Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

I’m sure many of you have heard his name. Companies horde cash and squeeze the most revenue and margin from the money they use. Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter. The first will be commodity businesses that are valued for their ability to execute their current business model.

Private Equity 328

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 328

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Get your Internet domain name and website. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Finalize your financial model. This is called “validating the business model.”

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Get your Internet domain name and website. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Finalize your financial model. This is called “validating the business model.”

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 15, 2017

In the torrent of real and fake news, what’s his competitive edge other than name recognition? What seems to be the best way to create customers and revenue may result in a business model that is out of vogue with the investment world and shortchanges you on enterprise valuation. No further conversations ensued.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Nevada Silicon Valley 48

ReadWriteStart

JULY 17, 2023

In the financial year ending in March this year, the startup generated a revenue of $18.5 Furlenco’s innovative business model has disrupted the traditional furniture industry in India. The company is the maker of the popular mattress brand Sleepwell, which has been a household name in India for over four decades.

India 104

India Acquisition Merger Curation 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

Until I read the classic book “ The Business of Sharing, ” by Alex Stephany, who founded JustPark (current valuation estimated at £33M), I too had no idea of the scope of opportunities, and the 350 or more players already out there. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating.

Cuba 246

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 246

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. At this point, most Angel investors and a few early-stage VCs will be happy to talk, assuming you have the business model validated, and a large opportunity.

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

In this episode, she’s sharing how she’s helped many entrepreneurs buy and sell businesses. Questions I ask Amanda Dixon: [1:14] What’s the story behind your company name? [1:57] John Jantsch (01:14): So I have to start with the name. So Amanda, welcome to the show. This is great. John Jantsch (01:49): Yeah.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Technical Review Cofounder Valuation 78

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Five Quarters of Profitability During the 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s startups going public had to do something that most companies today never heard of – they had to show a track record of increasing revenue and consistent profitability. There was now a public market for companies with no revenue, no profit and big claims.

Silicon Valley 233

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 233

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. At this point, most Angel investors and a few early-stage VCs will be happy to talk, assuming you have the business model validated, and a large opportunity.

Angel Investor 232

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 232

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

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. At this point, most Angel investors and a few early-stage VCs will be happy to talk, assuming you have the business model validated, and a large opportunity.

Matching 120

Matching Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers 120

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

Not really; it was a result of an industry investing into a frothy market at higher and higher valuations in expectation of near term liquidity, and suddenly the IPO window shutting, leading to no exits and little additional capital to support these companies. I knew them all, because we all knew each other in this era. This isn’t true.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

David Teten

AUGUST 6, 2015

6) Title your file in a format like [Company Name] [Forecast] [yyyymmdd], e.g., “[Company Name] Forecast 20150524″. Naming your file “Forecast.xls” does not make you look considerate or organized. Naming your file “Forecast.xls” does not make you look considerate or organized. once a model has been finalized.

Balance Sheet 60

Balance Sheet Software Review Forecast Acquisition 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2016

Until I read a recent book “ The Business of Sharing, ” by Alex Stephany, who founded JustPark (current valuation estimated at £20M), I too had no idea of the scope of opportunities, and the 200 or more players already out there. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating.

Cuba 120

Cuba Marketing Venture Capital Community 120

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. Rest assured that potential investors will ask for names, and place some calls. Industry & market sizing.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Get your Internet domain name and website. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Finalize your financial model. This is called “validating the business model.”

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Writing A Business Plan. Running A Home-Based Business. Naming a Business. Financing a Small Business. Buying a Small Business. RUNNING A BUSINESS. In the past few years, hundreds of small companies have been snatched up by private equity firms willing to agree to ever-rising valuations.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2015

Until I read a new book “ The Business of Sharing, ” by Alex Stephany, who founded JustPark (current valuation estimated at £20M), I too had no idea of the scope of opportunities, and the 200 or more players already out there. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating.

Cuba 120

Cuba Entrepreneur Venture Capital Community 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Many of the best entrepreneurs I see find themselves besieged by investors, and have actively turned them away , at least until they reach a point of valuation and scaling where they don’t have to give away a lion’s share of ownership and control. These would include the following: You have a proven business model.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Cofounder Equity Agile 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

How does your business model make money? Good causes such as feeding the world’s hungry may help your marketing but may not sustain a business. The business model has to clearly define who is your customer, market penetration expected, how much customers pay versus total costs and the investment required to sustain cash flow.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

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. Rest assured that potential investors will ask for names, and place some calls. Industry & market sizing.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 5, 2018

by Walker Deibel , Managing Director of Centra and author of “ Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game “ If I asked you to name a business success story, what would you think of? Indeed, all startups today aim to be the “Uber of [enter your industry here],” right? What is a gazelle?

Startup 182

Startup Acquisition Portfolio Venture Capital 182

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

Now with customers and early revenue, it was out raising its first round of venture money. Staring at us in the board meeting were three term-sheets from brand name VC’s and an unexpected buy-out offer from Google. In fact, Google’s offer for $15 Million was equal to the highest valuation from the venture firms.

Hockey Stick 296

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 296

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2012

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Get your Internet domain name and website. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Finalize your financial model. This is called “validating the business model.”.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 179

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. For Tim, choosing a company name was a strategic action. “My My partners and I decided on something very close to home: a combination of two of our names.

Reputation 60

Reputation Cofounder Naming Business Plan 60

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. Rest assured that potential investors will ask for names, and place some calls. Industry & market sizing.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

Austin Startup

MARCH 23, 2017

Priced equity financings make sense as they provide clarity around valuation and ownership dilution, while creating alignment between the investors and founders. I point back to Fred Wilson’s blog, specifically a guest post by Andy Sack on revenue based financing. instrument (for a lack of a better name).

Dilution 54

Dilution Equity Warrant Distribution 54

David Teten

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

The cover note should include: name, website, location, revenues (if any), detailed financing history (if any), and precise terms on which you are seeking to raise capital. If you are testing the market to see what terms you can get, just say, “We are targeting to raise $X at pre-money valuation of $Y.” Competition.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation Prospectus Early Stage 60

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. Rest assured that potential investors will ask for names, and place some calls. Industry & market sizing.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 22, 2012

The company has gotten off to a fast start, $150k in revenue in the first two months, with all the marketing coming from social media. This implies a pre money valuation of $1.045M. See my breakdown of week 2 for more on how to calculate pre money valuation.). There was a lot of discussion about competition.

Pre-Money Valuation 101

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Differentiation 101

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

A business model must be created out of whole cloth, and generally it’s a compilation of assumptions piled on top of other assumptions. Every model has a happy outcome when a founder is trying to convince himself or herself, a team, an investor, or even a spouse that the venture ahead is a good idea.

Valuation 48

Valuation Forecast Seed Money Business Model 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Yes, it’s true that FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving some irrational behavior and valuations amongst uber competitive deals and well-financed VCs. The opportunity to transact at the point of purchase increases the sheer number of revenue opportunities. Businesses are also one-click from advertising through Google and now Facebook.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Duct Tape Marketing

AUGUST 16, 2023

I like a lot of different types of industries and business models, but the ones that I most enjoy working with are ones that actually help people, animals of the environment. CMO is just kind of a name, names stake. And that usually alone gives 'em a good 15, 20% boost in revenue and conversions right off the bat.

Channel 63

Channel Hiring Sales Marketing 63

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Pro Publica has a Nonprofit Explorer database searchable by principal name on all nonprofit filings, so you can see a person’s nonprofit activities. . Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78