Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Most modern investors still look for a business model that embodies a gross margin over 50 percent and a net margin in the 20 percent range. A healthy business, ready to scale, has been doing this for a year or more, with an existing customer set generating a non-trivial and growing revenue stream.

Revenue 246

Revenue Entrepreneur Valuation Viral 246

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 8, 2009

In many cases, I can break it down into: Customer Acquisition Cost – how will you reach prospects, how will you convert them and how much will it cost to convert them Customer Lifetime Value – how much will you make off of each converted customer This very simple model works for a surprising number of business models.

Metrics 225

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 225

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2016

Most modern investors still look for a business model that embodies a gross margin over 50%, and a net margin in the 20% range. A healthy business, ready to scale, has been doing this for a year or more, with an existing customer set generating a non-trivial and growing revenue stream.

Revenue 145

Revenue Valuation Startup Viral 145

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Benchmarks are typically specific to stage/business model/geo. In Rob Go’s words: For seed and Series A deals, investors will also need to see a high-potential team with founder/market fit , a large and attractive market opportunity , and a business model with increasing returns to scale.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

In other words, if you can get 1000 people to come to your website consistently for under $5, then this business model works for you. You will use your fridge for a decade or more so the retention here is high. 3) Does your business have naturally short retention? But, the retention is terrible / non-existent.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

In other words, if you can get 1000 people to come to your website consistently for under $5, then this business model works for you. You will use your fridge for a decade or more so the retention here is high. 3) Does your business have naturally short retention? But, the retention is terrible / non-existent.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

What makes this tricky is that markets evolve, and an innovative technology or business model can transform a normal market into a Glengarry Glen Ross market. In it we explicitly state: “The real value creation comes when innovative technology enables innovative products and services with innovative business models….What

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2021

Note that if you’re familiar with the business model canvas, Steps 1-4 below are equivalent to a visual map of the choices a founder makes as they develop a business model canvas. In other words, you prove retention. With both growth and retention, you earn the right to build more.

Product 436

Product Viral Channel San Francisco 436

Hippoland

OCTOBER 16, 2016

Companies in this category include companies like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, etc… These are all companies that need a TON of users, great retention and engagement and continued-fast-growth of user adoption in order to later make money off ad revenue. Do you have virality built into the product?

Startup 48

Startup Vertical Early Stage Bootstrapping 48

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, December 14, 2009 Business ecology and the four customer currencies Lately, I’ve been rethinking the concept of “business model&# for startups, in favor of something I call “business ecology.&# Constructing a working business model is a form of ecosystem design.

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

ConversionXL

JUNE 24, 2014

More detailed and reliable data allows you to tailor your business model, monitor trends and measure how they might impact future demand. However, be aware that any slips in customer service or problems with products can also go viral. Knowing who your users are means knowing what they do and don’t want.

Social Network 130

Social Network Viral Social Media B2C 130

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

More detailed and reliable data allows you to tailor your business model, monitor trends, and measure how they might impact future demand. However, be aware that any slips in customer service or problems with products can also go viral. Knowing who your users are means knowing what they do and don’t want.

Social Network 73

Social Network Viral Social Media B2C 73

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

What matters is proving the viability of the company’s business model, what investors call “traction.&# Of course this is not at all true of many profitable small businesses, but they are not what I mean by startups.) In fact, I don’t think revenue is in and of itself a goal for startups, and neither is profit.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

For a Series A round you want to prove you have built a repeatable and scalable sales/revenue model and understand all parts of the business model. Series B is about proving your net revenue model (can you be profitable?). Team, Product, Traction, Business Model and Market. Business Model.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2012

The metrics that matter the most are returning customers (user retention), turnover per customer and viral growth (k-factor). Remember that raising money in itself is not the purpose; it’s about creating an organization that can fully focus on finding retention and a working business model that can later on scale.

Bankruptcy 121

Bankruptcy Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence 121

Ben's Blog

MAY 15, 2020

Finally, we’ll zoom out and assess the big picture: how various categories of company may be impacted long-term, how this crisis compares to 2008 (and what that means for early-stage founders), and the industries and business models that are now prime for growth.

Founder 36

Founder Conversion Technical Review Cash Position 36

Occam's Razor

MAY 2, 2017

There are multiple points of value from the Trailheads program (lower support costs, higher retention, faster time to value for clients etc.) We are a better humanity thanks to the work of journalists, I hope the industry finds a sustainable business model. The site has tons and tons of content, almost haphazardly so.

Metrics 141

Metrics Acquisition eCommerce Analytics 141

ConversionXL

MAY 19, 2016

One of my favorite examples of this is the design of viral loops. Andrew Chen has said that some of the best growth people don’t think in terms of funnels, they think in terms of viral loops. Most funnels treat referrals as another step in a funnel, but of course we know they don’t work that way. Identify User Behavior.

Analytics 78

Analytics Metrics Channel Software Review 78

Aymeric Gaurat-Apelli

APRIL 20, 2010

Although I had been developing softwares since 1999, it was the first time I could think of an idea, write the application, publish it online and virally reach thousands of people! As Facebook matures as a platform, it is changing its focus from growth to retention. Facebook has allowed me to find an audience to my creativity.

Developer 32

Developer Australia Ruby API 32

andrewchenblog.com

JANUARY 28, 2010

To become profitable using a freemium business model, this simple equation must hold true: Lifetime value > Cost per acquisition + Cost of service (paying & free) Said in plain english, the lifetime value of your paying customers needs to be greater than the cost it took to acquire them, plus, the cost servicing all users (free or paying).

CPA 51

CPA Retention Viral Acquisition 51

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

“I pre-stage my investments by developing my own ideas of great business models & frameworks — when I meet a founder doing something similar I can make a quick decision,&# says Craig. View More » Jobs Director of Marketing and Retention a. MTV Launches Interactive Visualizatio. What will you find here?

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80