Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Both have worked.Google reached $1 billion in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400 billion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit.

Revenue 246

Revenue Entrepreneur Valuation Viral 246

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2023

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Valuation 235

Valuation Revenue Viral Retention 235

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Unfortunately, the mainstream customers who can really drive revenue care more about price. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

Hockey Stick 265

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Startup 265

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2013

For starters, here is my selection of some key metrics that every six-sigma joint like GE tracks without thinking, but that too many small businesses haven’t yet formalized: Sales revenue. Cost of customer acquisition. Over time, you cost of acquisition should go down as growth and your brand image go up. Operating productivity.

Metrics 252

Metrics Technical Review Retention Acquisition 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2016

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400B. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Revenue 145

Revenue Valuation Startup Viral 145

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2022

Another alternative is to build one yourself, starting with a few formulas to extrapolate early revenues and expenses into the five-year projections normally requested by banks and investors. Most entrepreneurs realize that doubling their revenue each year puts them in a premium category with investors, so that may be your first target.

Conversion Ratio 368

Conversion Ratio Startup Business Model eCommerce 368

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2022

Use acquisitions to complement organic growth. Smart companies use acquisitions to enhance momentum and accelerate revenue growth. Smart companies always have a few “experiments” in process. Look for economies of scale, complementary skills and technologies, or access to a broader and stronger market.

Intellectual Property 322

Intellectual Property Acquisition Non-Compete Merger 322

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. Fresh customer base. Marty Zwilling.

Acquisition 214

Acquisition Merger Startup Bandwidth 214

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships. Secure your company’s sustainability through multiple revenue streams and customer sets, and solid core business processes. Listen carefully and act accordingly. Build relationships with potential acquirers.

Exit Strategy 248

Exit Strategy Valuation Acquisition Metrics 248

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Angel Investor Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

Every business needs revenue to provide investor returns and offset costs. Free” is not an attractive revenue model to investors. Popular revenue models today include recurring subscription charges, licensing, as well the traditional sale or lease model. Key resources.

Business Model 334

Business Model Intellectual Property Angel Investor Channel 334

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Startup 161

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 161

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2020

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Unfortunately, the mainstream customers who can really drive revenue care more about price. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

Hockey Stick 307

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 307

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Startup 296

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 296

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Having enough revenue to finally give yourself a salary is an inspiring event, and one that you should savor. New business models that provide an ongoing revenue stream, or a secondary stream from advertising, raise your margins and can give you some additional satisfaction. Celebrate the ability to pay yourself a salary.

Sweat Equity 296

Sweat Equity Startup Salary Viral 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2021

The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships. Secure your company’s sustainability through multiple revenue streams and customer sets, and solid core business processes. Listen carefully and act accordingly. Build relationships with potential acquirers.

Exit Strategy 434

Exit Strategy Valuation Acquisition Metrics 434

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

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. There just aren’t enough angel investors and VCs to go around.

Merger 261

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 261

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Startup 286

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 286

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

Having enough revenue to finally give yourself a salary is an inspiring event, and one that you should savor. New business models that provide an ongoing revenue stream, or a secondary stream from advertising, raise your margins and can give you some additional satisfaction. Celebrate the ability to pay yourself a salary.

Sweat Equity 435

Sweat Equity Salary Viral Leadership 435

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

Even social entrepreneurs need milestones, quantifiable results, and revenue to sustain their value. Investors expect to hear annual revenues, average margins, customer acquisition costs and sales pipelines. Focus on customer needs. Founding team has business and domain experience.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023

Continuous innovation is a mindset that you cannot outsource, or bring in through acquisition or consultants. Fundamental to this transformation is the underlying emotional commitment of the team to something bigger than profits and revenues. Have each develop a personal transformation plan with your support.

Agile 294

Agile Acquisition Analytics Restful 294

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Yahoo has been an example of a company which expanded in all directions through 53 acquisitions, to the point where most customers were confused, and it was overtaken by Google as your main search engine. Obsessive sales – must meet revenue goals. Make sure your vision is clear and communicated.

Dilution 334

Dilution Metrics Acquisition Revenue 334

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2012

Yet a creative collaboration with your biggest competitor may be the best opportunity for revenue and survival. As a result of our increased coverage and wider range of solutions, we both gained revenue and credibility, while reducing marketing and development. You have to take the risk, but keep your wits about you.

Non-Compete 241

Non-Compete Merger Technical Review Software Review 241

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2020

Another alternative is to build one yourself, starting with a few formulas to extrapolate early revenues and expenses into the five-year projections normally requested by banks and investors. Most entrepreneurs realize that doubling their revenue each year puts them in a premium category with investors, so that may be your first target.

Conversion Ratio 308

Conversion Ratio Startup Business Model eCommerce 308

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Project revenues, costs and investment expectations. The best way to do this is to highlight a recent similar company payback to investors, via going public or acquisition exit. Angel investors look for high-growth potential companies who can double revenues yearly, and sell for a high multiplier, providing a 10-time return.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2021

Airlines, for example, have difficulty scaling up through mergers and acquisitions (M&As), but they can spin off their maintenance businesses and let the spin-off do the M&A in its own field. The guaranteed revenue and incentives were only loosely tied—at best—to the spin-off’s performance. Fostering dictatorial leadership.

Startup 313

Startup Non-Compete Merger Leadership 313

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

If your product is free, with advertising revenue from click-throughs, you need a sign-up rate and page-view rate that approaches one million page views per month. Average transaction size and revenue per customer. Customer acquisition cost. Free and freemium products need a solid base.

Hockey Stick 304

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 304

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2022

This can be customer acquisition cost, revenue growth, profit, or whatever other parameters are key to your success. Social media activities span the gamut from curation to gifting, building relationships and groups, blogging, service actions, to lead conversion. Pick the ones that fit your desired outcome.

Social Media 338

Social Media Framework Media Conversion Ratio 338

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

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. There just aren’t enough angel investors and VCs to go around.

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2011

Yet a creative collaboration with your biggest competitor may be the best opportunity for revenue and survival. As a result of our increased coverage and wider range of solutions, we both gained revenue and credibility, while reducing marketing and development. You have to take the risk, but keep your wits about you.

Partner 225

Partner Non-Compete Merger Technical Review 225

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2016

For growing revenue and market share, it’s a key element of your overall strategy, and one that can make or break you. These expansions can be lucrative, but may require more complex strategic partner arrangements or even acquisitions. They usually get chastised and declined for ignoring the realities of the retail channel.

Channel 120

Channel Distribution Partner Acquisition 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

Every business needs revenue to provide investor returns and offset costs. Free” is not an attractive revenue model to investors. Popular revenue models today include recurring subscription charges, licensing, as well the traditional sale or lease model. Key resources.

Intellectual Property 250

Intellectual Property Business Model Angel Investor Channel 250

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Patents can raise startup valuation by investors by as much as a million dollars, and will attract acquisitions rather than copycats. Most founders bootstrap product development.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Unfortunately, the mainstream customers who can really drive revenue care more about price. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

Hockey Stick 263

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 263

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2013

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came quickly. Fresh customer base. Marty Zwilling.

Merger 243

Merger Acquisition Startup Bandwidth 243