View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2023

We wholeheartedly believe in the potential of each company we select; the smaller batch size allows the NextView partners, who possess deep operating and founding experiences at companies like LinkedIn, PayPal, eBay, and Blue Apron, the space to spend meaningful one-on-one time with each founder every single week.

Programming 156

Programming Sacramento San Francisco Founder 156

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

Investors sitting through Incubator or Accelerator demo days have three metrics to judge fledgling startups – 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling PowerPoint slides, and 3) a world-class team. a language corporate innovation groups can use to communicate to business units and finance. But the ‘ah-hah!’

Sacramento 306

Sacramento Framework Customer Development Lean 306

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may allow venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Startups now understand what they should be doing in their early formative days is search for a business model. Founders operate in a chaotic regime.

Silicon Valley 281

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2019

My contribution has been, “Why don’t we design classes more closely modeled to what innovators and entrepreneurs actually do.” Today the capstone class is most often experiential, team-based, hands on, focused around the search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Can you become a founder by watching videos?

Incubator 331

Incubator Lean Programming Government 331

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Is there a profitable business model? The Traditional VC Pitch Entrepreneurs who pursue the traditional product development model don’t have customer data to answer these questions. Can it scale?”

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Austin Startup

MARCH 1, 2018

Intro to the Austin EdTech Startup Scene Come meet Sean Duffy , founder of EdTech Austin and let him tell about everything going on in EdTech in Austin! Date: Tuesday, March 6 Time: 4:45pm to 7:15pm Location: Capital Factory?—?16th Can capitalism fulfill its promise to create a shared and durable prosperity for all of us?

Technical Review 89

Technical Review Austin Texas Cofounder 89

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Mike is a no BS guy, has all the attributes I look for in a founder and says things like, openly shares knowledge and opines without a filter including this one, “whoever invented uncapped convertible debt should be spanked!&# Of course, monetization of search became one of the best business models in the history of business.

Semantic 302

Semantic Acquisition Valuation Angel Investor 302

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 16, 2012

TripAdvisor may be one of the most fascinating companies I know and so I was excited to dig into their business model as part of my series on scaling. This is a company that took $4 million of invested capital to build a company now worth over $4 billion. “TripAdvisor is to travel reviews what Kleenex is to tissues.”. .

Part-Time VPE 54

Part-Time VPE Software Review Costa Rica Technical Review 54

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 30, 2014

. ———– The National Institutes of Health recognizes that Life Science/Health Care commercialization has two components: the science/technology, and the business model. The Lean Launchpad® for Life Sciences (the I-Corps @ NIH ) uses the Lean Startup Model to discover and validate the business model.

San Diego 261

San Diego North Carolina Chicago Lean 261

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Venture Capital Cafe > Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). ” Hackernews list of “Tools of the Trade” for startups - includes over 150 SaaS tools used by startups, and over 150 comments with interesting insights from founders. National Venture Capital Association â?? model legal documents.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

David Teten

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

I would hope that a competent founder could easily educate herself about what information an investor wants with some basic research. I’ve listed below the points I recommend you cover when pitching your business to early-stage investors, including but definitely not limited to ff Venture Capital. Business Model.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation Prospectus Early Stage 60

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

This dynamic births serial entrepreneurs and motivates angels and venture capitalists to pull their friends into investment deals. For the first-time entrepreneur or founder looking for seed stage funding, this circle can be especially difficult to penetrate. Craig is currently the CEO and founder of stealth-ish startup BetterWorks.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Professor VC

OCTOBER 11, 2010

According to the Business Insider, he was actually arrested in a different place and time. Co-founder Dustin Moscovitz is referred to as a programmer, but he is actually an operations guy. Several weeks after Zuckerberg and the team move to Palo Alto for the summer, co-founder Eduardo Saverin finally pays a visit. Newer Post.

Social Network 28

Social Network Networking Software Review San Jose 28

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

I strongly believe (at least for very early stage technology ventures) that you will get diminishing returns and arguably negative returns once you get past an initial threshold of team, product, market and financial diligence. Are DEMO's days numbered? The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. work at home.

Technical Review 31

Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

Ive written previously about Right Side Capital Management (RCSM) , the latest in my post earlier this year, " How Much Diligence is Due. " (Full disclosure: I am an investor and adviser in RCSM.) Are DEMO's days numbered? The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Venture News. How Much Diligence is Due.

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.

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

venturebeat.com

MARCH 8, 2011

Or it might mean you have enough customers to have “proved&# you have a viable business model, so now you can raise money with sensible terms. He was also a founding member of ITWatchdogs, another bootstrapped startup which became profitable and was sold, and is a mentor at Capital Factory. You don’t need funding.

Software Review 41

Software Review Startup Technical Review Mobile 41

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

Lobbying is ongoing by both the National Venture Capital Association and Angel Capital Association and James Geshwiler on the panel wrote a recent post on the ramification. Labels: Angel Investors , fundraising , term sheets , venture capital , venture financing. Are DEMO's days numbered?

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Conversion rate from phone calls to Demos. (If Conversion rate from Demos to Closed Deals. (If If this is low, it means the sales person needs better demo training.) On your inside sales section, I am not sure that maximizing point #3 (dials to demos) is always optimal. Average Deal Size. (If

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

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

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

This got me thinking about the business model that Mike Keiser has built at the resort and a lecture began to form in my head. Mike Keiser (the founder of Recycled Paper Greetings) had a vision to create a true links experience in the US. Labels: Bandon Dunes , business models , golf. Are DEMO's days numbered?

Oregon 28

Oregon San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Professor VC

JUNE 6, 2008

It seems appropriate to have this discussion as Kent Desormeaux grabs Big Browns reins and goes after the Triple Crown tomorrow at Belmont.There is an age old debate in the venture business on whether it is better to bet on the horse (business/market) or the jockey (management team/founders).

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Norway Angel Investor 28

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. One of the highlights of my trip was a startup dinner which included Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of 37signals.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

Professor VC

JANUARY 20, 2009

The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Ill share a few points about how we were successful, but most of the credit goes to Benjamin Wayne , founder and CEO of Fliqz, a passionate, strategic and tactical executive. Labels: bootstrapping , CFO , Fliqz , venture capital , venture financing. ProfessorVC.

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28

Professor VC

JANUARY 17, 2008

While currently free to angel groups, their business model revolves around aggregating the angel investment data. If my math is correct, this is approximately a 31% IRR, which has to beat individual angel investments on aggregate and venture capital returns over the period of the study (1990-2007). for a total of $10.5M

Pre-Money Valuation 28

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Angel Groups Valuation 28

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. Are DEMO's days numbered? The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Congratulations on the Best Venture Capital Investment. Venture News. ProfessorVC. ► May.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Professor VC

APRIL 11, 2008

Not to worry, I was busy working on closing the Series B financing for iControl Networks. I started working with the founders of iControl at the concept stage, prior to the first $100K of angel financing. Labels: CFO , home security , M and A , venture capital , venture financing. Are DEMO's days numbered?

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Venture Capital Balance Sheet 28

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2008

I have noticed this same feeling when making a venture capital or angel investment. I started thinking about this yesterday when Jeff Fluhr, founder of Stub Hub spoke at my San Jose State class. 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

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

There is a lot of talk about needing to be a technical founder. Sure, maybe to get into YCombinator, but, remember, most venture backed companies don't go through YCombinator. If you're not going to build (or design) a product, then you need to be amazing at selling that product (or acquiring customers if you're a SaaS tool).

Sales Cycle 121

Sales Cycle Government Revenue Sales 121

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2008

As I mentioned in the previous post, Jeff Fluhr (founder of StubHub) recently stopped by my Entrepreneurial Finance class to share his 4 Lessons of Entrepreneurship with the students. Dan Gordon, founder of Gordon Biersch , came by my class this week. Are DEMO's days numbered? The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic.

Technical Review 28

Technical Review San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Pricing models, the freemium myth and why you may not be charging enough for your product - Seth Levine's VC Adventure , August 12, 2010 I’ve been pulled into a number of product and pricing meetings recently (for reasons unknown I’ve become the Foundry pricing and productization guy). More tiers = more complication = more confusion.

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

And since a startup thatsucceeds ordinarily makes its founders rich, that implies gettingrich is doable too. A lot ofwould-be startup founders think the key to the whole process is theinitial idea, and from that point all you have to do is execute.Venture capitalists know better. Ideally you want between two and four founders.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

Austin Startup

MAY 3, 2017

The University of Texas at Austin’s Longhorn Startup Demo Day AND Texas Venture Labs are underway and given the incredible and increasing impact Texas is having on entrepreneurship and innovation, I thought we should talk about cattle. Characteristics of a Longhorn Startup Tom Foster wrote in Inc. The single horn doesn’t exist.

Texas 48

Texas Startup Silicon Valley Bootstrapping 48

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

It is the first in a series of posts he’s writing about the decisions a young entrepreneur needs to make when she/he is first starting a business. The timing is perfect, there is more than a little overlap with Vivek Wadhwa’s guest post on venture capital earlier today. and Google. Johnny Good post.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. Then you present to them your lean business plan, which shows strategy, tactics and concrete specifics. This will be context specific. Investors love traction.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

Since the iControl system chronicles all meetings, I was able to find the automatic picture snapped from my first meeting with the founders, Reza Raji and Chris Stevens on April 22, 2004. Now that iControl has raised over $100M, this got me thinking back to our original business plan. Are DEMO's days numbered? Steve Bennet.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

The formula will be based on the founders experience, schools they attended and other background information to gauge the likelihood of success. Of course, when 10-year returns for the entire venture capital asset class is about to drop below zero, drastic measures may be in order. Are DEMO's days numbered?

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Venture Capital Angel Investor 28