Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2014

In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to an authoritative survey of new startups. Focusing on the burn rate and prioritizing every possible expense will keep overhead down, help you stay lean, and achieve a higher profit earlier.

Bootstrapping 276

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 276

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

You transition from “startup” to real business and it turns out that having an entire team be efficient is more important than that boundless energy but destructive nature of constantly changing direction from the CEO. Great startups have budgets. They can show the projections on what this does to burn rate.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2013

In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to a recent survey of new startups. Based on the latest Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom, personal money, or bootstrapping, continued to be the primary startup funding in 2012.

Startup 264

Startup Burn Rate Bootstrapping Valuation 264

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2014

I’ve been advising and mentoring startups and growth companies for years, and find myself always pushing them to try something new, for the sake of growth and survival. Rely on informal agreements with partners. The same principles apply to strategic partners. When you try new things, you make mistakes, and I’ve seen many.

Startup 265

Startup Intellectual Property LLC Burn Rate 265

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. a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. It starts as a debt instrument (e.g.

Startup 290

Startup Burn Rate Warrant Bankruptcy 290

Gust

DECEMBER 7, 2014

In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to an authoritative survey of new startups. Focusing on the burn rate and prioritizing every possible expense will keep overhead down, help you stay lean, and achieve a higher profit earlier.

Bootstrapping 191

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 191

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Startups that are searching for a business model need to keep score differently than large companies that are executing a known business model. Yet most entrepreneurs and their VC’s make startups use financial models and spreadsheets that actually hinder their success. Who are our partners? How do we finance the company, etc.

Balance Sheet 298

Balance Sheet Startup Burn Rate Metrics 298

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Over the summer, based on feedback from our portfolio and the broader startup community, NextView created pre-formatted board deck templates for seed-stage startups — part of our Growth Guides series. Finance is mission critical, for instance – it just appears on a recurring basis.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

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. They point to some widely known facts: financings & valuations are up massively over the past 7 years and non-VC money has entered the system.

LP 150

LP Valuation Burn Rate Pre-Money Valuation 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

This past year was also the year that startup boards also got more disciplined about containing burn rates and pushing for companies to be run more pragmatically. So if funding from VCs slowed, valuations dropped and burn rates were slashed, WTF happened to winter again? or Walmart buying Jet for $3 billion.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Saudi Arabia Kuwait Burn Rate 150

Gust

DECEMBER 29, 2013

I’ve been advising and mentoring startups and growth companies for years, and find myself always pushing them to try something new, for the sake of growth and survival. Rely on informal agreements with partners. The same principles apply to strategic partners. Image via HealthyBodyLife.com. Do not delegate this task.

Startup 183

Startup Intellectual Property LLC Burn Rate 183

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Top-line metrics are indicators of success, not the one bar to clear to raise funding for your startup. In SaaS the main benchmarks being measured are revenue growth, sales efficiency (unit economics), churn and burn rate. 500 Startups created a helpful primer on key B2C metrics. Benchmarks for deep tech startups.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

When you run a startup you’re always on borrowed time. You have cash in the bank, a monthly burn rate and a “cash out” date that few in the company truly comprehend. Also, make sure you know several partners at the VC firms who have invested in you because in tough times it helps to have very broad support.

Burn Rate 238

Burn Rate Term Sheet CTO Hire Fractional CTO 238

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

For a more elaborate explanation of the deal, please read my blog post 1M/1M: Alternative Financing For Startups Using A Sales Channel Partner. Jeff has managed to keep his burn rate very low thus far, and a slow and steady crafting of the business is working nicely. Well, I didn't think much of it.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2012

I’ve been advising and mentoring startups and growth companies for years, and find myself always pushing them to try something new, for the sake of growth and survival. Rely on informal agreements with partners. The same principles apply to strategic partners. When you try new things, you make mistakes, and I’ve seen many.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property LLC Burn Rate 274

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the Startup, it’s time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Board meetings that guide startups haven’t changed since the early 1900’s. The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Here’s how.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the Startup, it’s time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Board meetings that guide startups haven’t changed since the early 1900’s. The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Here’s how.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 11, 2017

After spending 4 months accelerating my startup at Techstars , I realized that what most of tech startups are selling is an experience. We had gathered total more than 250 feedbacks from killers in different domains (marketing, tech, product, finances…).We Speak with conviction and the passion you have for your startup.

Burn Rate 54

Burn Rate Product Cofounder PR 54

Up and Running

OCTOBER 1, 2014

To complicate things further, your startup is also frequently a side hustle while you hold down a day job. Nelson has some tips: Know your burn rate. And this isn’t just for your business, but as many startup founders know, your personal finances can matter just as much (especially if you aren’t profitable yet).

Bootstrapping 107

Bootstrapping Cofounder Portland Burn Rate 107

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 13, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the startup, it's time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Board meetings that guide startups haven't changed since the early 1900's. The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Here's how.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Balance Sheet Metrics Early Stage 117

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

I've been working within the sphere of startups and angels for a couple of years in Vancouver, BC and it's been an interesting experience.a I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases. work at home. May 1, 2011 10:32 PM.

Technical Review 31

Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

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. This was the beginning of the dot com bust and getting a consumer deal through the partners at my venture firm was next to impossible.

San Jose 31

San Jose Technical Review Venture Capital Angel Investor 31

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

If you have a reputation for cutting corners, not treating employees or partners right, it will become very difficult to do business. They must live, breathe, sleep, and be one with the startups ups and downs. I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State. November 20, 2009 8:26 AM. You can't do it half way.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

thestartuplawyer.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Contact The Startup Lawyer: Home Page About Contact FAQs Glossary Ryan Roberts Law: Home Page Social Networks: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr Delicious Digg Last.FM He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder. He obviously never launched a startup and got shafted by a co-founder.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Founder Preferred Stock Startup 40

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 9, 2011

Evaluating a startup as a prospective employee is tough, especially when you compare to VCs. Plus, VCs often will have met the Founder/CEOs of many of a particular startup’s competitors, so they’ll have an even richer understand of the market landscape. On one hand, of course, you’re joining a startup for the upside.

Startup 146

Startup Burn Rate Technical Review Down Round 146

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

A lot of VCs, especially those from the more financially oriented firms, do more harm to startups than good when they get themselves on company boards without ever having built a company themselves, or seeing one from the inside. How do I measure my partners and myself? What value can a VC as board member add to a company?

Burn Rate 87

Burn Rate Hiring Engineer Entrepreneur 87

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 6, 2011

VC investors rely heavily on referrals, but what should a non US startup do when looking to raise funding in Silicon Valley? I found a question on Quora that relates to European startups, but found that some of the advice may be very relevant to Israeli startups as well. Read Venture Hacks ( [link] ). And then read it again.

Silicon Valley 104

Silicon Valley Startup Seed Stage Delaware 104

BeyondVC

JUNE 11, 2007

In the last six months, we have augmented some of our existing venture financing with venture debt as the market has become quite competitive which means pricing and terms are getting more attractive for all of us. The trick for entrepreneurs is to look at bringing on debt concurrent or soon after your close of equity financing.

Intellectual Property 60

Intellectual Property Covenant Warrant Equity 60

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

25 Best Startup Failure Post-Mortems of All Time. Update – As a followup, we analyzed all of these startup failure post-mortems to identify the top 20 reasons for startup failure. Also worth a read after you review these startup failure post-mortems. Post-Mortem Title : How My Startup Failed.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Why the Unicorn Financing Market Just Became Dangerous…For All Involved. In February of last year, Fortune magazine writers Erin Griffith and Dan Primack declared 2015 “ The Age of the Unicorns ” noting — “Fortune counts more than 80 startups that have been valued at $1 billion or more by venture capitalists.”

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

” “Mark has a vested interest in talking down valuations of startups.” Most prefer not to say this publicly for two reasons: 1) they have an entire portfolio of startups, many of whom are raising capital and 2) they prefer not to be attacked publicly or seem “anti entrepreneur.” goes into a startup.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

Mark dutifully went to partner meetings, back-channel references began, firms started calling existing VCs to “test prices” and we started debating whom our best partner would be. We had grown into a more reasonable burn rate so raising capital meant we would have many years of cash on the balance sheet.

Balance Sheet 150

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Forecast 150

abovethecrowd.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

Historically, different financial institutions specialized in different stages, because the assessment of risk and opportunity was considered unique at each stage — for example, a seed investor was unlikely to do late-stage financing, and vice versa. Some have argued that each of these companies would already be public in a prior era.

IPO 40

IPO Liquidation Preference Valuation Technical Review 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Venture Capitalists typically have partners’ meetings on Mondays. So the industry formed around a day of the week when all partners could avoid having company board meetings or traveling. I introduced my partners, we spent weeks with the team and felt good rapport. Finance where needed. Why is that? Fawk, man.

Stock 305

Stock Technical Review Marketing Greece 305