Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

Founders point to the great number of financial unknowns in any new business, and are reluctant to “commit” to any numbers which may come back to haunt them later. Does this entrepreneur understand the basics of business costs in the selected business domain, growth dynamics, and the competitive environment?

Burn Rate 144

Burn Rate Forecast Angel Investor Revenue 144

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

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

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2015

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Quantify overhead costs.

Forecast 120

Forecast Entrepreneur Burn Rate Widget 120

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

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Entrepreneur 235

Entrepreneur Burn Rate SEM Social Network 235

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.

Elevator Pitch 235

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 235

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

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. Unless your volumes are in the millions or higher, the difference between manufacturing cost and customer price better be 50% or greater. Cash flow is king.

Forecast 238

Forecast Business Plan Burn Rate .Net 238

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.

Elevator Pitch 146

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 146

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

You have been at five startups, you had an exit at your last company where you were the Chief Revenue Officer. And for every time I’ve felt hugely stressed that our burn rate was getting too high, and I didn’t know who else was going to fund the company, and I’m all in on this company, right?”

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder San Diego Startup 337

VC Cafe

JULY 26, 2020

In fact, they were screaming at them to dramatically reduce their burn rates. In a capital scarce environment following the Dot Com crash, startups needed to do more with less and survive long enough to generate revenue. It was a nuclear winter for startup capital.” ” Steve Blank, “Is the lean startup dead?”

Lean 214

Lean Seed Capital Startup Burn Rate 214

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2010

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Burn Rate 125

Burn Rate SEM Social Network Angel Investor 125

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

In times when venture capital is hard to get, investors extract high costs for failure (down-rounds, cram downs , new management teams, shut down the company.) In times when venture capital is hard to get, investors extract high costs for failure (down-rounds, cram downs , new management teams, shut down the company.) Something else?

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

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. Unless your volumes are in the millions or higher, the difference between manufacturing cost and customer price better be 50% or greater. Cash flow is king.

Forecast 238

Forecast Burn Rate .Net Business Model 238

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. Unless your volumes are in the millions or higher, the difference between manufacturing cost and customer price better be 50% or greater. Cash flow is king.

Forecast 230

Forecast Burn Rate Startup .Net 230

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2014

It’s hard to understand how many people will you actually attract, what is it going to cost, what’s your conversion rate, how long will people stay. You’re going to want to really think about how you’re going to drive traffic and what’s most cost effective.

Metrics 84

Metrics Startup Churn Rate Forecast 84

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. Unless your volumes are in the millions or higher, the difference between manufacturing cost and customer price better be 50% or greater. Cash flow is king.

Forecast 151

Forecast Startup Burn Rate .Net 151

Up and Running

MAY 22, 2018

An MVP or a minimum viable product is a scaled-down, cheaper (cost-wise) version of your full product. You’ll have to actually demonstrate that you’re generating revenue and increasing your client base. Briefly mention their diverse experiences and background so investors can see that your business is balanced perfectly.

Exit Strategy 90

Exit Strategy Angel Investor Search Elevator Pitch 90

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

The break-even analysis lets you determine what you need to sell, monthly or annually, to cover your costs of doing business—your break-even point. The break-even analysis table calculates a break-even point based on fixed costs, variable costs per unit of sales, and revenue per unit of sales.

Forecast 60

Forecast Burn Rate Revenue Cost 60

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

This is a good plan for someone with kids, because it takes mostof the risk out of starting a startup. There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. Risk and reward are usuallyproportionate, however: you should expect a plan that cuts the riskof starting a startup also to cut the average return.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76