VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Before product-market fit… just care about speed of iteration according to your customer feedback. It doesn’t matter if your company is B2B or B2C, as Y Combinator puts it, you need to build stuff people want, and obsess about making it as user friendly, friction free and smooth as possible. Team, product, market.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

View from Seed

APRIL 20, 2020

As we have discussed elsewhere, the world of early stage investing is shifting from FOMO ( F ear O f M issing O ut) to FOLD (Fear Of Looking Dumb). Starting today, we will begin accepting our first cohort of startups into the program: WHO : Pre-Seed & Seed stage startups located anywhere focused on the U.S.

B2B 436

B2B Seed Stage B2C Programming 436

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Harry was gracious enough to invite me back so this past week we recorded an episode discussing the current market environment. Nobody will be immune because in a bull market executives are paid to “innovate” so they sign software contracts and run projects. If you’re a clear “market winner” like Stripe, Robinhood or Airbnb.

Marketing 263

Marketing Valuation Churn Rate Balance Sheet 263

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical VC thesis: “we invest in tech startups in Europe at an early stage” However, our experience shows that in many cases: . Thirty-four VC firms in OpenVC call themselves “early-stage” Yet, 30% of those don’t actually invest in pre-revenue startups. 3) Geography-defined funds.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

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. Here are two of the reasons we were not accepted: The market strategy is not clear. The market strategy made complete sense to me and my team members. It was all hypothetical.

Programming 124

Programming Chile B2B B2C 124

View from Seed

JULY 24, 2015

Some say it’s a marketing and story-telling problem. The tweet that really spoke the most truth to this discussion (just check the replies for proof), was from Mike Troiano, a well-known marketer and CMO of Actifio, which is considered to be IPO-bound in the next year or two. Some say it’s a lack of risk-taking appetite.

Boston 120

Boston Cofounder B2C PR 120

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

The most successful agencies are beginning to invest more time and money in content marketing to establish expertise in their industry and, more importantly, generate inbound appointments. What drove you to seek out content marketing as a growth solution? This sets the intention for your early-stage priorities.

Audience 127

Audience Non-Compete Distribution Channel 127

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

While the journey of JuiceBox Hero is coming to a close, we know that our small but mighty team’s commitment to innovation for women, families, and under-represented markets is far from over. The Skinny: Two years ago I embarked on a mission to bring to market a modern way for parents to find daycares and preschools. We did that?—?and

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

If you understand the premise of blitzscaling, it’s not truly growth at any and all cost… it’s a strategic mindset for building a company from scratch at previously unheard pace specifically where digital innovation enables capturing a large addressable market. Facebook becomes a $500B+ market cap company.

IPO 202

IPO Early Stage Cofounder B2C 202

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? Do they believe you have a big enough vision and market. Tons of advice is available on how to pitch , present and market your company.

Customer Development 264

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 264

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

The extreme example of this are algorithmic investors in the public markets, who design algorithms which trade on the designer’s behalf, as opposed to making trading decisions directly. High-frequency trading, algorithmic by its nature, is estimated to account for at least 50% of US equity markets trading volume. . 1) Market fund.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

plus it's faster and costs half as much ), it ranks first in the world for number of blogs per Internet user, and has a formidable market of Internet consumers who spent €5.5 OSEO validation in turn makes early-stage startups eligible for a variety of support services and funding options. and Amazon.fr).

France 163

France Technical Review Incubator Early Stage 163

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

In liquid markets, most of the calories expended on technology and analytics are focused on trade selection, or “ origination ”. I use another live Google doc to maintain my database of companies I’m marketing to other VCs. 2) Market . Many tools designed for B2B marketing in general are also relevant to investors.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

I was in charge of all product management and marketing for the first year-and-a-half, that was a great learning experience with a very talented team of folks. It was also beneficial because I got some good experience with both B2B and B2C business models. After BITSource was successfully acquired, I moved to L.A. How did you do that?

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

Mike Michalowicz

OCTOBER 31, 2014

They’re part of the top three platforms for effective marketing—creating audio/visual content, white papers and article/blog content. Whether it’s B2B or B2C the goose that lays the golden egg is the website that consistently produces quality content, written, audio or visual. The post The Best Marketing Platform: Blogs?

Marketing 90

Marketing Social Media B2C Audio 90

Agile VC

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

If you understand the premise of blitzscaling, it’s not truly growth at any and all cost… it’s a strategic mindset for building a company from scratch at previously unheard pace specifically where digital innovation enables capturing a large addressable market. Facebook becomes a $500B+ market cap company.

IPO 100

IPO Early Stage Cofounder B2C 100

Kodorra

NOVEMBER 25, 2018

A good business idea should provide a solution to a significant problem and serve a certain market. Whether it is advertisement model, B2C (Business to Consumer) ecommerce, affiliate or subscription, picking the right choice could determine the rise or fall of your business. Step 1: Find a business idea. Step 2: Name your business.

Software Review 45

Software Review Hosting Intellectual Property Naming 45

VC Cafe

JULY 15, 2021

Yet despite the huge size of the mobile market and the economic opportunity it presents, the process of discovering new apps by consumers has been pretty static in the past decade. As a VC that invests in B2C, I often try to put myself in shoes of a founder looking to grow the audience for their new app to consumers.

Mobile 190

Mobile Social Media Distribution PR 190

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

it’s understandable that investors will want to see how your product is doing in the market. If in the long run your B2C business is likely to have an ad-based revenue model, the ability to acquire a large number of users at zero or extraordinarily low cost is critical. Once you cross the chasm of launching v1.0,

Seed Stage 149

Seed Stage B2B Seed Capital Revenue 149

VC Cafe

MARCH 27, 2022

Metaverse – it has both B2B and B2C applications. For the market to develop, new talent must come in to the space, and developers, designers, product managers etc, who are looking to enter this space must go through the ‘rabbit hole’ and face the steep learning curve. It owns Oculus, the first mass market VR headset.

Cofounder 180

Cofounder Venture Capital Equity 180

View from Seed

AUGUST 2, 2017

after WWII, were all a direct result of the mass market adoption of the automobile many decades earlier. Each of these categories represents a market opportunity in excess of $1 trillion, and each of them is ripe for disruption by digital technologies. Early-stage investing is still the only thing we do.

Seed Stage 273

Seed Stage Portfolio Cofounder B2B 273

Mucker Lab

APRIL 6, 2023

Are there types of companies, market segments, industries, or business models where PLG does not make sense? 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.

Product 78

Product CTO Hire Startup Fractional CTO 78

Up and Running

MARCH 20, 2017

While in the business planning process or the early stages of operation, business owners will undoubtedly write off some non-essentials as unnecessary, too expensive, or earmark them for some time “down the road.”. Worthwhile expense #1: Market research. Why it’s worth the money: You can find your market.

Social Media 116

Social Media Early Stage Audience Media 116

The Next Web

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Carlos Eduardo Espinal is a partner at Seedcamp , an early stage mentoring and investment program that engages startups through monthly Seedcamp Events, where entrepreneurs present their companies, network, receive mentoring, and compete for investment by Seedcamp. Seedcamp invests in approximately 20 companies annually.

Customer 128

Customer B2C Startup Early Stage 128

mashable.com

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Cezary Pietrzak is a New York-based creative marketer and growth strategist. He currently runs marketing at tech incubator QLabs and previously co-founded travel site Wanderfly. You can read his thoughts on startup marketing at www.cezary.co. Naming can be one of the most difficult challenges in the early stages of a startup.

Naming 84

Naming Startup Social Media RSS 84

The Startup Toolkit

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Vision for B2C, virality-driven community. If you over-perform, then you would have raised on better terms in the free market. In an early stage deal, you check the numbers to avoid getting exploited, but you make your decision based on the investors. Deal 2 is marketing-driven. Requires team relocation.

Term Sheet 31

Term Sheet Dilution Participating Preferred B2C 31

David Teten

APRIL 16, 2012

Head of Engineering: Strong experience with B2C businesses. About ff Venture Capital ( http:/ffvc.com ) : We are one of the most active early-stage investors in New York. The company is already funded and can readily pay market salaries. Belief in the Edward Tufte school of communication. How quickly you could start.

Cofounder 133

Cofounder New York Venture Capital B2C 133

The Startup Toolkit

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Vision for B2C, virality-driven community. If you over-perform, then you would have raised on better terms in the free market. In an early stage deal, you check the numbers to avoid getting exploited, but you make your decision based on the investors. Deal 2 is marketing-driven. Requires team relocation.

Term Sheet 20

Term Sheet Dilution Participating Preferred B2C 20

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Is it market understanding, is it experience, is it a particular set of personality traits? Now, if that’s the case – unless there’s some specific thing – it’s usually still a matter of, “Hey, look if there’s a good go-to-market strategy, if there’s a good something, then that works.”. And also think about it in terms of go-to market.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Is it market understanding, is it experience, is it a particular set of personality traits? Now, if that’s the case – unless there’s some specific thing – it’s usually still a matter of, “Hey, look if there’s a good go-to-market strategy, if there’s a good something, then that works.”. And also think about it in terms of go-to market.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

After starting two companies of his own, he now heads the NYCDOE’s Markets initiative, which works on fostering smart demand for innovative solutions to the most urgent problems in New York’s public schools. Steven came to the NYCDOE via NASA, where he built the U.S. government’s first public website. million kids, and 135,000 employees.

Lean 162

Lean Startup Ratchet New York City 162

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 3, 2019

It doesn’t mean you won’t be able to help other companies, and we are in many B2C startups, for example. proven CPG experts, who understood shelf placement, branding, market research, etc. And we invested in Forerunner Ventures because they understand B2C and serve a different geography, and others. show me their deals.

Angel Investor 48

Angel Investor Advisory Board Equity B2C 48

ConversionXL

JUNE 25, 2021

The typical product lifecycle can be broken down into four stages: Introduction: Your product may still be in development and your marketing goals focus on generating awareness and motivating users to sign up and purchase. You’re adding new product features and looking to capture more market share from your competitors.

Product 96

Product Social Media Audience Software Review 96

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition In the many thousands of articles advising entrepreneurs on what they have to focus on to build successful startups, much has been written about three key factors: team, product and market, with particular focus on the importance of product/market fit.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 10, 2008

Labels: SaaS , sales and marketing , software. For example, you can provide a solution to automate marketing, but if the customer doesnt know some key best practices for how to effectively market online, then its unlikely that theyll get a lot of value out of a marketing automation solution. Posted by Philippe Botteri.

Software Review 48

Software Review North America Europe Metrics 48

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Yet, when it comes to product demos, many marketers and sales teams fall short in creating demos that convert. While thorough feature pages and detailed pricing tables are great components to have on your website, what better way to qualify prospective customers than with video marketing? Breaking down SaaS demo groupings.

Product 120

Product B2C B2B Email 120

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

Nearly 85% of respondents believe that habituated buying decisions are just as relevant to B2B marketing as B2C marketing. Most marketing efforts are focused on creating motivation, on making people want a product. It might be an early stage habit or a less frequently triggered habit, for example.

Conversion 48

Conversion Technical Review Software Review B2B 48