Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until revenue starts to flow. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Set expectations accordingly.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until revenue starts to flow. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Set expectations accordingly.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until real revenue flows. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

YoungUpstarts

JULY 6, 2017

Once you learn about all of your financing options, you could choose the one best suited to help your business grow. ANGEL INVESTOR : These are individuals who offer capital to startups in exchange for equity, partial ownership or convertible debt. Bootstrapping has a number of advantages compared to other fundraising strategies.

Syndicate 127

Syndicate Syndication Software Review Angel Investor 127

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How should I finance my new venture? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup? This seems like an easy topic – debt where there is appropriate cash flow, equity when there isn’t.  Can you bootstrap your way to positive cash flow? Align Everyone’s Interests.

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Entrepreneur Homepage Startups Starting a Business Home How-To Guides Startup Basics Business Ideas Business Planning Startup Financing Success Stories Home-Based Business Starting a Business Play Video How to Take a New Product from Just an Idea to a Business (Video). Financing Some Jobs Act Proposals Make Headway. July 31, 2007 |.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

Self-funding or bootstrapping is still the most common and safest approach for startups Keep your day job until real revenue flows. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 21, 2022

From market research to financial projections, we’ll go through it all! Debt Financing. Debt financing, which involves borrowing from banks or other financial institutions, is the most common way to do so. Debt financing, which involves borrowing from banks or other financial institutions, is the most common way to do so.

Business Plan 146

Business Plan Bootstrapping Equity Finance 146

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Instead, knowing how to bootstrap your startup might be a better option. How to Bootstrap Your Startup. When you bootstrap your startup, you retain full control of the new business. If bootstrapping is right for your small business, the following tips can help you through the process. Consider Outsourcing.

Bootstrapping 145

Bootstrapping Startup Cofounder Angel Investor 145

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Deciding whether to increase money or trade equity in the business for much needed assistance, could be a tough call. I raised money and traded equity, but with my venture, I had to make one of the toughest decisions, to build it with some assistance of co-founders. Both the choices tend to take away a few options. Plan, Plan and Plan.

Cofounder 124

Cofounder Sweat Equity Equity Dilution 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have enough resources to bootstrap our own startups, so we are completely dependent on investors to help turn great ideas into great businesses. Investors love entrepreneurs who come across as constantly on the lookout for new ideas, and able to grasp the larger implications for market change.

Intellectual Property 352

Intellectual Property Equity Bootstrapping Valuation 352

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

This structure offers some of the benefits of traditional equity VC, without some of the negatives of equity VC. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Our wheelhouse is bootstrapped (or lightly capitalized) SMB SaaS. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 24, 2022

If you own a home right now and you are funding your startup business by bootstrapping, you’re in a fortunate position. The housing market is getting so expensive that it poses significant barriers to entry for an entire generation. The longer you’ve owned your house, the more home equity you’ve built up. Second Mortgages.

Equity 136

Equity Bootstrapping Startup Finance 136

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Does the traditional VC financing model make sense for all companies? I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Though RBI will displace some traditional equity VC, its much bigger impact will be to expand the pool of capital available for early-stage entrepreneurs.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

The only way an entrepreneur can really dodge this issue is to totally fund the startup with personal funds (bootstrapping). In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest. Insist on paying market rates for commercial loans, since the IRS can instigate some nasty consequences on “gifts.”

Management 308

Management Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 308

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Most healthy businesses need business financing at some point. Startups have to deal with starting costs and ongoing businesses have to finance growth and working capital. Financing options depend on what kind of business you have. Its age, position, performance, market opportunities , team, and so forth are very important.

SBA 161

SBA Venture Capital Angel Investor Technical Review 161

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

When you accept outside money, particularly a private equity (PE) investment, however, that changes. In this article, I’ll provide some personal stories of how investors have navigated the balance between raising private equity capital and not losing control of their startup. Rule 1: Bootstrap until you have a viable product.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. Most founders bootstrap product development. Business people know how to downplay the technology and market the value of the solution. Marketing is a necessary evil to mask poor technology.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Hunter Walker

JUNE 10, 2016

We have a marketing coordinator who helps get our voice heard as well as listens to and communicates with voices talking about and to us. We also believe in old school marketing — fliers, posters, street teaming and outreach to editors and media gatekeepers. We’ve bootstrapped since we launching.

Technical Review 50

Technical Review Equity SBA Software Review 50

Hunter Walker

JUNE 10, 2016

We have a marketing coordinator who helps get our voice heard as well as listens to and communicates with voices talking about and to us. We also believe in old school marketing — fliers, posters, street teaming and outreach to editors and media gatekeepers. We’ve bootstrapped since we launching.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Equity SBA Software Review 48

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

Bottom line, early stage equity is very, very expensive. As a thumb rule, try to get enough validation so that you can get to at least a $2 million pre-money valuation before raising equity capital. Sub-$2 million pre-money, it is better to bootstrap. If you have to raise money, try to do so as convertible notes.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 22, 2019

Bootstrapping your startup often means you scrape together your cash, and often tapping your home equity value. For any Residential real estate appraisal , any given house is not as simple as might seem to be at a glance, particularly in diverse markets such as New York City. Photo by Jacky Chiu on Unsplash.

Equity 89

Equity New York City New York Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing. With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? What Has Changed in Financing?

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

Whether it is in the emerging markets or in the U.S., Whether it is credit or equity, funding is very, very tight. I call it drip-financing. Most entrepreneurs have no choice but to avail of this sort of financing along with the mentoring and the contacts that could come with it (doesn't always come along, though).

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 7, 2007

This is typically called “bootstrapping&# and it is fraught with potential pitfalls and dangers. But when done well it can really help get a company going fast, professionally and without the founders having to give up much (if any) equity - or bankrupting themselves. What is bootstrapping? Why bootstrap?

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Offshore Startup EC2 41

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

How do the sample Series Seed financing documents differ from typical Series A financing documents? Startup Company Lawyer , March 14, 2010 After the recent announcement of the Series Seed Financing documents by Marc Andreesen, Brad Feld points out that there are now four sets of “open source” equity seed financing documents.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup PR Exit Strategy 150

Spencer Fry

APRIL 17, 2017

Days before the conference started, I was asked (and felt honored) to lead two workshops on bootstrapping vs. raising money. Having started and sold 3 successful bootstrapped businesses, and am now running 1 venture capital backed business ( Coach ), this is a topic I know a thing or two about. The quality bar has never been higher.

Bootstrapping 63

Bootstrapping Cap Table Liquidation Preference Cofounder 63

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 9, 2010

ShopTranslated is a mass-market online retailer of plus-sized women's clothing, with merchandise in the $59-$99 range. And we already know that this is a very large market from working with La Grande Dame. First, there are two primary aspects that have to be managed: inventory financing and customer acquisition costs.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Malaysia India China 117

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Luckily, there are some new entrants and approaches to seed-stage funding -- if you know whom to ask -- that can supplement the friends, family and bootstrapping approaches traditionally recommended.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

It’s among the most-asked questions on startup forums, and an issue we’re dealing with right now at WPEngine as we bring on new employees: How do you decide how much equity (shares) to give a new employee or partner? Hard to know, but an important question for a bootstrap startup to answer! What about $Y/mo?&#

Equity 276

Equity Salary Hiring Institutional Investors 276

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

Software By Rob

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

This morning Seth Godin published a post titled Debt, equity and a third thing that might work better. I was surprised by this, as I thought Seth was going to discuss another option I’ve seen used with great success: customer financing. As I’ve said before – market and marketing come before everything else.

Equity 42

Equity Software Review RSS Widget 42

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 20, 2011

I recently helped a friend broker the sale of his small, bootstrapped company. This article assumes we’re talking about a volatile industry like software or emerging markets where almost nothing is “well-known&# and company trajectories are all over the map.). To control a market. Control equals money.

Sales 260

Sales Channel Cofounder Valuation 260

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Bootstrap if you can, for as long as you can As a startup you’ll likely fail. At this point, we had already developed the first phase of the platform by bootstrapping. Consider convertible debt Before diving into a seed round, you may want to consider convertible debt over equity financing.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

OnlyOnce

JULY 9, 2013

The book has been described by a few CEOs who read it and commented early for me along the lines of “The Lean Startup movement is great, but this book starts where most of those books end and takes you through the ‘so you have a product that works in-market – now what?’ What About Sales & Marketing?, questions”.

Startup 95

Startup Advisory Board Elevator Pitch Forecast 95

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 28, 2010

More excerpts from "Do More Faster" Title chapter: " Do More Faster " by David Cohen How should we split the equity? Or, you could try to come up with some formula that uses a bunch of different factors such as experience, market value, contribution to date, and expected contributions in the future. How will decisions get made?

Cofounder 128

Cofounder Founder Equity Dilution 128

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2018

The only way an entrepreneur can really dodge this issue is to totally fund the startup with personal funds (bootstrapping). In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest. Insist on paying market rates for commercial loans, since the IRS can instigate some nasty consequences on “gifts.”

Cram Down 148

Cram Down Angel Investor Equity Dividend 148