Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Set expectations accordingly. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Set expectations accordingly. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2011

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. Don’t be embarrassed, since even professional investors are often confused these days by the new terms, as well as old terms used with new meanings. Lean startup.

Early Stage 231

Early Stage Seed Stage Angel Investor Silicon Valley 231

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

Bootstrapping inculcates the entrepreneurial discipline and financial responsibility to run a lean business. ? These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue. Equity investors. The third source of funding is from equity investors. Early-stage. Crowdfunding.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. Don’t be embarrassed, since even professional investors are often confused these days by the new terms, as well as old terms used with new meanings. Lean startup.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 1, 2019

In the go-to-product phase, you can get help from a plethora of incubators, accelerators and angel investors. In two of these three phases – the first and third – volumes of helpful information and numerous organizations are readily available to help guide and support founders of startups.

Cleveland 150

Cleveland Framework Marketing Early Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

And while I’m at it, a great post by Steve Blank No Accounting For Startups looking at early stage score keeping. StartupList — a new way to reach angels - Venture Hacks , February 3, 2010 AngelList is a curated list of angel investors, representing $80M going into early-stage startups this year.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 21, 2014

2014 will be a formative year for new business owners and early-stage entrepreneurs. Continuing into 2014, there will likely be a shift in the role of the investor into a more hands-on player in businesses. More non-professional investors will become angel investors and entrepreneurs will benefit from their domain expertise.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Startup Balance Sheet Non-Compete 210

Steve Blank

JANUARY 20, 2014

When Customer Development and the Lean Startup were just a sketch on the napkin, Dino Vendetti, a VC at Bay Partners, was one of the first venture capitalists I shared my ideas with. Over the years we brainstormed about how Lean entrepreneurship would affect regional development. Part 2: Early-stage Regional Venture Funds.

Silicon Valley 312

Silicon Valley Oregon Lean Venture Capital 312

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

Being an outsider, I also wanted to lean heavily on the actual research available on the subject, as well as the voices of women both in the tech space and who have successfully received venture funding. As an early-stage entrepreneur competing against a vast sea of startups seeking seed funding, first impressions matter a lot.”.

Venture Capital 82

Venture Capital Lean Cofounder Technical Review 82

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Following is his advice to early stage entrepreneurs for creating structure in their company. So, I’ll explain my reasoning through the story of ASC, a fictitious company that has a combination of characteristics I’ve seen across a number of early stage companies.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

Eric Ries of The Lean Startup has called Andrew Chen’s blog “one of the best entrepreneurship blogs of all time.” But, he also has great advice on growth strategies for early-stage companies. Funding a Business Venture Capital and Angel Investors advice blogs funding venture capital venture capitalist'

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

JANUARY 9, 2014

I recently developed a more human framework for early-stage startups to define their startup DNA and lay some foundations for a sustainable business. Too much talking, not enough listening Perhaps it’s because funding is so important to early-stage startups that they soon get good at perfecting their sales pitch.

Early Stage 102

Early Stage Startup Cofounder Design 102

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

While the posts were theory I was a bit surprised when John Selep , an early-stage investor, approached me and said he was actually using the Investment Readiness Level (IRL) in practice. In our Angel investor group, our Applicant Selections process ranks applicant companies relative to the other applicants.

Sacramento 306

Sacramento Framework Customer Development Lean 306

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Seed investors are aplenty and of course they need downstream money to fuel their early-stage bets. Angels have been prolific for years now and they, too, rely on downstream money to cover their bets. You have to decide where to lean in on follow-on rounds. Know how you’ll make money. Probably more.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

Micro-VC: The Artist Formerly Known as “Super Angel” The “Micro-VC” funds (also known by the misnomer “Super Angel funds”), started as far back as the mid-90s with Ron Conway and earlier incarnations of his SV Angel fund. and no, we didn’t. Isn’t this just a lack of focus?

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

Yet even with all these tools, early stage startups still need to physically meet with advisors and investors. We propose that early stage startups communicate in a way that didn’t exist in the 20 th century – online – collaboratively through blogs. That’s great if you can get it. 4) Geography.

Silicon Valley 281

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 29, 2018

The book is also full of very practical early-stage marketing advice so you can break through the noise. Step Three: You need to think big or you will quickly fall into the pattern of being a first-stage entrepreneur (I describe the stages of entrepreneurship in this Lucky7 post ). You are really going to need them.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Austin Technical Review Advisory Board 48

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

Thanks to their position as the wolf, founders (and angel investors) can often get liquidity from their late stage investors (particularly through Digital Sky Technologies – a Russian Bear in the transaction mix?). . In recent years, this imbalance has been turned upside down.

IRR 36

IRR IPO Entrepreneur LP 36

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

David Lerner is an entrepreneur, angel investor and director of entrepreneurship at Columbia University. He is also an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School , and an angel investor hailed as one of New York City’s top 100 early-stage investors. Dave Lerner.

Artificial Inteligence 120

Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Silicon Valley New York 120

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 15, 2011

Yet even with all these tools, early stage startups still need to physically meet with advisors and investors. We propose that early stage startups communicate in a way that didn't exist in the 20th century: online, collaboratively, through blogs. An angel investor or VC can multiply their reach and/or depth.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Startup Early Stage Business Model 118

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? Your presentation doesn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Scalable Startup

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

I’ve discounted the value of face to face recently as much as anyone, leaning heavily on asynchronous electronic communication for much of my business and personal life, and even using broadcast communication (twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, email, …) to replace individual communications. Barriers will melt. @tomnora.

Hawaii 20

Hawaii Angel Investor Early Stage Lean 20

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Step 1: Start with a lean plan. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods. Introducing Lean Planning: How to Plan Less and Grow Faster. How to Write a Traditional Business Plan.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2011

Modern digital curators for early-stage entrepreneurs are the expert bloggers who put “content into context.” These are both experienced entrepreneurs and angel investors. VentureHacks also created AngelList, a mailing list of prominent business angels that facilitates entrepreneur fundraising.

Curation 230

Curation Technical Review Entrepreneur Cofounder 230

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. Investors are also mining for leads such sources as: – product crowdfunding sites ( Indiegogo *); – tech communities ( Producthunt ); – angel group platforms ( Gust ); – expert networks (e.g.,

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

onstartups.com

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

23 Tweetable Insights From "The Lean Startup" (5 days ago). Raising Money On AngelList: 21 Tips From Two Active Angels (1 month ago). 5 Reasons An Angel Investor Will Walk From Your Deal (1 month ago). It is likely that a lot has been written regarding NDAs from an investor’s/VC’s perspective. Follow @dharmesh.

Non-disclosure Agreement 43

Non-disclosure Agreement NDA RSS Angel Investor 43

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2022

For entrepreneurs who really try to be the CEO of multiple early-stage startups concurrently, the hot term for this practice is “multi-table” entrepreneurs. Investors building their portfolio love to hear about multiple startups in one sitting, to select the best fit. Many entrepreneurs love investing in other startups.

Bandwidth 362

Bandwidth Entrepreneur Portfolio Cofounder 362

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

A Lean Startup methodology offers entrepreneurs a framework to focus on what’s important: Business Model Discovery. Teams use the Lean Startup toolkit: the Business Model Canvas + Customer Development process + Agile Engineering. Filed under: Customer Development , Customer Development Manifesto , Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

Oakland 326

Oakland Incubator Lean Metrics 326

www.instigatorblog.com

MARCH 2, 2010

I hadn’t really thought of it that way before, but there’s a certain comfort in thinking about having a team of people you can lean on for advice, help, questions, support, etc. Whether the Advisory Board is something your investors (or Board of Directors) demand or not, you should set one up anyway. Why wouldn’t you?

Advisory Board 40

Advisory Board Startup Cofounder Equity 40

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

But you have, perhaps, heard less specific discussions on what angel investors are looking for. Well, some angel investors are looking for exactly the same thing as what VCs are looking for. In other words, these are angels looking for billion dollar opportunities as well.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

But you have, perhaps, heard less specific discussions on what angel investors are looking for. Well, some angel investors are looking for exactly the same thing as what VCs are looking for. In other words, these are angels looking for billion dollar opportunities as well.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

Scalable Startup

MAY 14, 2012

STARTUP #1 “LAUNCHED” – WE’RE STILL EARLY EARLY STAGE – Last week we had our second meeting, this week we’ll have our third, with home work assignments, so it looks we may be actually doing something here. It’s an experiment so stay tuned. It’s an experiment so stay tuned.

Los Angeles 20

Los Angeles Startup Early Stage Incubator 20

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Jeff’s presentation is from the point of a view of “What Investors Want” (see resources here ) while Mar’s takes it from a founder trying to figure out the funding landscape. And thanks to Ann Miura-Ko of Floodgate (my first Lean LaunchPad co-instructor) for her suggestions. At the high-end pre-seed angel funds might invest.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2019

For entrepreneurs who really try to be the CEO of multiple early-stage startups concurrently, the hot new term for this practice is “multi-table” entrepreneurs. Investors building their portfolio love to hear about multiple startups in one sitting, to select the best fit. Many entrepreneurs love investing in other startups.

Bandwidth 247

Bandwidth Portfolio Cofounder Angel Investor 247