ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

Funding might be a need in some cases — but it’s not an absolute necessity. ? The business should be self-sustainable. The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. Incubators and Accelerators.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Bates: Good morning and welcome to our CEO panel, “How to Fine-Tune Your Small Business Finances From Funding to Growth” which I think is the direction that we would all like to be going. I’m here with some really phenomenal CEOs who are going to talk to us today about small business finances from funding to growth.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. And EVEN if you ARE an experienced entrepreneur, all but just a few VCs still want to see customer validation, business model validation and traction, before they will invest. I call it drip-financing. Kir Devries.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Or should they look to one of the new wave of Revenue-Based Investors? Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Less or no dilution.

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Not necessarily the entire business, but at some point, something will fail and you’ll either learn from it and grow or it will be the beginning of the end. Either way, if you know you’re going to fail, it’s much better to do so with your own money on the line than money that also costs you in dilution, perpetuity or more.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

Don’t quit your day job until the revenue is flowing. Investors expect nothing less than a full-time commitment, even in the early stages when the business model has not yet been proven. Keep later critical financing needs viable. Don’t let early funding increase risk and dilute your potential.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Exit Strategy 120

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Founders typically get their equity in a company once — at the time of founding and then get diluted with each subsequent round of financing. If you really don’t want to raise another round, then prove that to me based on what really matters: Revenue. This situation is not always in the best interest of founders.

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 117

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Founders typically get their equity in a company once — at the time of founding and then get diluted with each subsequent round of financing. If you really don’t want to raise another round, then prove that to me based on what really matters: Revenue. This situation is not always in the best interest of founders.

Venture Capital 105

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 105

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

For angel groups, the distinction between groups and VCs on this issue is dwindling, especially as angel groups do bigger rounds of financing.   You can vary both valuation and term-sheet assumptions (in the gray boxes) to assess the impact on the values of the business. This is why a bottom up approach is more credible.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Austin Startup

MARCH 23, 2017

Digital ink has been spilled across the interwebs these past two weeks on the issues with different types of venture financings. Priced equity financings make sense as they provide clarity around valuation and ownership dilution, while creating alignment between the investors and founders.

Dilution 54

Dilution Equity Warrant Distribution 54

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2015

They financed their companies, to the extent possible, in a manner minimizing the cost of capital, planning for organic growth in the number of customers served and in associated revenues. Flippers financed by venture capitalists are more likely to hire executives having high level profiles and previous exit experience.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Balance Sheet Stock Options Valuation 48

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

The entrepreneurs had made $150k in revenue running classes for four months at a gym in New York, selling out the classes at $35/class. They plan to franchise the model (presumably including selling equipment plus a certification program). it also means less dilution, something that entrepreneurs should be very mindful of.

Pre-Money Valuation 163

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 163

Up and Running

APRIL 24, 2018

If you’ve never written a business plan before, take a look at these sample medical startup business plans. At first, you need to focus on developing your business model and validating it. That’s why having a revenue-minded focus from the early stages helps to secure funding.

SBIR 73

SBIR Startup Artificial Inteligence Intellectual Property 73

Ben's Blog

AUGUST 17, 2020

OH in South Park, San Francisco (or on Zoom from Big Sky, Montana): “OMG, crazy – that firm just paid 100x revenue to invest in [insert hot startup here] – what could they be thinking?” Multiples are not only used to value companies today but also to value companies several years down the line.

Valuation 36

Valuation Balance Sheet Cofounder Forecast 36

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

I would focus on one product and set a goal to generate $1M in yearly revenue from it. Outsourcing is something a big company, with a known customer / problem (that has revenue & traction) does to save cost. I don’t have any formal business training and I actually think it’s served me well. Once you’ve done that – then.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

My boss and mentor from Open Market, Gary Eichhorn , made the entire management team read it in the 1990s to hammer home its important lessons as we stumbled through the chasm on our way to scaling from zero to nearly $100 million in revenue in a few years. Business Model: running a lot of experiments - pricing, packaging, value proposition.

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

Financing, that is.I Now that iControl has raised over $100M, this got me thinking back to our original business plan. One truth of start-up financing is that it generally takes twice as long and twice as much money to accomplish your milestones. I took a look back at our original financial model we presented to VCs in 2004.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

forward revenue for SaaS businesses when in the years before it had been less than 5x. Why Financing in Falling Markets is So Damn Difficult. Plus, down rounds trigger anti-dilution provisions. Just as with the late 90s there is no new “business model” that defies the laws of gravity.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

Up and Running

JULY 14, 2015

Our business model was Pinterest. It goes to show you that the business model was good but we just … We’re not the right team. They presented themselves as business attorneys and they had in fact, worked with other businesses but they never worked with the high gross startup. They want discounts.

Incubator 60

Incubator Email Startup Oregon 60

Life Beyond Code

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

One Million by One Million is a global initiative that aims to nurture a million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars each in annual revenue and beyond by 2020, thereby creating a trillion dollars in global GDP and ten million jobs. This, of course, doesn’t mean that we discourage entrepreneurs to seek financing.

Programming 116

Programming Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 116