Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

It turns out that to build a successful company you ultimately need this strange thing called “revenue” that people don’t just hand you: You need to earn it. And there’s this other thing called “gross margin,” which shows the quality of your revenue. How much ad revenue does TripAdvisor make?

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 22, 2008 The three drivers of growth for your business model. The AARRR model (hence pirates, get it?) He also has a discussion of how your choice of business model determines which of these metric areas you want to focus on. Choose one.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Business Model I would like to propose that in addition to team, product, and market, there is actually a fourth, equally important, core element of startups, which is the need for a viable business model. It appears that LTV should be about 3 x CAC for a viable SaaS or other form of recurring revenue model.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

Initially your job is to understand each of the parts of your business model before you hire someone to do it. Hopefully you and your co-founders are experts in one or two parts (agile development, SEO/SEM, etc.) Or by a VP of Marketing who talks “branding&# , SEO/SEM, PR agency, etc. What did we learn?

Sales 120

Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas 120

Seeing Both Sides

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

The law of large numbers suggests it is easier to double in size when you are doing $1 million in revenue as compared to when you are doing $10 million, never mind $100 million. For example, PR doesn’t scale. One of the themes I explore in the class is the tough reality that many metrics can actually get worse over time for a startup.

Metrics 20

Metrics Churn Rate Acquisition SEM 20

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 10, 2008

Be prepared to cross the desert - SaaS requires R&D and sales expense up front for a multi-year stream of revenue, so it demands enough investment capital to fund 4+ years of runway. Farming is also often overlooked, but can help grow customer accounts and revenues from 30% upwards (if successful). Great list! Michael Kassing.

Software Review 48

Software Review North America Europe Metrics 48