Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

For market changing products, build first a minimally viable product (MVP), and never build products for sale until you have real orders in hand. Delays in sharing, or lack of communication from the top, result in time and effort wasted, adding no value to the business. Poor or too many business processes.

Startup 404

Startup Lean Metrics Matching 404

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. Financial projections.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Up and Running

MARCH 26, 2020

It can mean the difference between stabilizing your business or falling behind. Acknowledging a continued decline in sales and the need to lower expenses is obvious. Sales dropped suddenly. We have plenty of free forecasting and business planning documents available to get you started. Quick cash flow basics.

Management 152

Management Forecast SBA Burn Rate 152

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. Financial projections.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2015

Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. How else will you be able to convince yourself and your team that your business is viable? Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Forecast 120

Forecast Entrepreneur Burn Rate Widget 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

In my last post I described what happened when a company prematurely scales sales and marketing before adequately testing its hypotheses in Customer Discovery. You would think that would be enough to get wrong, but entrepreneurs and investors compound this problem by assuming that all startups grow and scale by executing the Revenue Plan.

Revenue 230

Revenue Balance Sheet Hockey Stick Burn Rate 230

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. Financial projections.

Elevator Pitch 235

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 235

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

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

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

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. Financial projections.

Elevator Pitch 146

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 146

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

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

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

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. These are great, but they are not repeatable by a sales organization. Who influences a sale?

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Up and Running

OCTOBER 1, 2014

When you’re starting a business to build your own luck, you don’t often have a lot of start up capital. Nelson has some tips: Know your burn rate. Plan ahead. Business planning has been a big factor for Theme Dragon since the beginning, and in any smart business, you want to know where you’re headed.

Bootstrapping 107

Bootstrapping Cofounder Portland Burn Rate 107

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

VC Cafe

APRIL 27, 2011

VCs should aim to provide comprehensive data to their portcos on industry benchmarks, burn rates, market research, competitive analysis, etc. Regardless of if you plan on investing in a startup, honest feedback is important. Be a data source – the data flow between a VC and a startup doesn’t have to be one-sided.

Venture Capital 90

Venture Capital Differentiation Incubator Angel Investor 90

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 19, 2016

Then come the marketing, sales, and accounting considerations. 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. Does your budget reflect that?

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. 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

APRIL 2, 2020

The effects of the coronavirus on your business is likely all you’ve been able to think about over the last few weeks. Your sales have plunged, or worse, your business is now closed during the shutdown. From there, you’ll need to take a step back and look at the big picture of what makes up your business plan.

Forecast 157

Forecast Salary Business Plan Balance Sheet 157

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Thanks to you, immediately after I graduated I went on a few assignments for Glazer Capital which gave me the necessary experience that eventually led to my first "real" job out of college as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep. In terms of entrepreneurship, I think that SJSU is behind. March 19, 2012 11:12 AM. Post a Comment. ► May.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2008

Once the point is reached where you want to move ahead, we put the sales hat on and convince our partners about the incredible opportunity that we are lucky enough to be able to invest on the ground floor. While spending time with the entrepreneurs and championing the deal through the group, you tend to become emotionally attached.

San Jose 31

San Jose Technical Review Venture Capital Angel Investor 31

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

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. Sales is obviously the company’s paycheck. As I was mentioning, sales aren’t free.

Metrics 84

Metrics Startup Churn Rate Forecast 84

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? ► July.

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Hockey Stick Venture Capital 35

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. ► July.

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

In particular, a marketing launch can help you do three things (courtesy, as is most of my marketing advice, of The Four Steps to the Epiphany ): Drive customers into your sales pipeline. The problem is that customers dont read your business plan. In the right situation, its a very useful tactic, too.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Up and Running

MAY 22, 2018

Briefly mention their diverse experiences and background so investors can see that your business is balanced perfectly. Don’t spend 20 minutes talking about them, but make sure you have included enough information about them in your business plan that your investors can learn more if they’re interested. 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

For example, VCs generally write it into the deal thatin any sale, they get their investment back first. Some VCsnow require that in any sale they get 4x their investment backbefore the common stock holders (that is, you) get anything, butthis is an abuse that should be resisted.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76