VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

This may vary from fund to fund, but in general here is the top level criteria VCs would use to check initial fit: Stage – is the startup raising a round which is within the range of the fund (pre seed, seed, series A, early stage, growth, etc.). Stake – can the fund secure it’s minimum stake in the business?

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder Portfolio 166

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.” Market penetration. Start early to work these relationships. What does traction really mean to investors, and how much is enough?

Hockey Stick 304

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 304

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. How did you address that?

Marketing 120

Marketing Sales Cycle Startup CTO Hire 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

In it, I got asked a question I often hear: “What if we have a web-based business that doesn’t have revenue or paying customers? What metrics do we use to see if we learned enough in Customer Discovery ? And without revenue how do we know if we achieved product/market fit to exit Customer Validation?”

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

After many years in business, I’m convinced that none of us has the strengths and interest in all the areas needed for success, including solution changes, finance, marketing, and operations. If your relish the challenges of creating an innovative solution or business model, then this is the type of work you must seek.

Metrics 272

Metrics Early Stage Finance Programming 272

SoCal CTO

MARCH 13, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8 Ways the Internet has Changed Software Marketing Great post - 8 Ways The Internet Changed Software Marketing - is an interesting take on how different it is these days to market software. Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles Internet 150

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

This structure allows for alignment on the front end, and real-time flexibility for performance metrics,” says Samira Salman , a family office investor and advisor. . Flexible VCs have created structures based on other company performance metrics than revenues, such as profits or founder salaries. Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

But next the question is, ‘What happens to my business?”. The questions every startup or small business CEO needs to ask now are: What’s my Burn Rate and Runway? What does your new business model look like? If you’re an early stage company, that number may be zero. This math works in a normal market….

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2007

Most often I'm being brought in the early stage, Start-up or Expansion (as the company looks at new product lines). My focus in this post is on the Early and Start-up stages - expansion is more of a consulting, focused project role and it acts different. Roger Smith ) This helps explain where I normally play.

Fractional CTO 231

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review Early Stage 231

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

With the pandemic, climate crisis, global economic shifts and rapidly changing consumer markets, it is clear that many businesses of today will no longer be relevant tomorrow. Addressing real world problems, they thrive in uncertainty, generating new jobs and new revenue streams in new markets. Our world is changing, and fast.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review New Zealand Due Diligence 88

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

As I looked around at other schools, I saw pretty much the same landscape – business plan classes, business plan competitions and loosely coupled accelerators that focused primarily on mentoring. It taught lean theory ( business model design , customer development and agile engineering) and practice.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

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

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

If this happens, the risk of having an unpleasant experience is much higher, as an early stage startup cannot afford 7 months off the correct path. Here are two of the reasons we were not accepted: The market strategy is not clear. More research and explanation is needed to understand how the business plan will be executed.

Programming 124

Programming Chile B2B B2C 124

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. However in practice most companies treated the Three Horizons like they are simply incremental execution of the same business model.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

But things like vendor introductions are only needle-movers at the earliest stages. Similarly, customer introductions are invaluable in the early days, but become less valuable once a company has a fully-formed go to market function.”. Almost every VC firm markets their domain expertise in certain industries and/or functions.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Board Effect

DECEMBER 19, 2019

In their role in strategic planning, board directors need to be able to assess and understand the issues, opportunities, and risks that drive performance in the current market. Choosing Metrics to Monitor Strategy Implementation. Strategic Activities for Boards. Working on corporate strategy is a complex process.

Management 64

Management Software Review Acquisition Merger 64

The Next Web

DECEMBER 4, 2013

Metrics on keywords, follower profiles and competitors all help define your target listener. As a startup, you’re working with limited resources and a lean business model. Building your brand presence on specialized outlets holds immense value for your business – especially in early stages.

Social Media 158

Social Media Media Viral Startup 158

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Though RBI will displace some traditional equity VC, its much bigger impact will be to expand the pool of capital available for early-stage entrepreneurs. . So what is Revenue Based Investing?

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh. Attorney and Startup Business Advisor – Aaron Shec. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2007

Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh. Attorney and Startup Business Advisor – Aaron Shec. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh. Attorney and Startup Business Advisor – Aaron Shec. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Search Engineer 150

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Designing startup metrics to drive successful behavior Great companies are almost always run by great management teams. Good metrics should also be actionable, and drive successful behavior. This post is applicable to any kind of business. What can be done to avoid the problem going forward?

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

Occam's Razor

APRIL 8, 2013

To win in business you need to follow this process: Metrics > Hypothesis > Experiment > Act. We are far too enamored with data collection and reporting the standard metrics we love because others love them because someone else said they were nice so many years ago. That metric is tied to a KPI.

Metrics 156

Metrics Analytics Lean Churn Rate 156

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2007

Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh. Attorney and Startup Business Advisor – Aaron Shec. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Networking Southern California Los Angeles 150

Mucker Lab

OCTOBER 12, 2016

I also believe that the ebb and flow of the venture investment cycle has been exacerbated by the recent vertical integration of early, growth, and even late stage venture funds. Why should a public market downturn determine an investment in a startup that has seven to 10 years to go before it can even think about an IPO?

Harvest 60

Harvest Vertical IPO Early Stage 60

View from Seed

OCTOBER 28, 2019

Over the past few years, “pre-seed” as a distinct category has emerged within the early stage fundraising landscape. But this financing contour description is just a proxy for underlying business metrics. A continuum. In fact, they’ve been around even before the pre-seed term emerged prevalent to describe them.

Seed Stage 247

Seed Stage Finance Dilution Early Stage 247

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2007

Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh. Attorney and Startup Business Advisor – Aaron Shec. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

Whats interesting is that Ive been seeing opportunities to use social marketing for businesses that typically target Time Poor audiences. I also read - The Difference Between Apple and Microsoft Marketing that tells us: Apples marketing is designed for Time Poor buyers, while Microsofts is designed for Time Rich buyers.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

I was in charge of all product management and marketing for the first year-and-a-half, that was a great learning experience with a very talented team of folks. It was also beneficial because I got some good experience with both B2B and B2C business models. After BITSource was successfully acquired, I moved to L.A.

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Board meetings that guide startups haven’t changed since the early 1900’s. Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. The Wrong Metrics. What do those numbers/metrics look like? Not Real-time.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Board meetings that guide startups haven’t changed since the early 1900’s. Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. The Wrong Metrics. What do those numbers/metrics look like? Not Real-time.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

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

Occam's Razor

MAY 2, 2017

There is no golden metric for everyone, we are all unique snowflakes! :). That then takes us down the very best way to answer that question, to use the five-step process to build out the Digital Marketing and Measurement Model. I am going to pick a whole bunch of different businesses (15 in all!),

Metrics 141

Metrics Acquisition eCommerce Analytics 141

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

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.” Market penetration. Start early to work these relationships. What does traction really mean to investors, and how much is enough?

Hockey Stick 266

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 266

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

Open Source Business Models, speakers for Web 2.0 Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh. Attorney and Startup Business Advisor – Aaron Shec. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles. Where I use LinkedIn: * I definitely use LinkedIn for Specific Requests - Ex.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2010

The role of a founding CEO in a startup searching for a business model is radically different than a CEO building and growing a company. Certain VC’s like the new class of Super-Angels and small VC funds specialize in the early stage of a startup where you are searching for a business model. Lean Startups ?

Founder 231

Founder Vesting Later Stage Early Stage 231

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

Fast forward to today and this is now an 8-figure ARR company, and the founder was successful with his seed round pitches in part by showing a product prototype and early progress on the customer development front. it’s understandable that investors will want to see how your product is doing in the market.

Seed Stage 149

Seed Stage B2B Seed Capital Revenue 149