Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

Remember the goal is an overview presentation that will pique investor interest enough to ask for the business plan and a follow-on meeting, not close the deal on the spot. Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors. Business model.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Yet boards of large companies exist to monitor efficient strategy and execution of a known business model. The Wrong Discussion s. There’s a better way.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Business Model Balance Sheet 258

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2014

Entrepreneurs who plan to complete a business plan the first month, find an investor the second, and roll out a product the third month are just kidding themselves. Count on several months of effort and costly assistance to court investors, with less than a 10% success rate.

Bootstrapping 276

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 276

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

Remember the goal is an overview presentation that will pique investor interest enough to ask for the business plan and a follow-on meeting, not close the deal on the spot. Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors. Business model.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

That does work once in a while, usually with some serious collateral damage, but a less painful approach is to prepare and plan for each step along the way. One preparation example is the value of building a business plan before you start. Common financial metrics include burn rate, gross margin, revenue growth and net profit.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Burn Rate Startup Metrics 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2013

Entrepreneurs who plan to complete a business plan the first month, find an investor the second, and roll out a product the third month are just kidding themselves. Count on several months of effort and costly assistance to court investors, with less than a 10% success rate.

Startup 264

Startup Burn Rate Bootstrapping Valuation 264

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Remember the goal is an overview presentation that will pique investor interest enough to ask for the business plan and a follow-on meeting, not close the deal on the spot. Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors. Business model.

Exit Strategy 235

Exit Strategy Elevator Pitch Burn Rate Merger 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2013

In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable. Your “burn rate” or net cash flow out is usually the single most important survival parameter to a startup. Cash flow is king. " Marty Zwilling.

Forecast 238

Forecast Business Plan Burn Rate .Net 238

Gust

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Entrepreneurs who plan to complete a business plan the first month, find an investor the second, and roll out a product the third month are just kidding themselves. Count on several months of effort and costly assistance to court investors, with less than a 10% success rate.

Bootstrapping 191

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 191

Gust

AUGUST 19, 2012

Remember the goal is an overview presentation that will pique investor interest enough to ask for the business plan and a follow-on meeting, not close the deal on the spot. Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors. Business model.

Exit Strategy 146

Exit Strategy Elevator Pitch Burn Rate Merger 146

Professor VC

DECEMBER 18, 2008

Many entrepreneurial programs feature a business plan competition, which is a great exercise. At SJSU, we also have a business plan competition in the spring, which ideally allows the students to build a viable business model around their NIF projects. Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? ► October. (1).

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Technical Review Angel Investor 28

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2012

In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable. Your “burn rate” or net cash flow out is usually the single most important survival parameter to a startup. Cash flow is king.

Forecast 238

Forecast Burn Rate .Net Business Model 238

Professor VC

MAY 29, 2008

An entrepreneur will pitch their business plan to what they think is a group of angel investors and will get a number of follow-up calls afterwards, but they are pitches for services not investment interest. I think this sentiment has given angel groups a bad name. Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? ► October. (1). ► July. (1).

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Angel Groups San Jose Accredited Investor 28

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 19, 2016

While you absolutely need to keep an eye on earnings and burn rate, human capital is ultimately the fuel that makes the machine run. Your business plan needs to set the course for how you invest in your team. His investment in human capital was as much a part of his business plan as market opportunity and fundraising.

Startup 100

Startup Burn Rate Cofounder Salary 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2011

In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable. Your “burn rate” or net cash flow out is usually the single most important survival parameter to a startup. Cash flow is king.

Forecast 230

Forecast Burn Rate Startup .Net 230

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2008

I first met Jeff about 8 years ago when he was finishing his first year at the Stanford GSB and was beginning to raise money for a business plan he developed for a secondary market ticket exchange. I started thinking about this yesterday when Jeff Fluhr, founder of Stub Hub spoke at my San Jose State class. ► October. (1).

San Jose 31

San Jose Technical Review Venture Capital Angel Investor 31

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

They need to have a place where they can gain an understanding of their different options for financing the venture, how to determine exactly what is needed in the marketplace, how to negotiate, how to read contracts, the role of technology, how to write a business plan, understand what your ratios are saying. March 19, 2012 11:12 AM.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Professor VC

AUGUST 26, 2011

To that last one, there is certainly some truth as the standard time vs. revenue chart in most business plans looks like this: Im not teaching Entrepreneurial Finance this semester for the first time since Fall 2007. Is the model consistent with the business plan? Does the business model make sense?

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Hockey Stick Venture Capital 35

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2010

In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable. Your “burn rate” or net cash flow out is usually the single most important survival parameter to a startup. Cash flow is king.

Forecast 151

Forecast Startup Burn Rate .Net 151

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

Now that iControl has raised over $100M, this got me thinking back to our original business plan. I took a look back at our original financial model we presented to VCs in 2004. Once you raise venture capital, you are forced on a path to spend ahead of the business and seek the highest growth business model options.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

Professor VC

MAY 30, 2009

We held our annual business plan competition at San Jose State this month and first prize was $10,000. Ryan was actually working on another business plan for my class when he came to discuss this concept with me a few weeks before the business plan competition. The last blogger in Silicon Valley.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley Bootstrapping 28

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008

As I am quoted in the article, it is easy to pick holes in a business plan. How passionate are the entrepreneurs about their business? Does the business model pass the smell test? However, at the end of the day, your gut can tell you a lot more about whether to make an investment or not. ► October. (1).

Angel Groups 28

Angel Groups San Jose Early Stage Angel Investor 28

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

Of course, given the state of venture returns, perhaps randomly picking from a stack of business plans would provide as good or better results than an entrepreneur selection algorithm or detailed due diligence. I recall that the WSJ used to run a contest in stock picking between investment analysts and selection by darts.

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Venture Capital Angel Investor 28

Professor VC

JANUARY 20, 2009

Evaluate Business and Financing Needs - We initially went out seeking $10 million in financing, but listened to the prospective investors and watched the market. Mid-way through the process, we took another cut at our business plan and built a model where $5 million would be sufficient to get us beyond breakeven.

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Figuring this out takes time, and few entrepreneurs have the patience to wait it out, because the business plan does such a good job of explaining what customers are going to think. The problem is that customers dont read your business plan. You have to know your business model. Gattiker said.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Up and Running

MAY 22, 2018

Every successful small business goes through four stages during its entire existence: Existence : expanding from pilot production to broad-scale production. Survival : generating enough cash flow to stay in business. Success : business model works and is stable, but there is still untapped potential. Master the numbers.

Exit Strategy 90

Exit Strategy Angel Investor Search Elevator Pitch 90

Professor VC

OCTOBER 11, 2010

I'd be happy to send you our business plan, exec summary, and ppt. I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases. If I could have coffee with you sometime and talk either in San Jose or Palo Alto that would be great.

Social Network 28

Social Network Software Review Networking San Jose 28