Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series of posts and I need to file this one under both Raising Venture Capital and Startup Advice. There were tons of young entrepreneurs showing their latest Web 2.0 Don’t know the running rate for engineers? Too aggressive about the rate of customer adoption?

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

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. Project your cash burn rate to keep at least 18 months between venture capital or angel investments.

Forecast 369

Forecast Burn Rate Startup Widget 369

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Paul Bianco, CEO of Graphite Financial *, says, “Entrepreneurs are characteristically optimistic by nature, and often present their board best-case-scenario budgets and projections. I encourage entrepreneurs to correct course with a re-forecast early and often. Entrepreneur Jeff Magnusson provides a sample agile budgeting workbook.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 24, 2014

Why You Should Find Product-Market Fit Before Sniffing Around For Venture Money | Co.Labs – crowdspring.co/1sRVsv5. What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company? | All young entrepreneurs should read … My Last Day At PivotDesk | Kelly Taylor’s Blog – crowdspring.co/1sZar6P. Candid & raw.

Social Media 95

Social Media Small Business Design Media 95

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

The Myth of Venture Capital | Re/code by Jon Oringer – crowdspring.co/1tNFeV7. The Paradoxical Traits of an Entrepreneur | by Jody Porowski – crowdspring.co/1piN6X6. Bad Notes on Venture Capital – crowdspring.co/1u3NJvn. Are startup burn rates out of control?

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

My mom was an entrepreneur – she was kind of my inspiration for entrepreneurship. And no one could see me as anything but a startup guy, so I started a second company and called myself a serial entrepreneur. Then everyone just started calling me a serial entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur you have to suspend disbelief.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup San Diego 337

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

As an angel investor and business advisor on new ventures, I expect to see five-year financial projections from every entrepreneur. Does this entrepreneur understand the basics of business costs in the selected business domain, growth dynamics, and the competitive environment? Calculate cash-burn rate and investment timing.

Burn Rate 144

Burn Rate Forecast Angel Investor Revenue 144

VC Cafe

APRIL 27, 2011

10 things VCs can do to differentiate themselves and provide more value to potential investments – based on feedback from dozens of entrepreneurs. This is the second part of the Entrepreneur’s Wish List. Entrepreneurs use a variety of fundraising sources when looking for many. Can they teach each other something?

Venture Capital 90

Venture Capital Differentiation Incubator Angel Investor 90

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. Project your cash burn rate to keep at least 18 months between venture capital or angel investments.

Forecast 120

Forecast Entrepreneur Burn Rate Widget 120

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

There’s a Specific Strategy For Getting Capital When Sentiment Turns Sour. There’s only one thing that entrepreneurs have complete control over, and that’s picking the market they want to operate in.” I’m paraphrasing wisdom shared by entrepreneur/investor Jeff Kearl at a conference. Just Survive.

Marketing 118

Marketing Burn Rate Angel Investor Early Stage 118

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 1, 2010

What gets frustrating is that I tend to hear the same arguments over and over again from new entrepreneurs, and many of them are just completely unfunded. Unfortunately, they tend to resonate really well with frustrated entrepreneurs and a lot of dust gets kicked up over them. You know what—it’s supposed to work like that!

New York City 120

New York City New York Startup Burn Rate 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2012

Some entrepreneurs can’t decide if they want to be a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) or a C-corporation, or they don’t have the money, so they put off doing anything until the first venture capital round, or until the first lawsuit occurs. The simple answer is to do something, and start simple. Do not delegate this task.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property LLC Burn Rate 274

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2015

Last night I wrote a post about how the fall in the stock market over a 3-day period may affect the venture capital markets. If you’re an entrepreneur or VC who wants somebody else’s view on that you should read it. Let me give you the quick summary of what I said yesterday: Public markets affect venture funding.

Balance Sheet 150

Balance Sheet Valuation Burn Rate Stock 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

” There are a lot of data points that one can observer to get a sense of the venture capital markets – both LP fundings into venture and VC financings of startups. ” How seriously is the “lower your burn message?” “This is the year the tortoise may gain on the hare.”

LP 150

LP Valuation Burn Rate Pre-Money Valuation 150

Professor VC

JULY 22, 2009

The burn rates of my portfolio companies is certainly top of mind right now, but thats not what this post is about. Since Im not a fan of any of those genres, I have been looking forward to the release of his latest work, Burn Rate. The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Venture News.

Burn Rate 28

Burn Rate San Jose Silicon Valley Angel Investor 28

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? Venture capital isn’t right for many business but if you do want to raise from a VC at some point you need to understand that often investors care more about growth than profits. They don’t want high burn rates but they will never fund slow growth.

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. So my view is that VCs and entrepreneurs need to make tougher choices. You’ve kept a really low burn rate and paid yourself a very small salary.

Startup 290

Startup Burn Rate Warrant Bankruptcy 290

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Rather than invent a new form of corporate governance, venture investors adopted the traditional board meeting structure from large corporations. What is the entrepreneur supposed to be doing? Silicon Valley, New York). Here’s how.

Silicon Valley 297

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 297

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

O problema é que, devido à grande estrutura criada por antecipação e o consequente nível das despesas (burn rate), a Startup fica com pouco tempo e agilidade para iterar e descobrir o que estava de errado no plano. Isso sem mencionar que, dependendo do problema, em alguns casos fica bastante difícil “voltar atrás&#.

Customer Development 232

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 232

The Next Web

MARCH 8, 2014

Jason Lemkin is the Managing Director at Storm Ventures , a venture capital firm focusing on early-stage enterprise and IT companies, including MobileIron , Marketo and GuideSpark. From the standpoint of a founder, the life of a venture capitalist can seem very, very different. Entrepreneur Analysis and Opinion'

Partner 138

Partner Burn Rate Early Stage IPO 138

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Rather than invent a new form of corporate governance, venture investors adopted the traditional board meeting structure from large corporations. What is the entrepreneur supposed to be doing? Silicon Valley, New York). Here’s how.

Silicon Valley 270

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 270

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2012

Visit venture capital websites. What's the monthly burn rate? They know the quality of work you can do, and they have friends in other startups. Skip the recruiting agents who hover in these networks – they don’t usually represent you well, and often antagonize the startups with aggressive selling.

Silicon Valley 246

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Startup Stock Options 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2014

Some entrepreneurs can’t decide if they want to be a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) or a C-corporation, or they don’t have the money, so they put off doing anything until the first venture capital round, or until the first lawsuit occurs. business entrepreneur mistakes shortcut startup' Do not delegate this task.

Startup 265

Startup Intellectual Property LLC Burn Rate 265

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know. (5:00 5:00 – 5:55).

Vertical 265

Vertical Curation Boston Burn Rate 265

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

You have cash in the bank, a monthly burn rate and a “cash out” date that few in the company truly comprehend. But if you work your entrepreneur network, talk with lawyers who do a ton of startup deals, ask existing investors, etc. The best VCs follow up but then so, too, to the best entrepreneurs.

Burn Rate 238

Burn Rate Term Sheet CTO Hire Fractional CTO 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2011

Visit venture capital websites. What's the monthly burn rate? They know the quality of work you can do, and they have friends in other startups. Skip the recruiting agents who hover in these networks – they don’t usually represent you well, and often antagonize the startups with aggressive selling.

Silicon Valley 227

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Startup Stock Options 227

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

However, I have seen some blog posts posing the question about whether the same principles of valuing baseball players could be applied to entrepreneurs. I encourage entrepreneurs to give it a shot and let me know what you think. The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Venture News. Steve Bennet. 2 weeks ago.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review Early Stage San Jose Angel Investor 38

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

In other parts of the country, this is business as usual: Identify a customer need Build a product Sell the product In the valley, the knee jerk reaction is to start with the powerpoint deck and look for the venture capital drug. Jon Fisher purposely avoided raising venture capital in his ventures. Venture News.

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

was part of a Dow Jones VentureWire webinar last week titled Negotiating An Angel Deal: What Angels, Entrepreneurs & VCs Need to Know. I let him know that he just accomplished two things - left a bad taste with the entrepreneur and opened the door for the next investor to ask for a multiple preference that is senior to yours.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 10, 2020

Nic is also the author of one of Europe’s most popular venture capital blogs – www.theequitykicker.com. Now, we love a great entrepreneur and team as much as anybody else, of course, but over the years we have realised that a great team working on an idea that isn’t convincing is not a recipe for success. It’s just horrible.

Partner 68

Partner Early Stage Portfolio Metrics 68

Gust

DECEMBER 29, 2013

Some entrepreneurs can’t decide if they want to be a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) or a C-corporation, or they don’t have the money, so they put off doing anything until the first venture capital round, or until the first lawsuit occurs. Invested Interests entrepreneur mistakes startup' Do not delegate this task.

Startup 183

Startup Intellectual Property LLC Burn Rate 183

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I attended the annual LP meeting for a venture capital firm this week and got into a discussion about the above question. At a high level, I definitely agree that being an entrepreneur and being in school dont necessarily mix. And what would you consider to be core values that every entrepreneur should keep in mind?

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Professor VC

APRIL 7, 2011

This will also serve as a good pointer for all the entrepreneurs who ask why I am not interested in their company led convertible note financing round. Ive seen a number of entrepreneurs, angels and VCs fall into the trap of providing debt in small pieces. The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Venture News.

San Jose 36

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Valuation 36

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2008

During the next four months, we will examine over a dozen entrepreneurial ventures from a diverse mix of industries - technology, service, food & beverage, and fashion. I think this same concept plays into what Ive seen happening a lot more in the venture community: partners at VC firms jumping back into entrepreneurial ventures.

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Venture Capital 28

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.)

Lean 260

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 260

Professor VC

JANUARY 20, 2009

The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. million for the year, which is the first time it has been below $5 million since 2001, a sign that capital efficiency will be even more important than it has. Labels: bootstrapping , CFO , Fliqz , venture capital , venture financing. Venture News.

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28

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. The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) was also represented at the conference and is forging closer links with the ACA.

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor San Jose 28