Up and Running

OCTOBER 16, 2019

You don’t need to write a 200-page document, but you will need something to hand to your banker or investor that shows that there’s a market for the problem your business solves and includes your key financial statements and forecasts. . Business planning is proven to help you grow 30 percent faster. SMART goals are: Specific.

Business Plan 108

Business Plan Small Business Forecast Balance Sheet 108

Up and Running

OCTOBER 16, 2019

You don’t need to write a 200-page document, but you will need something to hand to your banker or investor that shows that there’s a market for the problem your business solves and includes your key financial statements and forecasts. . Business planning is proven to help you grow 30 percent faster. SMART goals are: Specific.

Business Plan 108

Business Plan Small Business Forecast Balance Sheet 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Here are some tips which will signal traction to investors, as well as your team: Document your business plan. It’s hard to build a business without a plan, just like it’s hard to build a house without a blueprint. Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.] The Valuation Question.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

Your friends and family are really the only answer until you have a significant revenue stream. Here are some key action items that will give you some priority: Create an investment-grade business plan. Be ready with a killer executive summary , investor presentation , and financial model. Line up a winning team.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

Up and Running

MAY 17, 2017

The sad reality is that many business acquisitions do not work out as hoped. Either the person selling their business gets significantly less than they planned, or they are not able to find a buyer at all. I spoke to a business owner recently who was bringing in $1.7 million in sales revenue.

Acquisition 92

Acquisition Technical Review Revenue Exit Strategy 92

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 15, 2020

As Chris Dixon documents in his seminal essay on Why Decentralization Matters , open networks always ultimately win. And >40% of that revenue is coming from in-game purchases. When they can invest the marginal engineering hour in listing a new token that drives revenue vs. saving some costs on settlement, it’s hard to justify.

Networking 168

Networking Global OTC Security 168

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

” Venture debt gives you those options, and particularly for companies that wind up doing well, then on your same cash-out date, you’d likely have achieved a better milestone thanks to fueling your spend, which would translate into a better valuation. Traction and revenue? Business model?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

The two founders invested $40k in the business, and plan to license it rather than manufacture it because manufacturing seems too hard. They won a design award at a trade show, but have no revenue and no orders. That’s why most entrepreneurs do not make a specific ask on valuation, but wait to hear offers from investors.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

You're selling your culture, you're selling your client list, you're selling your business model, but that's it, you have no tangible also, you know, agencies, don't typically service clients in a localized market. Are they all SMBs small businesses or do you have enterprise really big clients? Do you have a leadership team?

Entrepreneur 79

Entrepreneur Technical Review Cofounder Valuation 79

David Teten

AUGUST 6, 2015

The official Standards are more granular, and are the equivalent of programming style: a set of standard methods which help you create an easy-to-use and self-documenting model. HOW TO MAKE THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT READABLE. I think far too few people take advantage of styles in both text documents and spreadsheets.

Balance Sheet 60

Balance Sheet Software Review Forecast Acquisition 60

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. VC’s worked with entrepreneurs to build profitable and scalable businesses, with increasing revenue and consistent profitability – quarter after quarter.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Keep the valuations consistent with company progress. The bottom line is that the pedigree of your investors will have much to do with your ultimate valuation and with your enjoyment of the startup experience. Your business works as intended if you can attract customers that fit into the context of your operation. Not really.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

The approach I recommend is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Business model. In this section, you need to be passionate about recurring revenue, profit margin, and volume growth.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. Explain the business model. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth. Include a current valuation estimate. Industry & market sizing. See where your cashflow bottoms out.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

The approach I recommend is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Business model. In this section, you need to be passionate about recurring revenue, profit margin, and volume growth.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. Explain the business model. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth. Include a current valuation estimate. Industry & market sizing. See where your cashflow bottoms out.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

An alternative approach, which I prefer, is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Business model. Project both revenues and expense totals for next five years, and past three years.

Elevator Pitch 235

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 235

Up and Running

JULY 22, 2019

Early investors will also be looking for insight into the growth potential of your business. Be sure to demonstrate its potential by clearly documenting key performance indicators, highlighting key customers, and demonstrating realistic revenue projections. Ask for what you need in order to prove that your business model works.

Canada 78

Canada Early Stage Valuation Finance 78

Gust

AUGUST 19, 2012

The approach I recommend is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Business model. In this section, you need to be passionate about recurring revenue, profit margin, and volume growth.

Elevator Pitch 146

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 146

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. Explain the business model. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth. Include a current valuation estimate. Industry & market sizing. See where your cashflow bottoms out.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

ReadWriteStart

MAY 30, 2011

As an entrepreneur it can be dizzying to watch Groupon and Living Social grow so quickly, raising huge venture rounds at massive valuations while contemplating multiple billion dollar acquisitions and IPOs. eBay certainly has enabled purchases and built a very large business doing this. The Last Shift: License Revenue to Advertising.

Advertising 116

Advertising Business Model Revenue Mobile 116

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. Explain the business model. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth. Include a current valuation estimate. Industry & market sizing. See where your cashflow bottoms out.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

That Google document provides cut and pasteable text I can share with other investors, based on their stage, focus, and appetite. . Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. 7) Negotiate .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

There are two reasons to raise money: You have a killer idea that is only partially validated, that you think can get to $50M+ of revenue in 5 years with 80%+ gross margins (if margins are lower, you need a lot more revenue)and you need money to get to product-market fit, or. Team, Product, Traction, Business Model and Market.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Up and Running

APRIL 11, 2016

While traditional business models provide a more regular income, in the real estate world, it might be three months before you get paid—and it could even be longer. According to real estate investor Eric Bowlin , the purpose of a business plan is twofold. The real question is: Are you able to play the long game?

Reputation 60

Reputation Cofounder Naming Business Plan 60

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 5, 2020

The global automakers and suppliers will be adapting their business models accordingly, forming new partnerships and investing in new technologies. These businesses have had to completely reimagine their business models and will likely be pivoting for a long time to come. parents and students) remain engaged.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur China 156

Professor VC

AUGUST 26, 2011

To that last one, there is certainly some truth as the standard time vs. revenue chart in most business plans looks like this: Im not teaching Entrepreneurial Finance this semester for the first time since Fall 2007. Is the model consistent with the business plan? Does the business model make sense?

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Hockey Stick Venture Capital 35

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

Friendster’s valuation set the tone for the entire social networking space. Press and analysts characterized LinkedIn in one of two ways: “LinkedIn is an interesting niche that might be worth paying attention to” or “LinkedIn is the Friendster for business”. we had no revenue. Investors see a lot of pitches.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Up and Running

OCTOBER 3, 2018

But know that a Lean Plan shares all of the same components of a traditional business plan—it’s just shorter. Whichever type of plan you choose, remember that a business plan is a living document. Assumptions change based on experience, and your business plan should change along with these assumptions. Be specific.

El Paso 61

El Paso Business Plan Technical Review Forecast 61

Software By Rob

AUGUST 18, 2010

The only thing that seemed to be consistent about my growth was that my revenue was relatively flat while my user base kept growing. This turned out to be a good move since it doubled their revenue that month. He has a great stats page that shows everything from monthly revenue to the breakdown of users by plan type.

Software Review 78

Software Review Software Revenue Cofounder 78

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2010

To me, this indicates that venture capitalists (VCs) are looking for business, but they are clearly moving away from early-stage (pre-revenue) deals. Get introduced via one of the social networks, or a professional organization, before you approach a VC with a business proposal. Create an investment-grade business plan.

Venture Capital 123

Venture Capital Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley Massachusetts 123