Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Most professional investors will expect preferred stock, a board seat, rights to later rounds and perhaps anti-dilution protection.

Preferred Stock 304

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 304

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 13, 2014

All of the above costs can be completely avoided or drastically minimized by a bit of creative bootstrapping with minimal investment to launch courtesy of the world wide web. There is nothing worse than stock photos or inconsistent imagery to turn away a potential consumer that?s Website & Hosting. For as little as $9.99

eCommerce 229

eCommerce Bootstrapping Social Media Hosting 229

Austin Startup

MARCH 22, 2021

It’s looking equally good for the bootstrapped and indie-funded marketplaces too. The beauty of marketplaces is providing customers with options to compare and choose from. No customer wants to land on your site and only find one option (if they’re lucky) in their chosen city. They raised a whopping $2.4

Software Review 100

Software Review San Francisco Valuation Stock 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, angels, and VCs. Offer low cash early, with bonuses or stock options for milestones, to people in your personal network. You can’t have it all, just like your startup can’t be all things to all customers. The right motivated employees dilemma.

Founder 325

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 25, 2023

In addition to providing customer care and assistance, a virtual assistant may also develop web pages or compose blog entries, administer email newsletters, carry out sales and marketing chores, generate sales leads, and conduct a variety of other jobs. Thanks to Abdul Saboor, The Stock Dork ! #4-

Software Review 118

Software Review Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Most professional investors will expect preferred stock, a board seat, rights to later rounds and perhaps anti-dilution protection.

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

YoungUpstarts

JULY 21, 2019

Some websites offer free vector graphics, free icons, free stock photos, and more. Social media is free, too, (if you don’t buy ads) so make sure to maximize its use to reach and interact with your customers. If you haven’t been able to save up for your capital, consider bootstrapping your business. Don’t Have Debt.

Software Review 191

Software Review Entrepreneur Cost Cofounder 191

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

According to Lee M Von Kraus, PHD and a mentor at Clarity.fm, “Early stage startups are usually pre-money startup that are bootstrapping the early development of a product.”. Here is what you should do: You market and try to acquire initial customers, enough to get you going. Next, get better at learning from customers.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

Bootstrapping your startup and finding low-cost CRM, marketing, design and everything else solutions isn’t easy, and can be downright overwhelming. Image courtesy of Unsplash and rawpixel.com , one of the tools mentioned below for great stock photos. No cheesy stock photos here. I love free tools and I cannot lie.

Bootstrapping 58

Bootstrapping Cofounder Startup Email 58

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2013

When someone asks me for the best way to fund a startup, I always say bootstrap it, meaning fund it yourself and grow organically. Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. Act big, behave small. Do it yourself.

Equity 241

Equity Bootstrapping Startup Merger 241

Haystack

JUNE 5, 2018

Not yet profitable but invaluable to developers worldwide, the decade-old company bootstrapped, differentiated from formidable competitors GitLab and Atlassian’s BitBucket, weathered leadership upheavals, and eventually ingested lots of venture capital which helped them weather the challenges they faced. Satya strikes again.

Acquisition 71

Acquisition Azure Open Source Seattle 71

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds. It might be useful to list some of the ways in which you can raise money for growth with and without outside investors.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

Our fund (Upfront Ventures) recently returned >1x an entire $200 million fund just selling small minatory in secondary sales while still holding most of our stock for an ultimate public market exits. We can’t wait for customers to use the product for 12–18 months and do customer interviews or look at purchase cohorts.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, angels, and VCs. Offer low cash early, with bonuses or stock options for milestones, to people in your personal network. You can’t have it all, just like your startup can’t be all things to all customers. The right motivated employees dilemma.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

These people are like shopkeepers trying to stock their shelves with goods they can sell to other people. They want to stock their shelves and they have nothing. The first stage is bootstrapping, where you raise between $50k and $100k and you try to make that money last as long as you can. Think about when LinkedIn went public.

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

Equity is stock, but private company stock has no market value until the company goes public or is sold or merged with another company. Of course, if you are able to bootstrap your startup, and don’t anticipate the need for outside investors, you can technically ignore the first two points.

Exit Strategy 264

Exit Strategy Private Equity Equity Technical Review 264

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 17, 2017

I recall that MSA’s stock increased 5X or thereabouts after our deal, which by no means implies that Peachtree deserved sole credit for all that. Two of them made some major product directional changes based on the founder’s judgment and the feedback he was getting from partners and customers. I got the message. May you be disturbed.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley Atlanta Software Review Early Stage 48

OnlyOnce

JULY 9, 2013

Chapter 2: Defining and Testing the Story…Start Out By Admitting You’re Wrong, A Lean Business Plan Template, Problem, Solution, Key Metrics, Unique Value Proposition and Unfair Advantages, Channels, Customer Segments, Cost Structure and Revenue Streams. Chapter 3: Telling the Story to Your Investors…The Business Plan is Dead.

Startup 95

Startup Advisory Board Elevator Pitch Forecast 95

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 23, 2012

.” Here’s the summary of his track record (excerpted from the Fast Company article): Forefront — IPO’ed in 1995 by CBT — CBT stock fell 85% in 1998 and prompted class-action lawsuits. invested, IPO’ed in 2000 for $32/share — stock price now $2. Which explains why their stock price is at $2.43

IPO 240

IPO Flash Bootstrapping Private Equity 240

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

Equity is stock, but private company stock has no market value until the company goes public or is sold or merged with another company. Of course, if you are able to bootstrap your startup, and don’t anticipate the need for outside investors, you can technically ignore the first two points.

Exit Strategy 376

Exit Strategy Startup Private Equity Equity 376

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 29, 2013

What if your company is concerned that emerging customer pressure and local laws will make disposable razors difficult, if not impossible, to sell in the U.S. If so, will customers be interested in the new ideas and able to incorporate those products into their daily routines? in ten years? Now you may be facing several kinds of risk.

Lean 165

Lean Technical Review Startup Software Review 165

Tim Keane

DECEMBER 14, 2009

   We worked all day building market strategies for customers while we tried to embody our expertise on software that would expand the company's reach.    vesting (of founders stock) is a way for founders to protect themselves from one another.  Bootstrapping.   (This was 1989.) 

Burn Rate 60

Burn Rate Angel Groups Seed Stage Startup 60

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, Angels, and VCs. Offer low cash early, with bonuses or stock options for milestones, to people in your personal network. You can’t have it all, just like your startup can’t be all things to all customers. The right motivated employees dilemma.

Hockey Stick 268

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Human Resources Play Video Shark Tanks Barbara Corcoran on Bootstrapping a Growing a Business (Video). Marketing Sales & Marketing Home Marketing Basics Sales Online Marketing Finding Customers Social Media Branding Social Media Does Your Companys Social Personality Need a Makeover? Financing Some Jobs Act Proposals Make Headway.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, angels, and VCs. Offer low cash early, with bonuses or stock options for milestones, to people in your personal network. You can’t have it all, just like your startup can’t be all things to all customers. The right motivated employees dilemma.

Hockey Stick 144

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144

Haystack

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

By all accounts, the Utah-HQ’d company did everything the right way, was an overnight success 16 years in the making, and only raised venture capital as a growth company after years of bootstrapping. Of course, SAP or others could’ve made a run at Qualtrics earlier, and who knows – maybe folks had tried and failed.

Acquisition 105

Acquisition Utah IPO Venture Capital 105

The Startup Magazine

JULY 25, 2019

The vast majority of banks typically charge interest on the overdrawn amount only and most offer customized packages for young businesses. A cash advance allows you to secure as much as $300,000+ without being burdened by collateral or even fixed monthly repayments, and only paying back the advance once your customers have paid you.

Startup 92

Startup Angel Investor Finance Bootstrapping 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, Angels, and VCs. Offer low cash early, with bonuses or stock options for milestones, to people in your personal network. You can’t have it all, just like your startup can’t be all things to all customers. The right motivated employees dilemma.

Founder 245

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 245

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Factoring, MCA and receivables-based solutions are also typically tied to a customer contract, invoice, credit card throughput or some other specific collateral or cash-collection mechanism, while RBI is not involved with monetizing individual receivables or credit card payments. of founders raise VC; the other 99.4% Also of interest.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2015

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Most professional investors will expect preferred stock, a board seat, rights to later rounds and perhaps anti-dilution protection.

Preferred Stock 120

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 120

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. It might be useful to list some of the ways in which you can raise money for growth with and without outside investors. It’s an option, even though an expensive one.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

ConversionXL

MAY 12, 2016

Essentially, sell clients on the customization of a template or theme. You are so closer to your design, your content, really everything about your business than any customer or prospect. From there you’ll want to customize things like paint color, fixtures, size of specific rooms, etc. ’ Honestly, who cares?

Design 48

Design Conversion Bootstrapping eCommerce 48

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 31, 2016

It’s much lower cost, meaning it’s possible to bootstrap your way up. And they want people who can produce great copy to sell their credentials to their customers. He now runs it from home from his basement and keeps more than $120,000 of stock at his home. Starting a business in your own home brings a whole host of advantages.

Green 100

Green Chicago Washington Bootstrapping 100

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 25, 2015

There are also companies, like my first one (Feld Technologies) that bootstrapped and never raised any money. We funded the business with $10 (for ten shares of stock) and my dad personally guaranteed a $20,000 line of credit with his bank. But I’m not talking about bootstrapped companies. Well – almost no money.

Finance 70

Finance Bootstrapping Acquisition Revenue 70

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

The final proof of a compelling technical vision is that customers were interested—the phone was always ringing. Larry was loathe to sell any of the company stock; he generally took a dim view of VCs and preferred to bootstrap. I wonder if he took stock or cash. What a gift! There we were, right under their noses!

Technical Review 333

Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review Database 333

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 8, 2019

What makes me really proud though is we’ve been 100% bootstrapped for our 3.5 Now we’re a bonafide and recognized medium-sized company that serves customers throughout our State and employs many arborists and serves so many homes and businesses. Thanks to Joe Sinkwitz, Intellifluence ! #3- 3- Publishing a book.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Technical Review Vertical Las Vegas 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Equity is stock, but private company stock has no market value until the company goes public or is sold or merged with another company. Of course, if you are able to bootstrap your startup, and don’t anticipate the need for outside investors, you can technically ignore the first two points.

Exit Strategy 289

Exit Strategy Entrepreneur IPO Startup 289