Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

As best, you should reserve this option for later stage VC discussions, once you have a well-proven business model, large market following, and substantial revenue. More importantly, make sure first that you really want to give up the entrepreneur lifestyle for the challenges of a public company executive.

IPO 245

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 245

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

As best, you should reserve this option for later stage VC discussions, once you have a well-proven business model, large market following, and substantial revenue. More importantly, make sure first that you really want to give up the entrepreneur lifestyle for the challenges of a public company executive.

IPO 120

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 120

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

Venture capital fundraising can be divided into three stages: seed, early stage, and later stage. According to the same report by KPMG, the median deal size is the largest for later-stage funding, at $26 million. The constant innovation thus drives development in technology throughout the region.

Venture Capital 196

Venture Capital Asia Artificial Inteligence Later Stage 196

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

I think that later stage valuations are frothy (for reasons I explain below) while earlier stage valuations are starting to stabilize from previous highs (with the exception of the superstar serial entrepreneur) - turns out scaling in a sea of competition (both startup and entrenched) is not so easy.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

What kind of risk do we run of being put out of business by others’ IP rights ? Later stage companies have some additional concerns: What favorable impact could IP have for PR, marketing and investor relations purposes, or as an attraction to potential acquirors?

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Yet for every founder there are 10-20 other employees who take the near-equivalent risks in joining an early-stage company. If you’re not a founder (by choice, timing or temperament,) you may be an early employee or a later stage startup employee. By now the company may have found and settled on a repeatable business model.

Cofounder 219

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 219

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 9, 2021

These innovations are impactful, but there are also ample opportunities to innovate purely on the business model. That’s a statement of business innovation, not technological innovation. I helped establish the business model. Consider Jeff’s famous saying, “your margin is my opportunity.”

Leadership 42

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Later Stage 42

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

Austin Startup

MAY 11, 2017

We make a majority of our investments in those sectors and prioritize proven business models. Our unique approach to investing, coupled with a pioneering spirit, provides the vision to guide early stage growth companies beyond today and toward future success.

Private Equity 48

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage 48

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 3, 2021

Growing a business is always challenging, but it’s often the hardest in the earliest stages of development. You’ll be operating with limited resources, limited knowledge, and quite possibly, a business model poised to change in the immediate future. Depending on which keywords you target, it can also be inexpensive.

Early Stage 125

Early Stage PPC Retention Churn Rate 125

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Put aside the frauds and hucksters — time and transparency will cause them to shake out — and obviously not every business model is a fit for an ICO. In short, token sales allow early stage companies to skip the series B round and beyond. But many are. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders. Fuzzy Governance.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Put aside the frauds and hucksters — time and transparency will cause them to shake out — and obviously not every business model is a fit for an ICO. In short, token sales allow early stage companies to skip the series B round and beyond. But many are. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders. Fuzzy Governance.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 9, 2022

If your business model literally can’t work without you raising $50-100mm more, then you’re playing a pretty dangerous game that was always obviously heavily reliant on friendly capital markets that might disappear. Grow the f**k out of the business while making sure you’re making money on each customer, client, etc.

Stock 97

Stock Marketing Valuation Later Stage 97

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

NVV: Let’s talk about the seed stage specifically. With venture debt as a source of low-cost capital to fuel growth or buy time during later stages, should a founder approach their fundraising from VCs any differently today ? Business model? NVV: What do debt providers look for in a company’s track record?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Gust

AUGUST 27, 2014

The two sites you mentioned are both secondary listing services, for later stage companies. Most are somewhere in between, focusing primarily on early-stage, high-growth companies with scalable business models. There are hundreds of them, with at least one in every state.

Angel Investor 133

Angel Investor Accredited Investor Angel Groups Syndicate 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

As opposed to a startup incubator, which typically deals with startups barely hatched, an accelerator focuses on a later stage startup, with an existing product and proven business model, looking for rapid growth. It suggests the minimum features to allow the product to be deployed and get feedback, and no more.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Silicon Valley Angel Investor 274

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 9, 2017

Whether early or later-stage, the growth of every company most often depends on how much capital is available to fund its growth. Define Your Business Model. There are numerous types and will determine how you grow and run your business. by Tina Hay, founder and CEO of Napkin Finance. Keep Detailed Records.

Burn Rate 100

Burn Rate B2C Finance Later Stage 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

As best, you should reserve this option for later stage VC discussions, once you have a well-proven business model, large market following, and substantial revenue. More importantly, make sure first that you really want to give up the entrepreneur lifestyle for the challenges of a public company executive.

IPO 242

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 242

The Startup Toolkit

DECEMBER 5, 2011

During a workshop the other day, we spent 10 minutes as a group coming up with a business model providing daycare for busy professional moms. Our business model has become self-referential — our customer channel depends on one of our other user groups which we haven’t yet figured out how to reach.

Business Model 32

Business Model Channel Later Stage Advertising 32

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. This factor is more relevant to venture capital investors who come in at a later stage and expect more traction to qualify.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Bob had taken to heart the business model canvas and Customer Development lessons. After a demo and lunch, the VC (who normally did later stage deals) wrote my ex student a check for a seed round. The VC checked with other IT users and heard the same reaction. Life couldn’t be better.

Customer Development 330

Customer Development Cofounder Later Stage Software 330

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2013

Most first-time entrepreneurs write huge business plans, instead of creating a short pitch-deck. Focus on building a prototype, test your business model and create a clear strategy to become a sustainable and scaleable business fast.

Management 120

Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

You see, equity capital is raised in stages or rounds. The five main stages include the following: 1. Early Stage Investment (Series A & B) 4. Later Stage Investment (Series C, D, and so on) 5. Series B is the round that follows series A in early stage financing. Pre-Seed Funding 2. Seed Funding 3.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

This is the fourth article in a series on novel ideas for SaaS metrics, which started with The unprofitable SaaS business model trap , COC: a new metric for cancellations , and The mistake of 1/c in LTV. Its tough for a growing SaaS business to ascertain whether or not it’s truly profitable. Here’s a way to do it.

Metrics 238

Metrics Revenue Flash Later Stage 238

cdixon.org

AUGUST 3, 2012

Some consequences: - For consumer startups with non-transactional models (ad-based or unknown business models), you need something closer to 10 million users versus 1 million users to get Series A funded. - . - Internet users have tens of thousands of services/apps to choose from but limited time and attention.

Bridge Financing 86

Bridge Financing Early Stage Valuation Later Stage 86

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

He says they are just as selective on seed investments as they are in later stage deals. I’ve already started the business modeling. Simple: according to Mike Polaris has followed on nearly every seed investment that they’ve done. You can hear his full argument in the interview.

San Francisco 230

San Francisco Los Angeles Cofounder SMS 230

The Entrepreneurial Mind

JUNE 14, 2010

They do play a role, but only a limited one with later stage businesses that have good cash flow. But, the result is often a much more sustainable business model built not on market speculation about the future, but rather on creating long-term relationships with a growing group of customers.

Kentucky 56

Kentucky Washington Nashville Bootstrapping 56

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

— all great things when you are executing and scaling a known business model. Because the new CEO had built a team capable of and comfortable with executing an existing business model, the company would fail or get acquired. Board Control. For three decades (1978-2008), investors controlled the board. The founders.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 26, 2011

What's the business model? I think you'll see a lot of focus on companies like Tumblr, Twitter, Foursquare and Pinterest--services that haven't really established a business model yet to justify their sky high valuations.

Technology 116

Technology Valuation Community Restful 116

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

As you probably know, we’ve been investing against a consistent theme - Marc Andreesseen’s “software is eating the world” - and always at multiple stages of a company’s growth - from seed to later-stage venture. Sure - as you know, probably 40-50% of what we invest in at the early stage never makes it to a successful outcome.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

Then, you draft your business model and plan. First you draft an executive summary of your business plan. Then you write down a brief about your company and business model. And lastly summarise all the above points for easy referencing at later stages. Now you design a sales and marketing strategy.

Mobile 113

Mobile Developer Social Media Later Stage 113

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

August 2010 Two years ago I wrote about what I called " a huge, unexploitedopportunity in startup funding :" the growing disconnect betweenVCs, whose current business model requires them to invest largeamounts, and a large class of startups that need less than theyused to. Get funded by Y Combinator.

Startup 93

Startup Valuation Non-Compete Deal Flow 93

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. Later stage investors are using for sourcing private company marketplace services focused on more established companies, listed below under “Step 11: Exit”. They read reviews of the products of target investments.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

With a portfolio that includes food, tech, and services, the fund is industry-agnostic and focused on the overlooked and underrepresented with high-margin business models. We identify great innovative companies with solid business models and help them determine the right growth path for their businesses.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

. … My father had actually done startups when I was really young … I wasn’t old enough to know anything about it except that they were really hard and that he had ended up going into slightly later-stage businesses. …He … We didn’t have a business model in the early days. It should be digital.”

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur New York Cofounder Equity 120

ConversionXL

JUNE 2, 2022

How you approach it will depend on your business model and ideal accounts and how (or if) you plan to expand campaigns. The most significant financial returns will happen in the later stages, after you’ve identified and engaged target accounts. That’s the power of marketing to a chosen few rather than everyone.

Customer 98

Customer Marketing Channel Acquisition 98

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

When you take money from investors their business model becomes yours. Sigh… What I should have been hearing is the search for the business model, specifically the progress on product/market fit, but I hear the fund raising story first at least 90% of the time. When I asked, “What are you working on?” What’s a Startup?

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 333