David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad. Flexible VC: Revenue -based. Of the Inc.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

David Teten

MAY 7, 2019

Briefly, we think there’s a substantial market for a business which helps enterprises to execute initiatives which require coordination across diverse stakeholders, e.g., make a large sale to a critical client, or lobby for a change in regulation. The company has a long-term vision far beyond politics. Q: What is your political philosophy?

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

Briefly, we think there’s a substantial market for a business which helps enterprises to execute initiatives which require coordination across diverse stakeholders, e.g., make a large sale to a critical client, or lobby for a change in regulation. Q: Is this civic tech? A nonprofit? Q: What have you built so far?

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

We are purpose-built to not only invest pre-product but also to help accelerate your path to product-market fit with our decades of entrepreneurial and investing experience along with our active CXO advisory board. The 10 year bull market where every company’s revenue chart is up and to the right is over.

Stealth 79

Stealth Advisory Board Cloud Virginia 79

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2012

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. These days, the technical side may be the easy part.

Business Model 248

Business Model Advisory Board Entrepreneur Angel Investor 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2017

Very few people are experts in all facets of a new business, including finance, sales, marketing, and operations. The accountant may accurately record every transaction, but only you can make the strategic tradeoffs on marketing costs versus customer revenue, product quality versus support, and so forth.

Cost 180

Cost Advisory Board Entrepreneur Angel Investor 180

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

In it, I got asked a question I often hear: “What if we have a web-based business that doesn’t have revenue or paying customers? And without revenue how do we know if we achieved product/market fit to exit Customer Validation?” They’re putting money into web services/business – most without early revenue. End of theory.&#

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Based on my experience advising new entrepreneurs as well as more mature businesses, I recommend the following strategies for building business momentum, while still optimizing the limited resources of every small business: Find more customers that like what you do best. Focus first on finding more of the right customers.

Technical Review 400

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Advisory Board Cofounder 400

ConversionXL

AUGUST 11, 2021

All companies that This Week in Startups’ audience of entrepreneurs, company founders, and marketers would be interested in. Sponsors will have different reasons for backing your project: sales, lead generation, brand awareness, product launches , corporate social responsibility, etc. Try not to think of this as a sales meeting.

Audience 139

Audience Social Media Email Ruby 139

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2013

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. entrepreneur startup proof of concept business model'

Business Model 235

Business Model Product Advisory Board Angel Investor 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2016

Almost every entrepreneur looking for outside investors has heard the annoying rejection, “You are just too early – come back when you have more traction.” These need to go beyond the traditional revenue, cost, and volume metrics which may not yet have data, and can mislead you about real customer acceptance.

Metrics 143

Metrics Advisory Board Startup Lean 143

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2016

In my role as an advisory board member for several startups, I’m always excited to see that initial surge of revenue from a great rollout campaign. An initial revenue surge, or a major cash advance from investors often leads to a mentality of building a large customer base at any cost.

Advisory Board 120

Advisory Board Startup Revenue Finance 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 28, 2019

Create a sales plan. What are my expectations of being an entrepreneur? For example, in our definitive guide on how to start a successful clothing brand or clothing line , we suggest that aspiring apparel entrepreneurs choose their niche too. Studies show that entrepreneurs who take the time to write a business plan are 2.5

Business Plan 64

Business Plan Small Business Administration Hiring Social Media 64

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

I’ve written on the expert network industry a fair amount in the past: see How to Earn More Consulting Revenue from Expert Networks and How Executives Can Work with Private Equity and Venture Capital Portfolio Companies. David Teten: What is GLG Share, and why did you launch it? In that way, we see the value from both sides.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

The Startup Magazine

MAY 28, 2019

They see it as a tool to drive their business instead of sharing their revenues with us.’. From our hard working and talented employees, ‘smart-money’ investors, to our Advisory Board Members that include Gerry Calabrese founder of Hoxton Spirits or Tomasz Fajfer European Financial Director of Sephora and ex Board Member of Costa Coffee.

Advisory Board 90

Advisory Board Angel Investor Startup Cofounder 90

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2011

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. These days, the technical side may be the easy part.

Business Model 234

Business Model Advisory Board Startup Angel Investor 234

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. What are your specific marketing and sales plans? Include advisory board member qualifications and key industry connections.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

Growthink Blog

OCTOBER 22, 2012

That Often It is Better to Receive than to Give : While advisory board members, unlike a formal board, do not have liability nor fiduciary responsibility, their time and energy requirements to participate are significant. The “ which ” questions are in many ways the harder ones that an advisory board dynamic can help address.

Advisory Board 91

Advisory Board Management Revenue Operations 91

Small Business Force

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

You have some actual customers, driving real revenue and maybe even have an employee or two. Now is when you really become an entrepreneur! In fact, if you can, set up an advisory board of three or four folks, who you respect, who've been to the same dance you're at right now. Welcome to our fraternity, new entrepreneur.

Early Stage 32

Early Stage Advisory Board Technical Review Web Development 32

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Growthink Blog

APRIL 4, 2011

My company had its first meeting of its strategic advisory board this past week. Here is what I got out of it: That Often It is Better to Receive than to Give: While advisory board members, unlike a formal board, do not have liability nor fiduciary responsibility, their time and energy requirements to participate are significant.

Advisory Board 83

Advisory Board Management Revenue Operations 83

Hearpreneur

MARCH 15, 2016

Entrepreneurs are continuously discovering that if you find a place, you can create a company. In addition we have a fantastic marketing team and a sales team that are successfully plugging away every day, many many hours. Sometimes a great advisory board can be just as useful. We were in the black already after 2 years!

Advisory Board 48

Advisory Board Michigan SBIR Revenue 48

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2018

Assemble a credible inside advisory board and partners. If Elon Musk is an advisor to your transportation startup, that is major traction, even without a product or revenue. A sure sign of no traction is a lone inexperienced entrepreneur looking for an investor. Demonstrate key customer prospect evidence of interest.

Advisory Board 199

Advisory Board Technical Review Metrics Business Model 199

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 5, 2010

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. These days, the technical side is the easy part.

Business Model 120

Business Model Advisory Board Angel Investor Channel 120

Small Business Force

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

You have some actual customers, driving real revenue and maybe even have an employee or two. Now is when you really become an entrepreneur! In fact, if you can, set up an advisory board of three or four folks, who you respect, who've been to the same dance you're at right now. So you proved your concept.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Advisory Board Technical Review Employee 20

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2011

I urge all entrepreneurs to consult and develop a good working relationship with a qualified startup lawyer. Advisory board agreements. Sales contracts accounting for significant revenue. In the case of revenue contracts, they help pay for the related legal work. Caveat entrepreneur !

Intellectual Property 139

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Delaware Stock 139

Jeff Hilimire

JUNE 7, 2014

I was recently meeting with an entrepreneur that went through the Advice For Good program (he donated his time at the Atlanta Community Food Bank and blogged about it , then we set up a time to meet) and we went on a nice walk and talked about his young company. What do you want this business to ultimately be? Find a mentor.

Advisory Board 50

Advisory Board Atlanta Leadership Revenue 50

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series/ebook, over the years I’ve noticed that I tend to frequently share certain Lucky7 posts with entrepreneurs we’ve backed , team members at data.world, or other startup investors I know. So I’m packaging the best of them up for you here in a new series called The Entrepreneur’s Essentials. —?it

Software Review 48

Software Review Sales Cofounder Analytics 48

Steve Blank

JUNE 22, 2009

Things Change In 1956 Hewlett Packard (HP) was a 17-year old company with $20 million in test equipment sales with 900 employees. Army Signal Corps advisory board, and the Army was going to acquire their first computer for research. I’ll show you the memo in a second. But first some background.)

Silicon Valley 164

Silicon Valley RSS California Agile 164

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 14, 2019

Create a sales plan. Maybe you want to be the area expert in short sales, only focus on rental property management, or perhaps you are the go-to resource for landlord/tenant laws for your state. Studies show that entrepreneurs who take the time to write a business plan are 2.5 Write a business plan. Get a license. Join a team.

Business Plan 79

Business Plan Limited Liability Company Small Business Sales 79

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

In addition to being startup founders, there are several other key roles that I see Boomers taking more often these days to drive successful startups: Advisory Board. What you need is an experienced executive, who is willing to work for equity, and will happily step aside in a couple of years when your revenues exceed $20M.

Advisory Board 268

Advisory Board Angel Investor Entrepreneur Equity 268

Austin Startup

MAY 19, 2018

When founders get told to “come back when you have X customer or N revenue”, sure some of them will, but probably not the ones you’d really want to invest in. A good CEO is likely a sales person by nature. Don’t b t a b r CEOs are sales people. There is no such thing as “not right now” there is just “yes” and “no”.

Founder 75

Founder Early Stage Software Review Deal Flow 75

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2013

In addition to being startup founders, like Richard Branson , founder of more than 400 companies and still going strong, there are several other key roles that I see Boomers taking more often these days to drive successful startups: Advisory Board. High-travel sales and buyer positions. Retail sales to Gen-X and Gen-Y.

Advisory Board 247

Advisory Board Angel Investor Startup Equity 247

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 3, 2019

Outside of the scope of this post is what is on my mind when I actually meet with an entrepreneur to assess their startup?—?and I’ve written about that in my free ebook on entrepreneurship, The Entrepreneur’s Essentials? On average, we have generated far better returns from serial entrepreneurs than first-time entrepreneurs.

Angel Investor 48

Angel Investor Advisory Board Equity B2C 48