Agile VC

OCTOBER 27, 2011

I’m not the first person to describe this trend, and my prior background has been primarily as a consumer web guy more than in B2B companies. 3) UI/UX Matters in B2B - For decades, B2B application developers could skimp on innovating in the presentation layer. RentJuice is doing much the same in real estate software.

Software 100

Software B2B Silicon Valley Acquisition 100

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

But B2B startups need to take a different tack. We invest in internet enabled companies at NextView and our portfolio is roughly equally split between consumer and B2B businesses. Arguably revenue is the best signal of product-market fit for B2B startups.

Revenue 234

Revenue Product B2B Marketing 234

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

A marketplace’s true revenue potential is the % of the total GMS (gross merchandise sales) they can charge (typically 5-10%), not the total GMS. Understanding and pitching the market size which is truly addressable for your startup is critical, and VCs only love markets that are large in “truly” addressable size.

B2B 246

B2B .Net Revenue Global 246

Agile VC

MAY 22, 2014

There are no commissions on closed sales (other than Taobaoke) or placement fees on Taobao. based on product category for all sales settled through Alipay (~80% of Alibaba’s GMV is settled through Alipay). The bigger merchants on Tmall sell their branded wares and pay a commission to Tmall of 0.5 – 5.0%

China 159

China Revenue Flash Affiliate 159

Agile VC

MARCH 8, 2012

The secondary wave of VC-backed IPOs has also come to fruition… both consumer facing (Yelp, Demand Media, Pandora, Carbonite, HomeAway, Angie’s List, et al) and B2B (Jive Software, Brightcove, Imperva, Responsys, etc). The pipeline of companies in registration has continued to grow.

IPO 100

IPO Silicon Valley Revenue Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

JUNE 12, 2012

The rason d’etre for LevelUp (like most other firms) is to tap into the retailer’s marketing budget (10-20% of sales potentially) rather than reduce interchange. They picked online, because signing up online B2B partnerships is quick, easy and capital light. Enough said. What about Jumio?

Mobile 250

Mobile Disintermediation SMS Government 250

Agile VC

MAY 7, 2014

The initial business, Alibaba.com, was a B2B marketplace to enable global buyers of manufactured goods to connect with Chinese wholesalers and suppliers of such goods. At the time B2B marketplaces were huge in the US… during the late ’90s bubble companies like VerticalNet and others were valued in the tens of billions.

China 187

China B2B Flash IPO 187