Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

For decades startups were managed by pretending the company would follow a predictable path (revenue plan, scale, etc.) The Revenue Plan – The Third Fatal Assumption. Notice that the traditional product introduction model leads to a product launch and the execution of a revenue plan. Albert Einstein.

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Management Business Model Customer Development 247

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. Executive team.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

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. Executive team.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

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. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Forecast 120

Forecast Entrepreneur Burn Rate Widget 120

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. Executive team.

Elevator Pitch 235

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 235

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 18, 2012

Establishing the legal structure for your business, registering trademarks, filing copyrights and patents, and drafting partnership agreements used to require extensive attorney fees and ongoing consultation. I now see and believe business plans that budget $1K for all this, versus a previous $20K or more. Facilities and staff.

Cost 255

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 255

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. Executive team.

Elevator Pitch 146

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 146

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. Otherwise, sales, marketing, and operational costs will kill you. Next comes sales volume by channel. This forecast is really their commitment.

Forecast 238

Forecast Business Plan Burn Rate .Net 238

Up and Running

JUNE 18, 2013

Begin with the sales and expenses first: are you ahead or behind on your monthly goal? Compare your Month-to-Date sales and expenses to your End-of-Month goals to see if you’re on track. Keep an eye on both your monthly burn rate and any major payables to make sure you’re financially viable in the immediate future.

Metrics 79

Metrics Burn Rate .Net Finance 79

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Establishing the legal structure for your business, registering trademarks, filing copyrights and patents, and drafting partnership agreements used to require extensive attorney fees and ongoing consultation. I now see and believe business plans that budget $1K for all this, versus a previous $20K or more. Facilities and staff.

Entrepreneur 235

Entrepreneur Burn Rate SEM Social Network 235

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

Establishing the legal structure for your business, registering trademarks, filing copyrights and patents, and drafting partnership agreements used to require extensive attorney fees and ongoing consultation. I now see and believe business plans that budget $1K for all this, versus a previous $20K or more. Facilities and staff.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

And I can even imagine cases where it might burn more cash than a traditional startup. The key contributors to an out-of-control burn rate is 1) hiring a sales force too early, 2) turning on the demand creation activities too early, 3) developing something other than the minimum feature set for first customer ship.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2010

Establishing the legal structure for your business, registering trademarks, filing copyrights and patents, and drafting partnership agreements used to require extensive attorney fees and ongoing consultation. I now see and believe business plans that budget $1K for all this, versus a previous $20K or more. Facilities and staff.

Burn Rate 125

Burn Rate SEM Social Network Angel Investor 125

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. Otherwise, sales, marketing, and operational costs will kill you. Next comes sales volume by channel. This forecast is really their commitment.

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. Otherwise, sales, marketing, and operational costs will kill you. Next comes sales volume by channel. This forecast is really their commitment.

Forecast 230

Forecast Burn Rate Startup .Net 230

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2014

You need to get to a point in your funnel where you have enough people coming in that you can get to that conversion rate that will get you the sales that you need to drive your business forward. The other thing that they’re going to ask you is average revenue per account or per user or per customer.

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. Otherwise, sales, marketing, and operational costs will kill you. Next comes sales volume by channel. This forecast is really their commitment.

Forecast 151

Forecast Startup Burn Rate .Net 151

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

Up and Running

MAY 22, 2018

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. Expenses that were surpassed by revenue. Nerdy term: Sales lifecycle. Nerdy term: Burn rate.

Exit Strategy 90

Exit Strategy Angel Investor Search Elevator Pitch 90

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

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. See Also The Key Elements of the Financial Plan. We call that “burn rate” these post-Internet days. Take into account sales discounts and special offers.

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