Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2016

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. IPO – public company initial public stock offering.

Equity 120

Equity Exit Strategy Private Equity Startup 120

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.”. Either to go for investors pitch to them directly about your product, or keep yourself bootstrapped. There is a complete process to go for an IPO.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, angels, and VCs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. No one wants to put in money until you have a product, and you need money to build the product.

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Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

And even if somehow you avoid it until your IPO, remember that an IPO is a fundraising event itself. Read my Lucky7 Bootstrap or VC? Also, it is very important that you maintain a bootstrap mentality to the greatest extent possible after you take funding. post for more perspective on this.

Bootstrapping 52

Bootstrapping IPO Business Model Software Review 52

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, maturity and growth are a continuum, so the rules are never absolute. Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

The Next Web

JULY 20, 2013

“Do they really expect that the next Facebook will come knocking at their ivory towers with a polished product, proven business model and the only thing missing on the way to an IPO being their Series A investment?”. Just look at the GitHub story prior to the investment from Andreessen Horowitz.

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Silicon Valley Mongolia Technical Cofounder Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2020

Even if you are bootstrapping the business, and not looking for outside investors, the “rules of thumb” that smart investors look for should be the same ones that you use to assess your own risks and set reasonable expectations for progress and success. Define an exit strategy for investors to liquidate their share.

Liquidity Event 308

Liquidity Event Forecast Exit Strategy Bootstrapping 308

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 28, 2023

Should you bootstrap? If I didn't move, I wouldn't have had the same opportunities, wouldn't have been able to join companies like Juste and do the IPO and luck, the IPO, how many companies IPO, far and few between once again, and there's a luck factor behind that and the right timing of that. Should you raise funding?

Framework 70

Framework Cofounder Early Stage IPO 70

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

Can you bootstrap your way to positive cash flow?   If the answer is relatively soon, then bootstrapping is a very serious consideration.    Even if it isn’t soon, early bootstrapping can reduce risk and increase chances for success, resulting in more aligned interests for entrepreneurs and investors.

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, angels, and VCs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. No one wants to put in money until you have a product, and you need money to build the product.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

Austin Startup

MARCH 2, 2019

I made very few edits to the original post, mostly in the area of readability and grammar (not in substance of content): Spurred on by my recent Lucky7 post on how capital efficient Bazaarvoice was on its path to IPO , two friends sent me great posts this week on entrepreneurship and risk. I’m also a product of bootstrapped entrepreneurs?—?my

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Advisory Board Cofounder Greece Bootstrapping 51

Rob Go

DECEMBER 28, 2011

IPO’s/Exits. Kayak: Registered for an IPO but on hold. Raised $174M in its IPO in April, current market cap ~$550M. in its IPO, current market cap of $282M. The company also never raised any previous financing, and is one of the great bootstrapped success stories out there. market cap.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Boston Software Review IPO 54

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

Kedrosky: "In the 90's I was an analyst through all this [tech investment and IPO] madness. You want to build your own IPO and exit. 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. For 10 years there have been no gazelles to take down.

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

Version One Ventures

JULY 22, 2014

More money is flowing in from a new crop of angels, newly wealthy from a number of tech IPOs. That’s okay: many great companies have been built by bootstrapping. News Angel investor AngelList Bootstrapping funding Seed money Series A round Startup company venture capital' Is your opportunity at least $100M?

Finance 167

Finance Seed Money Bootstrapping Angel Investor 167

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. from an IPO under a year ago of $10.

IPO 240

IPO Flash Bootstrapping Private Equity 240

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

In 2001 companies IPO’d very quickly if they were working, by 2011 IPOs had slowed down to the point that in 2013 Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures astutely called billion-dollar outcomes “unicorns.”

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Juno IPO’d while Joel was there, and it was the first “broken&# IPO of the dot-com era. Fundraising: Fog Creek was bootstrapped. Eventually, Juno provided free access to browse the internet in addition to sending email. The experience was paid for by placing ads at the bottom of your internet browser.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software St. Louis API 285

Haystack

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

Last night, SAP bought the company before it could IPO. 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. Qualtrics recently filed to go public.

Acquisition 105

Acquisition Utah IPO Venture Capital 105

Tim Keane

APRIL 20, 2009

Bootstrap your venture. At last week's Business Plan Competition at Marquette University , the keynote speaker, Greg Gianforte, CEO of Right Now , talked passionately about the keys to bootstrapping businesses.    Greg is the well known author of Bootstrapping Your Business , and a frequent speaker on the topic. 

Bootstrapping 60

Bootstrapping Wisconsin Angel Investor IPO 60

crowdSPRING Blog

APRIL 11, 2014

Google, Apple or IPO: What’s Next for Square? | Showcase of Useful Bootstrap Tools For Web Developers - crowdspring.co/1kY1Qey. Here’s the Data | Harvard Business Review – crowdspring.co/1lLgAjK. Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley’s Innovation Factory - crowdspring.co/1hyz3sN. Re/code - crowdspring.co/1embSqM.

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

crowdSPRING Blog

JUNE 21, 2013

Mark Cuban Says Dead IPO Market for Small Firms Hurts Competition – [link]. 13 Resources to Design for Bootstrap | Vandelay Design Blog – [link]. These VC funds are pouring millions into the Midwest – [link]. We’re All Too Busy…Missing Amazing Opportunities | by Daniel Burrus – [link].

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, maturity and growth are a continuum, so the rules are never absolute. Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

Failing fast may be an out for our bootstrapped lives, but it’s not an option.&# Think about that. Goldman Sachs had told me we would IPO in a year. Paying customers. My business has a bunch of them, and a lot more users who really depend on our service. They’re relying on us. People gave you money to use your service.

Silicon Valley 308

Silicon Valley Bankruptcy Intellectual Property Reputation 308

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Human Resources Play Video Shark Tanks Barbara Corcoran on Bootstrapping a Growing a Business (Video). Money Money Home Financing Taxes Accounting Basics Personal Finance Money Management Payments & Collections IPOs and DPOs Will Crazy Market Moves Kill IPOs and Slash VC Investment? Play Video. Play Video. Play Video.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, Angels, and VCs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. No one wants to put in money until you have a product, and you need money to build the product.

Hockey Stick 268

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, angels, and VCs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. No one wants to put in money until you have a product, and you need money to build the product.

Hockey Stick 144

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 19, 2023

Should you bootstrap? If I didn't move, I wouldn't have had the same opportunities, wouldn't have been able to join companies like just eat and do the I P O and look the IPO o you know, how many companies IPO O far and for few between it once again. Should you raise funding? Who should you partner with?

Audio 86

Audio Cofounder Framework Early Stage 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, maturity and growth are a continuum, so the rules are never absolute. Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Angel Investor 232

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, Angels, and VCs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. No one wants to put in money until you have a product, and you need money to build the product.

Founder 245

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 245

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2010

At Viasoft, we started with a unique product idea, raised venture capital from world class VC’s, sold into a virgin market, created a world-wide operation, completed a successful IPO, and generated a $1 billion market cap. Vitrix was started in an old tanning salon. Mike: Absolutely no question, raising outside capital for your venture.

Angel Investor 211

Angel Investor Arizona Entrepreneur Phoenix 211

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

At this stage, you need investment bankers to negotiate a merger or acquisition (M&A), go private, or help you go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, if you bootstrap your business, you can avoid all these stages and the investment implications. Angels may be less demanding, but typically add less value.

Investment Bankers 241

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 241

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

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. Most investors won’t touch a first-time entrepreneur at this stage. Here they are: A crowdfunding campaign.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, maturity and growth are a continuum, so the rules are never absolute. Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Matching 120

Matching Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers 120

Campus Entrepreneurship

MARCH 9, 2012

However, as Facebook illustrates, more student-founded companies are bootstrapping without university technology, leaving schools without any profit — though that may be changing. ” via Dylan Reid: As Facebook IPO Nears, Universities Take Aim at Student Startups.

IPO 42

IPO Coder Seed Stage Startup 42

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

At this stage, you need investment bankers to negotiate a merger or acquisition (M&A), go private, or help you go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, if you bootstrap your business, you can avoid all these stages and the investment implications. Angels may be less demanding, but typically add less value.

Investment Bankers 231

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 231

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

JULY 18, 2011

Tip: If you want to go into a market where you are unsure, bootstrap to get a sense of whether there’s a massive opportunity. Could go IPO next year, wants to be around 30 yrs, being public helps. Xoom is a classic TAM, investors like Sequoia like to see these, Western Union has 20% of TAM.

Cofounder 49

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley San Francisco 49

Mucker Lab

JANUARY 1, 2014

For better for worse, only entrepreneurs ready to bootstrap their companies for 12-24 month are able to start new ventures. IPO markets goes gangbusters for the first 6 month until a huge slow down in the second half. which causes a lot of VC’s to default on their leases to their brand new Maserati(s).

Seed Stage 84

Seed Stage Early Stage Distribution Bootstrapping 84