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. Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Most founders bootstrap product development.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Version One Ventures

JULY 22, 2014

AngelList makes it easier for founders to reach angels and there are hundreds of accelerators and incubators to choose from. Any entrepreneur trying to navigate the financing landscape should be aware of the over-abundance of angel money compared with subsequent rounds. You need to assess early on if your business is venture-fundable.

Finance 167

Finance Seed Money Bootstrapping Angel Investor 167

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

Zendesk is heavily financed by Benchmark and Charles River and has 10,000 customers. They charge $9, $29 and $59 per agent per month and I am eager to see bootstrapped, scrappy Freshdesk morph their pricing structure to aggressively compete with them. Higher end players like ServiceCloud charges $65, $135 & $260 per agent per month.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

One of the most important decisions a new business owner can make is how they’re going to finance their venture. . Bootstrapping, saving funds over years, borrowing from friends and family, taking out a bank loan and pitching investors are all viable options, but some will work better than others for your specific business. .

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

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

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2014

The only way an entrepreneur can really dodge this issue is to totally fund the startup with personal funds (bootstrapping). Tie payments to your product or service revenue. Some founders are too focused on quick repayment, and they compromise strategic decisions. Try to avoid obligations with fixed repayment schedules.

Founder 254

Founder Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 254

Gust

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Based on the Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom a while back, personal money, or bootstrapping, continues to be the primary startup funding source. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 191

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 191

Up and Running

AUGUST 11, 2015

How ironic that it seems like more than 90 percent of the online information on startups is about getting financed—but more than 90 percent of startups are bootstrapped. What does bootstrapping mean? ” See Also Should I Borrow Money, Seek Investment, or Bootstrap My Business? How many startups are bootstrapped?

Bootstrapping 60

Bootstrapping Startup Angel Investor Small Business Administration 60

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 29, 2020

In other words, you must start bootstrapping an online startup , because the future of the global business world is online. Before we look at ways to bootstrap a startup, let’s consider a comprehensive definition of what a startup is. Ways to bootstrap a startup. Thus, you must manage your available finances wisely.

Bootstrapping 85

Bootstrapping Global Startup Hungary 85

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). Tie payments to your product or service revenue. Some founders are too focused on quick repayment, and they compromise strategic decisions. Try to avoid obligations with fixed repayment schedules.

Management 308

Management Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 308

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

In How To Defend Your Dream Against All Odds , Alex and I explore the company's journey to $200 Million in revenue, while their VCs wrote them off. Zoho is already over $100 million in revenue and is seeing tremendous traction. Having turned down all overtures for investment, Zoho continues merrily on in its bootstrapping path.

North Carolina 116

North Carolina San Diego Entrepreneur Balance Sheet 116

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Asking for early-stage money before you have customers and revenue will likely kill your credibility with real investors. Yet, knowing this distinction is important. A micro venture capital firm.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

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. What's “good” about bootstrapping.

Bootstrapping 63

Bootstrapping Cap Table Liquidation Preference Cofounder 63

K9 Ventures

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

In the past few days there has been a lot of discussion on the topic of a Founders Visa. The credit for starting this fire goes to Paul Graham from Y Combinator , who wrote a great essay titled The Founders Visa in April 2009. As an immigrant founder, this is a topic that I can relate to and care about.

United States 114

United States Founder India Venture Capital 114

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 25, 2015

. “We will never need another financing.” ” “This financing will get us to cash flow breakeven.” ” “This is our last financing before we become profitable.” But even if you, as the founder, believe it, you are still probably deluding yourself. Well – almost no money.

Finance 70

Finance Bootstrapping Acquisition Revenue 70

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

For a more elaborate explanation of the deal, please read my blog post 1M/1M: Alternative Financing For Startups Using A Sales Channel Partner. I have discussed at length why revenue sharing channel deals may serve as perfectly fine alternatives to raising equity (or even complements) because of their non-dilutive nature. SOCO Games.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Gust

JUNE 19, 2012

Tim Berry , Founder, Palo Alto Software. For example, with any outside investment, you give up some ownership and control, and with bootstrapping your growth curve will likely be longer and more organic. Martin Zwilling , Founder and CEO, Startup Professionals. Tim Berry , Founder, Palo Alto Software. June 19th, 2012.

Startup 180

Startup Forecast Angel Investor Software 180

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders? Revenue-Based Flexible VCs.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Rob Go

DECEMBER 28, 2011

And that’s true pretty much across the board – from exits, late stage financings, scaling companies, and seed activity. Still led by its founder, Steve Kaufer. 61M in Q3 revenue, up 28% YoY. The company is expected to do around $500M in revenue in 2011 and has seen 50%+ growth YoY the past two years.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Boston Software Review IPO 54

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 14, 2014

by Catherine Hoke, founder and CEO of Defy Ventures. The now successful CEO and founder of Brown Butter New York, a company that produces high-end cooking butter, was once a court-described “menace to society” whose life was overrun by drugs, gang-related assault, and armed robbery. Bootstrap your business.

Bootstrapping 249

Bootstrapping Startup Seed Money New York 249

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Rule 1: Bootstrap until you have a viable product. That’s because obtaining a pre-money valuation for a concept level technology company in excess of $1 million is difficult, particularly for a startup founder without a proven track record. That is to say, they’d want to be able to control costs and revenues at a high level.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Austin Startup

AUGUST 3, 2017

If your answers starts with, “We have multiple revenue streams…” that’s a bad thing. What I really hear is, “ We have no idea what the most significant revenue driver will be. “ If it doesn’t require much capital to get started and make money then it might be a better idea to bootstrap it.

Technical Review 69

Technical Review Startup Texas Email 69

Up and Running

JULY 1, 2015

All these requirements need to be financed. Bootstrapping. Many entrepreneurs use bootstrapping, which means financing your company by scraping together funds in unconventional ways. Many entrepreneurs use bootstrapping, which means financing your company by scraping together funds in unconventional ways.

Bootstrapping 60

Bootstrapping Angel Investor Venture Capital Finder 60

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

The first one relates to the most important investor…you, the founder(s)! 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. We got back on our feet and successfully pivoted the business.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

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

K9 Ventures

MAY 28, 2015

At K9 we invest in companies which have a clear/direct revenue model and typically don’t invest in companies that follow the Ubiquity first Revenue Later (URL) revenue model made famous by Eric Schmidt in 2007. I call this Revenue Development and have written about it before. >$0/month.

Revenue 48

Revenue Startup Burn Rate Cofounder 48

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

Image credit: Bootstrapping from Shutterstock. One of the earliest and most critical decisions an entrepreneur must make is whether to self-fund a startup by bootstrapping, or raise outside funding through venture capital.” – Forbes. Bootstrapped businesses work best when created on the side, on nights and weekends. Market Need.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Venture Capital Salary Differentiation 100

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 10, 2020

by Will Schneider, founder of insightQuote. The industry is booming with the average revenue per user (ARPU) in the US expected to exceed $1,450 in 2020. For others, they are testing the process as they prepare to make the purchase in future when their finances allow it. For some, it’s just curiosity. Leverage Email Marketing.

eCommerce 147

eCommerce SMS Email Video 147

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). Tie payments to your product or service revenue. Some founders are too focused on quick repayment, and they compromise strategic decisions. Try to avoid obligations with fixed repayment schedules.

Cram Down 148

Cram Down Angel Investor Equity Dividend 148

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

BootStrapping. OnDeck awards loans based off of the annual revenue of your business. Can Capital awards loans based off of the monthly revenue of your business. Angel Investment: Angel investors can be a great financing option for the right business. In this list, I’ll cover: Loans. Alternative Lending.

Small Business 164

Small Business SBA United Kingdom United States 164

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

This is typically in conjunction with an upcoming financing or pending takeover offer. A competitive commodity business, or a “me too” story , will be less demanded, and hence, will require a lower valuation to close your financing. Freshman are a piece of paper to beta site (bootstrap financed—raise $50K to $500K).

Valuation 167

Valuation Forecast Seed Stage .Net 167

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 1, 2010

It’s often some combination of the idea not being big enough to sustain a venture exit or the company just not being appropriate for venture financing. My company was not well executed enough to achieve venture capital financing—and that wasn’t the city’s fault, it was mine. I was there, too. They’re not “dumb Wall Street money”.

New York City 113

New York City New York Startup Burn Rate 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2013

Based on the latest Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom, personal money, or bootstrapping, continued to be the primary startup funding in 2012. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Startup 264

Startup Burn Rate Bootstrapping Valuation 264

Rob Go

MARCH 20, 2013

What can founders do in advance to make the trough as shallow as possible? . If you are in the pre-product launch stage and want to ask random people what they think of your idea or product, don’t say “hi, I”m the founder of XYC company, can you tell me what you think of this product?”. Find good financing partners.

Bootstrapping 46

Bootstrapping Finance Dividend Vesting 46

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

The only way an entrepreneur can really dodge this issue is to totally fund the startup with personal funds (bootstrapping). Tie payments to your product or service revenue. Some founders are too focused on quick repayment, and they compromise strategic decisions. Try to avoid obligations with fixed repayment schedules.

Cram Down 120

Cram Down Angel Investor Equity Dividend 120