Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

It is no secret that the world of venture capital (VCs) was turned upside down by the recent Recession, and many other changes in the marketplace. Business Week ran a more thorough analysis of this movement a while back, which I have updated below. Every early-stage startup should explore this new funding alternative.

Angel Investor 231

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Early Stage Silicon Valley 231

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. Your friends and family are really the only answer until you have a significant revenue stream. Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active. Overall, investors put $7.5 That represents a $1.5

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

Funding might be a need in some cases — but it’s not an absolute necessity. ? The business should be self-sustainable. The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. Incubators and Accelerators.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Steve Blank

APRIL 26, 2022

At the turn of the century after the dotcom crash, startup valuations plummeted, burn rates were unsustainable, and startups were quickly running out of cash. Most existing investors (those still in business) hoarded their money and stopped doing follow-on rounds until the rubble had cleared. They’re Back. Why do VCs Do This?

Cram Down 404

Cram Down Founder Venture Capital Recapitalization 404

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

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. Different types of investors tend to specialize in capitalizing on businesses at different stages. It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.”

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

Because of this, I've always tried to stay up-to-speed on how early-stage investors look at valuation of companies. Think about how you can prove your business model with an MVP. Bill Payne is an expert on how early-stage investors should look at valuation. What are they really looking for? is a requirement. Not sure why.

Valuation 198

Valuation Revenue Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 198

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or an existing business, and haven’t yet sized any of these opportunities, you may be already late to the game. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating. There is value in the “idling capacity” of all assets.

Cuba 316

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 316

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

It is no secret that the world of venture capital (VCs) has been turned upside down by the recession, and the many other changes in the marketplace. Business Week ran a more thorough analysis of this movement a while back, which I am summarizing here. Every early-stage startup should explore this new funding alternative.

Technical Review 215

Technical Review Early Stage Venture Capital Startup 215

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

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. Different types of investors tend to specialize in capitalizing on businesses at different stages. It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.”

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

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? Next, take a look at your actual revenue each month – not forecast, but real revenue coming in each month.

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. What business milestones have you met? If your financial model projects a negative cash flow in this period of $400,000, you should buffer this amount by 25 percent, and ask for $500,000.

Preferred Stock 304

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 304

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. Looking ahead at the next decade I am excited by what I believe will be viewed as one of the best and most rational investment periods for venture capital due to seven discrete factors: 1.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! In addition to FOMO it is partly driven by massive increase in valuations for earlier-stage companies who raised money at bit seed prices but who still have product risk. And for some that means that despite waiting they may see worse valuations in the future than now.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital. Companies horde cash and squeeze the most revenue and margin from the money they use. Instead of measuring success in dollars of profit, …firms focus on measuring capital efficiency.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Over the same 30 years, Venture Capital firms have honed their skills and strategies to match Wall Streets needs to achieve liquidity for their portfolio companies. One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. What Do VC’s Do?

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

Do I think we are in a valuation bubble? 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

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. What business milestones have you met? If your financial model projects a negative cash flow in this period of $400,000, you should buffer this amount by 25 percent, and ask for $500,000.

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.]

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

That’s because obtaining a pre-money valuation for a concept level technology company in excess of $1 million is difficult, particularly for a startup founder without a proven track record. By contrast, obtaining a pre-money valuation of $5 million for a business with a new viable product and even very minimal sales is somewhat reasonable.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or an existing business, and haven’t yet sized any of these opportunities, you may be already late to the game. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating. There is value in the “idling capacity” of all assets.

Cuba 246

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 246

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 15, 2017

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. Heck, there was no venture capital in Dixie in that era. A good example is the marketing technology sector.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Nevada Silicon Valley 48

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

I’ve also shared my insights with Techcrunch, in “ 5 creator economy VCs see startup opportunities in monetization, discovery and much more “ As venture capital investors, one question we think about a lot at Remagine Ventures is “where are the opportunities for startups in the Creator Economy?”

Startup 207

Startup Social Media Venture Capital Audio 207

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. Different types of investors tend to specialize in capitalizing on businesses at different stages. It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.”

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. Equally bad is professing no valuation estimate at all, asking investors to “make me an offer.” First priority is real revenue, customers and contracts.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 6, 2014

Once I had a few under my belt, I realized I was a start-up junkie, and founded Five Mill Ventures in San Francisco before I was 30. From restaurants to tech companies, I’ve seeded a number of new ventures with my own marketing know-how instead of just cash.

San Francisco 154

San Francisco Business Model Silicon Valley Coder 154

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. Gio expects to get to about $500,000 by the end of this year and asked me for advice on venture funding. Because customer financing equals revenue, not equity. Yes, venture capital is very good for scaling businesses rapidly.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 1, 2020

The company’s success has been largely driven by its developer-led freemium model, going from Series A funding to a valuation of $2.6B Once we had the user (developer) and the buyer (security team) on board, the freemium model really accelerated and made it quite resilient to this crisis. in just 30 months.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Open Source Development Team Review Security 62

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? Everyone moved to earlier stage – part of the decline in late stage investing is the ‘baggage’ of companies that previously raised money at inflated valuations that they would struggle to justify in today’s market.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

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. Different types of investors tend to specialize in capitalizing on businesses at different stages. It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.”

Angel Investor 232

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 232

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Convertible debt is best when you don’t yet have revenue or a good sense for your valuation, because it allows you to raise money on the basis that the valuation will be set one to three years in the future, based on execution of the early business model.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Dave Graham Business Venture Capital Private Equity GlobalLogic Inc. Venture Capital Firms. In the past few years, hundreds of small companies have been snatched up by private equity firms willing to agree to ever-rising valuations. Will Work for Equity. By Ryan McCarthy | @mccarthyryanj |.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

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

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 21, 2014

But many years later, I began to appreciate that one of our core flaws was our business model. As a result, the full revenue for each deal was recognized in that quarter as soon as the software was shipped. This allowed our revenue to skyrocket from $1.8 This allowed our revenue to skyrocket from $1.8

Revenue 54

Revenue Valuation Churn Rate Portfolio 54

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Start With a Business Model, Not a Business Plan | WSJ – [link]. The danger of waiting to long to find a business model? … Checking In on Foursquare’s Valuation – [link]. Want Venture Capital Funding? Red All Over: Newspaper Revenues Fall In Q3 – [link].

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

If you take funding from a venture capital firm or angel investor and want to build a large, enduring company (rather than sell it to the highest bidder), this isn’t the decade to do it. The collapse of the IPO market and dysfunctional math in the venture capital community has stacked the odds against you. Here’s why.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

Now with customers and early revenue, it was out raising its first round of venture money. In fact, Google’s offer for $15 Million was equal to the highest valuation from the venture firms. Lets take venture capital and grow this thing into a real business.”. The Scalable Startup. Take No Prisoners.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 26, 2014

As further market proof of the power of Drupal in the enterprise, Acquia has received about $100 million in funding in the past 3 months, which puts its valuation at over $1 billion. They kind of invented this business model. Google has optimized this open source to freemium model in almost all of its products.

Founder 42

Founder Los Angeles PHP Open Source 42