heard of – they had to show a track record of increasing revenue and consistent profitability. There was now a public market for companies with no revenue, no profit and big claims.

Silicon Valley 225

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 225

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2020

In that context, I offer the following financial projection strategies, from my own experience: Forecast a business that has plenty of room to grow quickly. Find some credible opportunity statistics that can support your own revenue expectations of between $20 million and $100 million in the fifth year.

Liquidity Event 308

Liquidity Event Forecast Exit Strategy Bootstrapping 308

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. Usually a small company can sell about 20 percent of its stock in an IPO. In 1999, there were 486 IPOs nationwide; just 10 years later, in 2009, there were only 63.

IPO 223

IPO Social Media Media Exit Strategy 223

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2011

Assuming your startup takes off, you will probably find that the fun is gone by the time you reach 50 employees, or a few million in revenue. So here are the most common exit strategies and considerations these days for planning purposes: Merger & Acquisition (M&A). Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Exit Strategy 231

Exit Strategy Initial Public Offering Startup IPO 231

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2014

Aggressive revenue projections and growth rate. Revenue in the fifth year should be at least $20 million, with a growth rate average of 100% per year. In other words, revenue projections are not the place to be too conservative or wildly optimistic. That’s why investors want to hear about your exit strategy.

Liquidity Event 249

Liquidity Event Equity Venture Capital Merger 249

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2013

Aggressive revenue projections and growth rate. Revenue in the fifth year should be at least $20 million, with a growth rate average of 100% per year. In other words, revenue projections are not the place to be too conservative or wildly optimistic. That’s why investors want to hear about your exit strategy.

Liquidity Event 243

Liquidity Event Startup Equity Venture Capital 243

Gust

AUGUST 10, 2014

Aggressive revenue projections and growth rate. Revenue in the fifth year should be at least $20 million, with a growth rate average of 100% per year. In other words, revenue projections are not the place to be too conservative or wildly optimistic. Thats why investors want to hear about your exit strategy.

Liquidity Event 176

Liquidity Event Equity Venture Capital Merger 176

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

What are your forecasts for revenue, expenses and cash flow? Technically, this is your exit strategy, usually a merger and acquisition (M&A) or initial public stock offering (IPO). Justify funding requirements, use of funds and specify a current valuation estimate.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

discuss.joelonsoftware.com

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Im confident that this business will be able to compensate these two additional principles along the way, after initial risk of investing their time, and will later reward their vesting with an exit strategy. This isnt really a start-up team-- Ive been doing the business for 14 years. . *

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Angel Investor Affiliate 40

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Depending on the circumstances, they can shape the fundamentals of an exit, redistribute value among stakeholders, or even kill a deal altogether. To be sure, exiting at a 4X valuation in less than a year is not a bad investment, but it’s also not the type of exit that angels, VCs and founders usually have in mind.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

In an IPO, it might not merely addexpense, but change the outcome. Those remedial actions can delay, stall or even kill the IPO. Of course the odds of any given startup doing an IPO are small.But not as small as they might seem. There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. Its thesame with acquisitions.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 23, 2003

As with any smart executive who cares about the value of equity, the question I am often asked is, “What is your exit strategy.” In other words, these good exits usually happen when your company is approached by a potential buyer-i.e., What does this all mean? Remember, companies are bought and not sold.

Exit Strategy 68

Exit Strategy Balance Sheet IPO Valuation 68