YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

If this happens, the risk of having an unpleasant experience is much higher, as an early stage startup cannot afford 7 months off the correct path. More metrics need to be identified such as product testing, market validation, and/or customer validation in order to show that a market opportunity exists. It was all hypothetical.

Programming 124

Programming Chile B2B B2C 124

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

An investor had few hard metrics other than the actual financials, and little technology to make the process scaleable. Over the past few decades, better metrics became available, and investors could take a more analytical, data-driven approach. Many tools designed for B2B marketing in general are also relevant to investors.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

It was also beneficial because I got some good experience with both B2B and B2C business models. In some ways it is similar to early stage incubators such as Y Combinator, although FI is even earlier stage, focusing on developing the founders themselves as entrepreneurs as opposed to actual companies. How did you do that?

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

Pre-launch customer development data is another way, sometimes in the form of user surveys for consumer companies or interviews with potential beta customers for B2B businesses. One of our portfolio investments, a B2B SaaS company, was a pre-product startup at the time of the seed round.

Seed Stage 149

Seed Stage B2B Seed Capital Revenue 149

Occam's Razor

MAY 2, 2017

There is no golden metric for everyone, we are all unique snowflakes! :). and tell you what are the best key performance indicators (metrics) for them. In the past I’ve shared a cluster of metrics that small, medium and large businesses can use as a springboard…. If you want to play along. Don’t read what I’ve chosen.

Metrics 141

Metrics Acquisition eCommerce Analytics 141

View from Seed

MARCH 3, 2015

EM: When you’re at an early stage, you don’t know what that buyer path looks like yet, so you should be trying all different strategies to get data and figure out the playbook. Even identifying as a demand-gen marketer or branding or B2B or B2C leaves a lot of decisions still on the table to actually execute.

Marketing 120

Marketing Sales Cycle Startup CTO Hire 120

ConversionXL

MAY 27, 2022

The average B2B buyer has 27 brand interactions before deciding. Only around 10–15% of B2B leads turn into paying customers, and it’s because tactics optimizing for the early stages of the funnel only cater to early-stage goals. Very few, if any, of these interactions are with a sales rep.

Demand 95

Demand Management B2B Campaign 95

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

This initial wave of applicants resulted in the selection of six initial Accelerator participants – female & male founders at startups hailing from the Bay Area to Miami to Alabama to Boston, ranging from b2b SaaS offerings to consumer services… all transforming people’s everyday lives.

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

cdixon.org

AUGUST 3, 2012

Some observations: - Thousands of early-stage consumer web/mobile companies were started and funded in last 24 months. A few breakout early-stage consumer hits (Instagram, Pinterest) have reached tens of millions of users in record time. Hence, many early-stage consumer startups are switching to transactional models. -

Bridge Financing 86

Bridge Financing Early Stage Valuation Later Stage 86

Ben's Blog

MAY 15, 2020

Finally, we’ll zoom out and assess the big picture: how various categories of company may be impacted long-term, how this crisis compares to 2008 (and what that means for early-stage founders), and the industries and business models that are now prime for growth. What are those metrics?

Founder 36

Founder Conversion Technical Review Cash Position 36

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Business model viability, in the majority of startups, will come down to balancing two variables: Cost to Acquire Customers (CAC) The ability to monetize those customers, or LTV (which stands for Lifetime Value of a Customer) Successful web businesses have long understood these metrics as they have such an easy way to measure them.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Rob Go

OCTOBER 14, 2012

9 that are B2B. In either case, it’s a decent enough quantitative metric and an interesting data point at this stage in the portfolio’s progress. In only a handful of cases has there been significant traction prior to our investment. We are split pretty much down the middle on consumer vs. enterprise. OUR INDUSTRY.

New Hampshire 50

New Hampshire Croatia Omaha Portfolio 50

Mucker Lab

APRIL 6, 2023

What should an early-stage startup founder focus on if they want to implement PLG? But for early stage founders, I think there are two particular scenarios where PLG can be really helpful. So for early-stage founders, those are the two scenarios where PLG might be a great fit. That's the foundation.

Product 78

Product CTO Hire Startup Fractional CTO 78

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

This post is written with B2B startups in mind, but should be generally applicable. For startup founders, it’s never too early to start thinking about putting together a target market advisory board. The more disruptive an idea, the harder it is the evaluate at an early stage.

Advisory Board 48

Advisory Board Sweat Equity Marketing Vertical 48

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Many tools designed for B2B marketing in general are also relevant to investors. I previously posted a detailed presentation with sales technology tools useful for B2B sales. Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

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? Would you modify any of this if you had a B2B product instead of a B2C product, where every potential customer is also a potential competitor?

Customer Development 266

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 266

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

And, there were unexpected delays and conflicts from some incredible innovation partners committed to childcare and early childhood education (ECE). Related: when people say that execution is the most important metric of who will win, keep in mind that executing a fundraise is almost paramount. That’s a metric! Hello Chris Yeh!)

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

The Next Web

JULY 8, 2013

from early stage investors (not VC’s yet) and our investors want to put in more money before going to our next big round. In the last few months we’ve been seeing great growth in 3 key metrics: The number of websites signing up and using the system. So far we have raised $2.3M We’ve spent $0 on outbound marketing.

Advisory Board 128

Advisory Board API Cofounder PPC 128

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

We were immediately thrust into a globally competitive market for B2B collaboration tools. But this was early 2000 and our US competitors had already closed rounds North of $45 million. We raised a seed round of capital in 1999 and our first venture capital round was the first week of March 2000 (e.g. I thought that, too.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Silicon Valley San Diego Non-Compete 308

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 10, 2008

Effectively measuring and understanding your CAC and CLTV metrics are key to future success. Bessemer SaaS Law #1: Your key monthly business metrics are: CMRR (Committed Monthly Recurring Revenue), Churn, and Cash flow - “Bookings” is for suckers. Brian, Paglo www.paglo.com. Great list! Great list! Philippe Botteri.

Software Review 48

Software Review North America Europe Metrics 48

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 6, 2020

The term “early-stage” covers a lot of territory in venture investing, from incubating a brand-new idea, to investing in a Series A. WHAT METRICS SHOULD A FOUNDER SHOW TO RAISE A SERIES A FROM A VC FIRM LIKE GREYLOCK? Reid and I have both done Series A investments in companies that have no metrics to speak of.

Technical Review 69

Technical Review Seed Stage Software Review Early Stage 69

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

So, I’ve had about 4 years on the “inside” of a fast-growing, venture-backed B2B SaaS startup. Metrics availability. SaaS 101: 7 Simple Lessons From Inside HubSpot - OnStartups , July 19, 2010 It’s been a little over 4 years since I officially launched my internet marketing software company , HubSpot. Not so bad. Performance.

Software Review 217

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Technical Review 217

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Startups for startups – the top B2B tools used by Startups – Includes the list of top 50 startup vendors in 2012 by Vendorstack , a reviews and Q&A platform on enterprise vendors for startups and mid-market companies. Seed Startups.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 13, 2021

And the way that Entrepreneur First is finding founders, bringing them together, matching them together, and having that sponsor B2B business ideas. In fact, when you look at it, you say, “Ok, well, what are the early-stage consumer internet investments?” Now by the way, I’ll do an asterix. Do you still believe in blitzscaling?

Incubator 36

Incubator IPO Networking Cofounder 36