View from Seed

JUNE 23, 2022

Upon leaving the Air Force, I went to business school and then landed a job at YouTube where I helped up-and-coming creators grow on the platform. It was during that time, I created my own YouTube channel to understand the struggles creators faced. RH: What’s your favorite thing about being an early-stage founder?

DC 156

DC Cambodia eCommerce Social Media 156

David Teten

DECEMBER 12, 2017

As a globally focused LP in early stage VC funds, we at Blue Future Partners have observed a growing trend of firms investing substantially in software tools, whether developing proprietary solutions or adopting off the shelf tools. The most frequently used channel to research people is unsurprisingly Linkedin , followed by Twitter.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Venture Capital 60

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 11, 2018

As we put the final touches on Lean Startup Conference 2018 , I wanted to take a moment to share more about some of the panels, workshops, and events. As is the right business model, which is the focus of the Don’t Bet on Your First Business Model workshop. For the whole program, please take a look here.

Lean 103

Lean Las Vegas Cofounder Startup 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

Here is my list of the ten most common sources of funding today, in reverse priority sequence, with some rules of thumb to channel your focus: Seek a bank loan or credit-card line-of-credit. In the US, you may find that the Small Business Administration (SBA) can get you infusions of cash without normal backup requirements.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 7, 2012

Building a prototype should be an early and high priority task for every startup. I always hate it when I see startups invest millions of dollars in technology before they validate their ideas in the market, only to find that customers seem to be looking for something slightly different.

Startup 242

Startup Database Early Stage Distribution 242

The Next Web

DECEMBER 4, 2013

If you’re running a startup, working for one, or just considering turning an idea into a company, calling your work life “busy” is a severe understatement. Here are five essential, efficient ways to eliminate guesswork and make your startup a success on social media. Startup Example: Zappos. Startup Example: Cloudera.

Social Media 158

Social Media Media Viral Startup 158

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

That approach may work for an entrepreneur who just sold a successful business for a huge profit, but it doesn’t work for the rest of us who are not proven successes yet, or don’t even have a business yet. At these stages, it’s all about you, and your ability to communicate and execute effectively.

Due Diligence 308

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Startup 308

View from Seed

MARCH 3, 2015

Ellie Mirman was the first marketer hired by the CMO of HubSpot, the Boston-based marketing software startup that IPOed in 2014. Below, she shares lessons learned from the earliest days of marketing the company and how this has translated to her second startup role as VP of Marketing at Toast. Where do you land on that spectrum?

Marketing 120

Marketing Sales Cycle Startup CTO Hire 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

Almost every early-stage startup who has approached investors for funding has heard the innocuous sounding rejection “I love your idea, but come back when you have more traction.” Often enterprise customers, or even consumers, test a new channel by signing up for a few small transactions or trial products.

Hockey Stick 304

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 304

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

That approach may work for an entrepreneur who just sold a successful business for a huge profit, but it doesn’t work for the rest of us who are not proven successes yet, or don’t even have a business yet. At these stages, it’s all about you, and your ability to communicate and execute effectively.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

In the last five years “ Lean Startup ” methodologies have enabled entrepreneurs to efficiently build a startup by searching for product/market fit rather than blindly trying to execute. Gore , I’ve found two corporate strategy tools developed by other smart people helpful in bridging Lean Startups with Corporate Innovation.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

This post is an update of what we learned about life science distribution channels. Life Science/Health Care distribution channels differ by Category. It turns out that for commercialization, the business model (Customers, Channel, Revenue Model, etc.) Channel Cost = $350-400,000 per sales team.

Distribution 228

Distribution Channel Lean Intellectual Property 228

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

His passions are business process automation, surfing, and his new baby girl Maya. ?. Sales are the bloodstream for most businesses, and tech startups are no exception. However, figuring out the way your startup should make money could be challenging, especially for us left­-brained founders.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 21, 2020

Life in business is never just plain sailing. Challenges are an inevitable part of any startup journey, but how you deal with and overcome them will determine your fate. That’s why you should do research beforehand and ensure any platform you choose fits your business model. Be careful with suppliers.

eCommerce 242

eCommerce Customer Early Stage B2C 242

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

Well, I have coached early stage entrepreneurs for a couple of years now - diligently, patiently - and have learned a few things. The entire startup ecosystem is interested in the 1% of entrepreneurs who are fundable, have already defined strong market opportunities, and are already well on their way. On to the roundtable recap.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Technical Review Startup Early Stage 114

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. We were positing that 20 years of teaching “how to write a business plan” might be obsolete. – not just web-based startups.

Lean 303

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 303

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

Here is my list of the ten most common sources of funding today, in reverse priority sequence, with some rules of thumb to channel your focus: Seek a bank loan or credit-card line-of-credit. In the US, you may find that the Small Business Administration (SBA) can get you infusions of cash without normal backup requirements.

Equity 436

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 436

View from Seed

JANUARY 24, 2018

But whether you are trying to build daily, habitual products for business users like Slack or InVision or trying to reach truly mass market consumers like Wayfair, Jet, or Chewy, there is someone in the Guild who has faced this challenge at the early stages of a business and at scale. Back to Top).

Operations 176

Operations Cofounder Technical Review Angel Investor 176

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2010

Building a prototype should be an early and high priority task for every startup. I always hate it when I see startups invest millions of dollars in technology before they validate their ideas in the market, only to find that customers seem to be looking for something slightly different.

Entrepreneur 236

Entrepreneur Database Early Stage Distribution 236

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Last month we covered the basics of intellectual property (IP) for startups, including a simple taxonomy, some common issues and related documents for entrepreneurs to use when forming a new startup. The amount of investment in IP in any direct sense is generally small for early stage startups.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2021

Having just retired from a career as an entrepreneur I had started thinking about why startups were different from large companies. Over the last two decades Shawn has seen hundreds of startups use the Lean Methodology. Many startups fall into the trap of building toward a “mission” rather than a minimum viable product (MVP).

Product 436

Product Viral Channel San Francisco 436

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Not all startups need outside investment to grow. What most founders don’t realize is: Every stage of a startup requires a different set of metrics and milestones and founder skills. Here’s the first 2½ years of a startup journey. The Startup Investment Landscape. Team, Product, Traction, Business Model and Market.

Cofounder 431

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 431

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

The experience of participating in these programs can vary depending on factors such as your work experience and career background, the stage of your company, as well as the industry you are attempting to disrupt. You may actually discover that the reasons why they are rejecting you are the weaknesses in your business.

Programming 124

Programming Chile B2B B2C 124

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 19, 2021

True, many boards are dysfunctional, but when you build a great startup board, it will be a powerful tool that can help the CEO make the company successful. This essay, which is based on Part 1 of a two-part episode of the Greymatter Podcast, will cover the fundamentals of building great startup boards.

Startup 36

Startup Cofounder Advertising Hiring 36

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Here is my list of the ten most common sources of funding today, in reverse priority sequence, with some rules of thumb to channel your focus: 10. In general, this won’t happen for a new startup unless you have a good credit history, or existing assets that you are willing to put at-risk for collateral. Request a small business grant.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Small Business Administration 283

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition In the many thousands of articles advising entrepreneurs on what they have to focus on to build successful startups, much has been written about three key factors: team, product and market, with particular focus on the importance of product/market fit.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

There is something to allowing your business to grow organically and not to push expansion too rapidly. On the other hand, it’s important to consider the realities of today’s business environment. If you’re a startup entrepreneur, you risk facing a competitive disadvantage if you wait too long to expand your operations.

France 77

France Marketing Social Media Startup 77

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

A lot of my time is spent helping early-stage companies get to proof points so that they can raise capital. They might have some seed money and are thinking or raising a Series A based on success of an early release (MVP). Think about how you can prove your business model with an MVP. is a requirement.

Valuation 198

Valuation Revenue Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 198

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 8, 2009

A post by Fred Wilson pointed me to Dave McClure's Startup Metrics presentation. This is a great presentation and one that I'm going to point out to startup / early stage company CEOs. This kind of a simple model also helps: Define the early proof points for the company.

Metrics 225

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 225

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

But to do it, you need to actually have a sustainable business model. Starting a business is too risky. Identifying a problem doesn’t mean you’ve automatically created a business. And building a startup is not for the faint of heart. The problem was had the wrong business model at the time.

Cofounder 145

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 145

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2013

Today, in steps 10-12 I want to discuss with you raising your first round of money, hiring to develop and maintain your company culture, as well as defining your role in the management of your startup. There are two ways to start a tech business. Before you start talking to large VCs, find some early stage investors.

Management 120

Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

A Venture Capital Firm is a firm that invests in startups and early-stage companies. Early-Stage Investments vs. Mid-Stage Investments. Investing in a startup company carries a high degree of risk, particularly at the early stage. VCs invest money in startups, aiming to gain a profit.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

To do a solid holiday season he will need to balance the inventory and marketing budgets, and getting stuck in a complex situation with inventory being stuffed in the retail channels with bad terms will be a kiss of death. I will connect the company to a few larger companies that may be good OEM channels for them. JCLABoutique.com.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Statistics show that the failure rate for new startups within the first 5 years is higher than 50 percent. Inexperienced team.

Intellectual Property 251

Intellectual Property Startup Viral Early Stage 251

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

Investors know that valuations at startup early stages are negotiable, but they do expect that smart entrepreneurs understand the top three elements of a startup valuation would include the following. Connections to industry experts and channels are another positive to highlight.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

But to do it, you need to actually have a sustainable business model. Starting a business is too risky. Identifying a problem doesn’t mean you’ve automatically created a business. And building a startup is not for the faint of heart. The problem was had the wrong business model at the time.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

Here is my list of the ten most common sources of funding today, in reverse priority sequence, with some rules of thumb to channel your focus: Seek a bank loan or credit-card line-of-credit. In the US, you may find that the Small Business Administration (SBA) can get you infusions of cash without normal backup requirements.

Entrepreneur 240

Entrepreneur Equity Small Business Administration SBA 240