Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. Customer acquisition cost.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

Having a set of metrics that you watch & that you feel are the key drivers of your success helps keep clarity. And the more public you can make your goals for these key metrics the better. You will likely have multiple sets of metrics you keep depending on the company’s stage, one’s function in the company and level.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup Acquisition SEM 346

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

What You Can Learn From Public Markets It doesn’t really take a genius to realize that what happens in the public markets will filter back to the private markets because the ultimate exit of these companies is either an IPO or an acquisition (often by a public company whose valuation is fixed daily by the market).

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

Nowhere is this more obvious than eCommerce where many companies juice growth through massive over-spending on customer acquisition only to hit a break wall when consumers don’t love the brand and keep coming back once the heroine-induced traffic disappears. Not vanity metrics. Push yourself hard to be honest with yourself.

Product 150

Product B2B Warrant Technical Review 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

How long does it take me to pay back my original customer acquisition costs? Raise too soon and likely take on more dilution, wait and get valuation up (as our metrics continue to rise) but then run to a point where you have a lower cash balance and place more risks on the business. How profitable is my product or service?

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

When they look at buying your company they often think in terms of “how long will it take until I earn back the profits to pay for my acquisition price?” While Google and Facebook will buy “acquihires” (at least as of Dec 2011), many acquirers hate the idea of buying companies that aren’t profitable.

Startup 418

Startup Revenue Technical Review Flash 418

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

After a year in the market, MakeSpace was growing rapidly and our biggest issue was CAC (customer acquisition costs) relative to payback period (when we get our marketing investment back) and relative to LTV (lifetime value). The metrics were good but we wondered how much better they would be when we expanded our product.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150