Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

Hire the wrong people. Bad hiring decisions are often a symptom of premature scaling. Why hire a sales team when you have nothing to sell yet? That sounds absurd, but founders convince themselves that they’ve hired the right people at the right moment. Be trigger shy about hiring. Honestly, we don’t know.”?

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

The questions every startup or small business CEO needs to ask now are: What’s my Burn Rate and Runway? Burn Rate and Runway. To answer the first question, take stock of your current gross burn rate i.e. how much cash are you spending each month. What does your new business model look like? How do you know?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

He knows how to advise entrepreneurs on hiring/firing, running teams, managing funding, when/how to control burn rate, and making other tough management decisions in the real environment of startups. I often say I have a larger collection of personal mistakes than most people in the venture business.

Burn Rate 87

Burn Rate Hiring Engineer Entrepreneur 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

More features and inventory added early will be wasted as you will need to pivot to match the real market. Hire real help and learn to delegate. Bottlenecks to team productivity. Time utilization inefficiency is wasted time. Make sure you are not the bottleneck for your team. The result is lower productivity all around.

Startup 404

Startup Lean Metrics Matching 404

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

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?” Because I’m going to say no to you, and the guys you want to hire from Facebook are going to say no to you.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup San Diego 337

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

raised their voices in a annoyed investor tone) that the headcount and its attendant burn rate combined with the lack of revenue meant the company would run out of money much sooner than anyone planned. Lets Try to Make the World Match Our Spreadsheet. Revenue Plan Needs to Match Market Type. What went wrong?

Revenue 230

Revenue Balance Sheet Hockey Stick Burn Rate 230

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Without the revenue to match its expenses, the company is in now danger of running out of money. Why it’s not a crisis is that the Customer Development process says, “do not staff and hire like you are executing. Instead keep the burn rate low during Customer Discovery and Validation while you are searching for a business model.”

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Management Business Model Customer Development 247

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

The rest of the organization (product development, marketing, support) has been burning cash, all according to plan, expecting Sales to make its numbers. Without the revenue to match its expenses, the company is in now danger of running out of money. Blame it On Marketing In the next 3-6 months, a new VP of Sales is hired.

Customer Development 224

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 224

OnlyOnce

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

In the early stages, you have to hire generalists who are both willing and able to take on dozens of tasks at once. And no matter how good an executive search firm is, I’ve never met a CEO who has a better than 50% success rate in hiring new leaders from the outside. By and large, startups work the same way.

Burn Rate 71

Burn Rate Leadership Search Curation 71

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 2, 2015

These companies know that they will need to hire people at a steady clip and so they’re willing to come in and make attractive offers in the Fall semester and wait for 6-9 months before you actually get to start your job. What happens if the economy tanks and the company decides that it cannot hire as many people?

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Venture Capital Michigan Burn Rate 48

philipsmith.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

While there have been times in the last dozen or so years, usually during times of venture capital excess, that cash to founders, early-stage executives and other key employees has matched regular market compensation (still with the upside of the equity), this is not true in the vast majority in the start-up game. Don't get me wrong.

Silicon Valley 40

Silicon Valley Equity Technical Review Recapitalization 40

Up and Running

DECEMBER 11, 2013

Investors like valuation to relate to actual business numbers, such as sales, gross margin (price less direct costs), and burn rate or fixed costs. I can take the money you want, hire some people, and become your competitor.” It’s simple math. . That’s a simple matter of making offers and counter offers. Defensibility.

Valuation 136

Valuation Oregon Burn Rate Angel Groups 136

OnlyOnce

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

In the early stages, you have to hire generalists who are both willing and able to take on dozens of tasks at once. And no matter how good an executive search firm is, I’ve never met a CEO who has a better than 50% success rate in hiring new leaders from the outside. By and large, startups work the same way.

Burn Rate 48

Burn Rate Leadership Search Curation 48

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 15, 2020

It's never selfish to hire. I said, "Hire people. Hire them to do whatever you can find them to do." So anything you can do to keep them hired, you just improved their sanity. It's never selfish to hire. MC : I'll tell you, nothing matches those experiences. They asked me, "What else can we do?"

Dallas 68

Dallas Employee Government Social Media 68

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

If you are an entrepreneur seeking funding, try our free Funding Recommendation Engine to identify a list of angels, venture capital and state grant programs that best match your business. Post-Mortem Title : My eHarmony for Hiring Failure. Hiring was a challenge we found difficult throughout the life of our Company.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Instead I try to understand what they’re looking for in an opportunity and help confirm that this would be a great career move, if the match makes sense. It’s also a reminder why keeping your personal burn rate low is such a career expanding move. I don’t sell them.

Salary 56

Salary Burn Rate Dilution Equity 56