Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business. Bootstrapping.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

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. Reinvest gross profit. Marty Zwilling.

Bootstrapping 278

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 278

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Our wheelhouse is bootstrapped (or lightly capitalized) SMB SaaS. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

It’s more possible to bootstrap today than a few years ago, as the cost of entry continues to go down. The key to successful bootstrapping is to master the do-it-yourself approach, defer compensation or barter services whenever possible and become a frugal minimalist in all things requiring a cash outlay.

Equity 349

Equity Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity 349

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. The average amount per startup has been $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment.

Sweat Equity 274

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Startup Equity 274

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Their real value is your access to senior advisors with experience, and other startups in the same stage. This normally means more than 30 employees, and more than $1 million in revenue.

Incubator 305

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 305

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 4, 2023

In a perfect world, small businesses would have an endless stream of revenue coming in and there wouldn’t be need to worry about financing. Sometimes businesses have to get creative when it comes to their small business financing, especially when revenue is low. However, we all know that’s not the case.

Finance 109

Finance Revenue Small Business Bootstrapping 109

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2015

With the key themes of freedom and value at its core, “ The $100 Startup ” is a brilliant blueprint assisting “wannapreneurs” keen to heed the rallying call of the microbusiness revolution. From borrowing from family members to Kickstarter to car loans, there are various ways to reduce one’s startup burden.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Software Review South Carolina Startup 100

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 25, 2018

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series/ebook, over the years I’ve noticed that I tend to frequently share certain Lucky7 posts with entrepreneurs we’ve backed , team members at data.world, or other startup investors I know. Bootstrap Austin, started by Bijoy Goswami. a never-ending debate about bootstrapping versus VC-backing.

Bootstrapping 48

Bootstrapping Austin Equity Cofounder 48

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2011

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. A large percentage of startups never apply to either. You need to explore more common and more productive approaches for getting your startup moving forward. Self-funding is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you can do it.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 233

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2014

In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to an authoritative survey of new startups. 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 276

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 276

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. I believe that Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Billing and revenue collection.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2020

It’s more possible to bootstrap today than a few years ago, as the cost of entry continues to go down. The key to successful bootstrapping is to master the do-it-yourself approach, defer compensation or barter services whenever possible and become a frugal minimalist in all things requiring a cash outlay.

Hockey Stick 423

Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 423

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Doubling revenue each year is a good target. This allows a quick analysis of price change and revenue impacts.

Forecast 369

Forecast Burn Rate Startup Widget 369

Gust

OCTOBER 26, 2014

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. Reinvest gross profit.

Bootstrapping 176

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 176

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 9, 2019

Profitability is an extremely important goal for any startup — but profitability doesn’t just happen. There are many reasons to treat your startup like a profitable business from day one. All tech startups begin as a concept. Tech startups are, in contrast, focused on rapid growth, potential, and top-end revenue.

Technical Review 81

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Finance 81

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Their real value is your access to senior advisors with experience, and other startups in the same stage. This normally means more than 30 employees, and more than $1 million in revenue.

Incubator 429

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 429

YoungUpstarts

JULY 16, 2019

No matter how fantastic your innovations are or excellent your new ideas appear to be, you will always need capital to bootstrap any business innovations you might have. This is another unique way in which debt appears important to a business startup. Debt can therefore be an important startup tool that helps you stay in charge.

Software Review 113

Software Review Startup Equity Bootstrapping 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. By using a service such as Onevest , you can also place your startup in the right shop window and let investors come to you.

Stealth 434

Stealth Startup Angel Investor Bootstrapping 434

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2012

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. A large percentage of startups never apply to either. You need to explore more common and more productive approaches for getting your startup moving forward. Self-funding is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you can do it.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 257

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Doubling revenue each year is a good target. This allows a quick analysis of price change and revenue impacts.

Forecast 290

Forecast Burn Rate Widget Business Plan 290

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

But have you ever had the opportunity to pick the brains of founders who created amazingly successful startups and companies like Envato , Backblaze , Simple , or Treehouse ? Starting a startup isn’t easy and there will always be people who tell you that something is impossible. Gleb Budman , CEO of Backblaze. Nothing is impossible.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Founder Startup Bootstrapping 164

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

by Arsalan Sajid, startup community manager at Cloudways. Life is not a box of chocolates and startups are not always easy to start. There is a complete process that governs the startup lifecycle including inception to exit. This startup stage starts from the day you decide to work on a startup idea. Early Stage.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

joel.is

MARCH 8, 2011

my creations dev experience recommended videos my card Ways to bootstrap a startup: “working in waves&# 5th December 2010 • Comments I’ve spent the last year and a half after graduating from the University of Warwick juggling working on startups and working as a contract web developer. on your startup idea.

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Burn Rate Startup Web Development 41

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 29, 2013

The answer for a funded startup is “Bid as much as possible, to get as many customers — and data! ” Easy for them to say, but what about a bootstrapped, profit-driven business? A surprising number of startups have CAC > LTV. Profit-seeking bootstrapped companies cannot afford those delusions.

Bootstrapping 285

Bootstrapping Affiliate Cofounder Channel 285

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Bootstrap was term coined from the computer lingo ‘booting’ which means starting a computer or starting a chain of processes which eventually starts up the operating system. In the startup world, bootstrapping essentially means funding your own venture and not being too dependent on external sources. Spend Wisely. Experiment.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Cofounder Startup Sales Cycle 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2010

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. In reality, there are multiple more productive approaches you should explore in getting your startup moving forward. Yet, I find that startup founders often fixate on one or two sources, often to the detriment of their business. Startup incubators.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 149

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2016

It’s more possible to bootstrap today than a few years ago, as the cost of entry continues to go down. The key to successful bootstrapping is to master the do-it-yourself approach, defer compensation or barter services whenever possible and become a frugal minimalist in all things requiring a cash outlay.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Hockey Stick Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

They know from forums such as Shark Tank on TV that asking for either too much or too little will derail credibility in the eyes of the investor, and leave the entrepreneur with no money and a struggling startup. This is all about setting a credible current value on your startup -- not future value. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

During today's roundtable, we had four Microsoft BizSpark Startup India Challenge grant finalists present. 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. RightNow's per agent price starts at $110 per agent per month.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123