A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 13, 2015

Often your best estimate of any metric or market behavior or business model component is at best accurate within a power of ten, for example “expected conversion rate between 0.5% and 5%” or “cost to acquire a customer between $50 and $500″ or “average monthly revenue per customer between $20 and $200.”

Business Model 120

Business Model Affiliate Startup Bootstrapping 120

Spencer Fry

MAY 2, 2014

The product offering is itself the same: offer perks and rewards to your employees. We updated the visual design and the branding, added new categories, eliminated required usernames and passwords for employees, made it simpler to renew perks, and made a ton of other behind-the-scenes changes. Why Bootstrapping is Good and Bad.

Bootstrapping 57

Bootstrapping Revenue Product Development Forecast 57

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. And EVEN if you ARE an experienced entrepreneur, all but just a few VCs still want to see customer validation, business model validation and traction, before they will invest. Because customer financing equals revenue, not equity.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Rule 1: Bootstrap until you have a viable product. Background: Justin Klemm’s analytics and website uptime startup, Ghost Inspector , wants to revolutionize the way businesses manage their ecommerce funnels. practice in mid-sized or large organizations and act more as employees than owners of the medical practice.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

Business success is the ultimate goal. But, what constitutes success for the parties involved – investors, entrepreneurs, employees, and customers – can vary dramatically. Can you bootstrap your way to positive cash flow?   If the answer is relatively soon, then bootstrapping is a very serious consideration. 

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 2, 2010

Well, 1M/1M is focused on helping businesses generate $1M in annual revenue, whatever be the nature of the business. We see a lot of businesses that can be characterized as social enterprises, ranging from education to rural development businesses. Also, the business model for the business is unclear.

India 116

India Green Silicon Valley Massachusetts 116

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 8, 2019

What makes me really proud though is we’ve been 100% bootstrapped for our 3.5 Entering our 4th year of business, we doubled our headcount, became a certified B Corporation, and released our revenue model which aligned with our becoming a 1% for the Planet member. 22-Investment in Employees. Thanks to KOYA !

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Vertical Las Vegas 119

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2016

I still hear often the dream of a free service to users, supported by advertising, per the Facebook model. Entrepreneurs don’t realize that Facebook spent over $100 million, before revenues from advertising turned cash positive. Business founders need deep pockets for this model.

New York City 158

New York City Kansas Advertising Cash Position 158

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2013

They evaluate you like you should assess a possible co-founder or first employee. If the business plan reads like a smorgasbord of offerings, there are probably not enough resources to do any well, and customers will be confused. Rational business model, with prices and volumes. Investors are people too.

Founder 270

Founder Cofounder Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 270

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

Different sources define freemium as a business model or a pricing strategy. Solving the equation of value and revenue for your SaaS product is not easy. If you are a bootstrapped DIY solopreneur, you should estimate your chances and think twice before choosing your VC-funded, 200-employees-strong competitor’s pricing strategy.

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 23, 2012

After I sold Smart Bear, that division has increased revenue and profit every year, for five years, even through the 2008/2009 economic disaster. GroupOn’s engine that turned capital into revenue growth was a form of force-feeding rather than building a product). But really, are all those acquirers so stupid? Surely not.

IPO 240

IPO Flash Bootstrapping Private Equity 240

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? All things being equal, of course, you’d rather have more revenue rather than less. And yet revenue alone is not a sufficient goal. More on that in a moment.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

They evaluate you like you should assess a possible co-founder or first employee. If the business plan reads like a smorgasbord of offerings, there are probably not enough resources to do any well, and customers will be confused. Rational business model, with prices and volumes. Investors are people too.

Entrepreneur 242

Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Cofounder Restful 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2011

They evaluate you like you should assess a possible co-founder or first employee. If the business plan reads like a smorgasbord of offerings, there are probably not enough resources to do any well, and customers will be confused. Rational business model, with prices and volumes. Investors are people too.

Entrepreneur 268

Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Cofounder Business Plan 268

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

But in today’s world, speed-to-scale entrepreneurship is what we need to improve society, transform industries, and create massive value for customers, employees, and investors. When the market conditions are right, you should blitzscale for the benefit of all stakeholders: customers, employees, investors, and society.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 3, 2022

Carolyn Rodz (08:45): We're very traditional main street small businesses. So everything from a retail operation to, you know, a dry cleaner on the corner to a consultant, it's really typically most of our business owners are less than 10 employees. They're, we always say small and growing businesses. Business model.

Entrepreneur 79

Entrepreneur Technical Review Networking Community 79

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2010

They evaluate you like you should assess a possible co-founder or first employee. If the business plan reads like a smorgasbord of offerings, there are probably not enough resources to do any well, and customers will be confused. Rational business model, with prices and volumes. Investors are people too.

Bootstrapping 242

Bootstrapping Cofounder Business Plan Entrepreneur 242

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 5, 2012

MentorMob is bootstrapped and has 12 employees. MentorMob is bootstrapped and has 12 employees. The company is currently seeking first-round venture capital and institutional funding.

Illinois 165

Illinois Aggregator Chicago Widget 165

The Entrepreneurial Mind

AUGUST 16, 2011

Bootstrapping is the name of the game for most startups. By keeping their expenses low, particularly overhead costs, entrepreneurs are able to start businesses with limited initial funding. This stage of development usually involves two major changes: hiring employees and moving into a legitimate space for the business.

Bootstrapping 72

Bootstrapping Cofounder Salary Business Model 72

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

There’s a lot of questions about what do you actually need in terms of information, if you’re going to do your forecasting, and how does one put together a revenue forecast if you’ve never started a business or your business is brand new. It is a very difficult proposition. This is Magda.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

3]   However, if they are built bottom up, they demonstrate and make explicit a range of business model assumptions the entrepreneur is using to think about his business and its revenue model.   Pre-bubble Siliicon Valley deals were popularly valued at multiples of revenue.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

The Entrepreneurial Mind

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

Here are highlights of this study with my comments: "Declining revenues brought on by the 2009 recession have put additional pressure on small business cash flow, forcing many firms to make tough decisions around cutbacks." While cautious about the general economy, most small business owners expect their 2010 revenues to grow.

Small Business 40

Small Business Bootstrapping SBA Washington 40

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

Now most of the businesses are small to medium- sized businesses. Jason: What do you mean by a medium-sized business? How many employees would a medium-sized business have in your definition? They are so happy that they finally have a tool to manage their business. Edwin: Oh sorry, so the business model.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

In fact, SaaS industry revenue is projected to grow from $49 billion in 2015 to $67 billion in 2018, a compound annual growth rate of approximately eight percent. The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas. The business model. Domain Names and Trademark Law.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

I’d already seen several of my best employees move on to become brewers around town, so I thought I’d look seriously at making that expansion ourselves, keep the team together, make it so homebrewers who worked at the shop could have a way internally to go pro.”. Friends and family are the most common backers, and many startups bootstrap.

Oregon 60

Oregon Jordan SBA Cofounder 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 19, 2010

No wait, I forgot, actually the question is: What happens when employee #2 makes off with your code and roadmap and marketing data and customer list, moves to Bolivia, and starts selling your stuff world-wide at one-tenth the price? But how does authority convert to revenue? The good news: There are good answers to these questions!

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2019

Most small businesses and startups that are looking to grow— hire a new employee , or buy a new piece of equipment, or open a new location —need to think hard about cash flow, or making sure they have enough money in the bank to meet payroll and other financial obligations. There’s no one model—or one business plan—for breweries.

Oregon 24

Oregon Jordan Software Review Distribution 24

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 8, 2012

All you’ve proven is that you can make $200 a month in revenue off of some basic websites. Let’s just for now go with this Craigslist assumption, because at least it’s a business. The other stuff you’re talking about, to me – I still don’t understand the business model and the pain point.

API 220

API Software Review Hosting Technical Review 220

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 11, 2011

On the topic of business models, Spencer proposed building traffic and then selling the company, which I pushed back on. We spent considerable time exploring ways to verticalize the app and creating an ad-supported business model instead, which would also broaden his exit options considerably. could be your companion.

Silicon Valley 105

Silicon Valley Columbus Ohio Incubator 105

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Also, for the full time coder, you may violate your employee contract especially in the area of non-competes or just plain piss off your boss when he finds out how much time you have been putting into a side project when deadlines were looming. Nosake From nothing to losing money every month with no business model in sight.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

If failure is defined as failing to see the projected return on investment—say, a specific revenue growth rate or date to break even on cash flow—then more than 95% of start-ups fail, based on Mr. Ghoshs research. At its peak, in 2010, Goodmail had roughly 40 employees. Languishing businesses were counted as survivors.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

That means the vast majority of privately held companies are still very dependent on venture money to stay in business. Respondents deemed between 12%-16% of companies generating revenues to be essentially “worthless” and deemed 20%-26% of their pre-revenue investments to be “worthless.” Add to this that 72.7% just my 2 cents.

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Smart, capable managers would not hesitate to make decisions instead of allowing their employees to make them. This left very smart employees feeling very frustrated because their managers would interfere intermittently and at random moments. He is responsible for bringing in revenue from advertising and their careers offering.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software St. Louis API 285

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

I have come to believe during my time as an operator, entrepreneur and investor that the balance of these skills is so important to the long-term health of a business that if balance is not achieved early then the impact later can be profound - sometimes terminal. Spencer Fry , Founder of two bootstrapped companies.

Technical Review 51

Technical Review Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 51

sivers.org

JUNE 25, 2010

The programmer will probably not understand your business model, and therefore cant help you point out anything that doesnt make sense in the requirements. Dont make cheap skate equity offers, with programmer getting equity share of first employee and salary of founder(nothing or next to nothing). Insightful. Thanks much.

CTO Hire 84

CTO Hire Hiring Software Review Technical Review 84