Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 19, 2019

Andy Rachleff co-founded the venture capital firm Benchmark Capital in 1995. Meanwhile, we recently talked with him about his thoughts on 35 years in Silicon Valley, why the skill sets of venture capitalists and CEOs are so different, and why telling a good story about your product is so crucial.

Silicon Valley 159

Silicon Valley Lean Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation 159

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Kayak was started here in my backyard of Boston… co-founder & CTO Paul English and the product/engineering team is based here in Concord MA. Co-founder & CEO Steve Hafner and the business team are based in Norwalk, CT. Distribution revenue is CPC and CPA. . Kayak generates both distribution (i.e.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Founded in November 2007 in New York City by Alexis Maybank and Kevin Ryan (co-founder of DoubleClick); CEO is Susan Lyne (ex-CEO Marta Stewart Living Omnimedia) Revenue estimates: $50mm in 2008; $170mm in 2009 (versus budget of $150mm); $450mm forecasted for 2010. Note that I’m not defining who numbers 1,2 are. Time will tell.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Mike Arsenault and his two co-founders—all with technical backgrounds—built their MVP while working full time for other SaaS companies. “We An engineer by training, Founder and CEO Larry Gadea built the MVP of Envoy’s first product, Visitors, by himself using only free versions of software. “I spent $20k on their MVP.

Sweat Equity 50

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 50

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2018

Brunner (@heatherjbrunner) | Twitter Preston James Co-founder & CEO DivInc Preston is at the center of everything Diversity & Inclusion in Austin. An early Human Rights Campaign board member and longtime Austin LGBTQ leader, Eugene co-chaired President Obama’s & the DNC’s LGBTQ Leadership Council.

Technical Cofounder 48

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 48

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

The Founders Lie About Comfort Zones – [link]. Investors Need to Lose Their Egos and Founders Need to Gain Some Confidence – [link]. 10 adjustments to make when working for a Big Co. In Silicon Valley, Technology Talent Gap Threatens G.O.P. Your Brand is What You Do – [link]. – [link].

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

Eric Friedman

AUGUST 18, 2021

Dan is the co-founder of Standard Treasury, a Y Combinator backed company. He is also co-founder and Managing Partner of Deciens Capital, an early stage investment fund. How do you get to that point if you have that kind of a view of the world, of founders, and of this space? On Sushi and VC. Everything we do.

Silicon Valley 88

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Africa 88

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2021

Although the media has been full of inspiring stories about start-ups in Silicon Valley, the reality is that the rate at which Americans have been starting companies has been in decline for a long time. You can search for co-founders who will contribute with capital, or skills, and share profits and equity with them.

Limited Liability Company 163

Limited Liability Company Silicon Valley Business Model Stock Options 163

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2021

It seems like every day there is a new headline about an exceptional startup founder, investor, or corporate headquarters moving to Texas. The Innovation Center at Houston’s TMC (TMCx), co-located with Johnson and Johnson’s J-Labs, and the Center for Medical Device Innovation, drive medical innovation. Joe Lonsdale. Drew Houston.

Texas 90

Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 90

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 20, 2020

the Connectors, Angels, Venture Capitalists, Founders, Professors, Hackers, Press… and the Legends. Find the Connectors , the Angels , the Venture Capitalists , the Founders , the Professors , the Hackers , and the Legends you need to meet and get some hints about the best ways to meet them. Here is your COVID-friendly cheat sheet.

Austin 110

Austin Texas Cofounder Los Angeles 110

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Github - Free public repositories, collaborator management, issue tracking, wikis, downloads, code review, graphs Pivotal Tracker – Agile project management tool that enables real time collaboration.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

“If you can fix a problem for someone and do it better, quicker, and/or cheaper than your competitor, you’re off to a good start.” – Gabriel Kuperman, founder and CEO of CuePin. We created UpKeep to fill this void—a cloud-based solution that was affordable for any size business.” – Ryan Chan, founder of UpKeep.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Ben's Blog

APRIL 7, 2021

As companies and cities wrestle with the future of work, future of cities, and future of tech made possible in a post-COVID future, the question is whether it also impacts — and presents an opportunity to address — one of the greatest problems of our time: the unequal distribution of economic opportunity across the United States.

Silicon Valley 36

Silicon Valley Non-Compete San Francisco Government 36

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. In later posts I’m going to get into more detail on specific topics like hiring, raising money, what types of ideas have the potential to get big, finding your founders, and the like.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

I once mentioned this idea to a fellow SoCal VC when I told him I wanted a CIC in LA and he said, “Co-location is dead. We’re recommending to our companies that they be distributed.&#. Uh, I guess he won’t be co-sponsoring a technology lab in LA with me then? We don’t believe in it anymore.

San Francisco 285

San Francisco Incubator Silicon Valley Startup 285

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

Whats is the best way to find a co-founder for your startup? However, one of my co-founders doesn’t seem to be as motivated as the rest of us. As founders invest massive amounts of time into their start-up, how critical is it for them to come out of their “hermit caves” and network?

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We discussed NY vs. Silicon Valley and NY vs. Boston. We also discussed having distributed teams (e.g. Competition: Chegg (has raised $144 in debt and equity)—estimated by Steven Carpenter ( TechCrunch ) to be 10x more unique visitors than BookRenter (during peak book renting seasons) with nearly $140mm in revenues for 2010.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Los Angeles Oakland Asia 217

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 3, 2009

I was positioning the company as the second coming of the video games businesses at the intersection of “ Hollywood Meets Silicon Valley.” My co-founder, head of business development and I were in Japan raising money. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Are those my initials on the slide?

Silicon Valley 149

Silicon Valley RSS Startup California 149

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

.” Hackernews list of “Tools of the Trade” for startups - includes over 150 SaaS tools used by startups, and over 150 comments with interesting insights from founders. free, distributed source code control management system. YCombinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents. Founder Equity Issues.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

My founders and I started the company about three years ago. The way that I leverage that is when I’m faced with a decision before I go to make the decision and let’s say my executive team and I or my co-founder and I or just myself I get an idea and I think what if we were to do X, Y and Z. Bates: Fantastic.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 5, 2017

Improving grid management and optimizing power production through different sources and distributed energy production are critical to cost management. It’s using sensors to collect data about the movement of people, all forms of vehicles and bikes,” Herman Chandi, co-founder of analytics company CommunityLogiq, told TechRepublic. “A

Technology 60

Technology Russia China Iceland 60

ReadWriteStart

MAY 3, 2013

Two-time entrepreneur Jordan Eisenberg, founder of UrgentRX warns that, “Few things in a start up are more important than carefully managing cash. While the founders of a company might be willing to forgo a paycheck for months on end to get their business up-and-running, their employees may not be so eager to make that sacrifice.

Curation 61

Curation Silicon Valley Startup Jordan 61

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

Find Questions, Topics and People Add Question Add Question Non-Technical Co-Founders Co-Founders Technical Co-founders Finding Co-Founders Startups & "How Important Are Ideas?" " Web Development Startups Solo Founders I am a creative guy with a startup idea.

Developer 42

Developer Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder 42

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 20, 2019

And unlike other fintech companies that are primarily equity-financed, we raise capital by offering a best in class savings product to consumers (a 1 month renewable CD that pays 6% APY), which in turn allows us to meet our short term capital needs required for loan origination. That still feels like a huge and worthwhile objective to me.

Papua New Guinea 66

Papua New Guinea Hawaii Advisory Board Churn Rate 66

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was hanging out the other day with my buddy Jody Sherman, founder & CEO of EcoMom. Jody didn’t exactly have an easy time fund raising because he’s not one of the prototypical Silicon Valley funded entrepreneurs. Co-founded a company in the private jet business – sold to Virgin America.

Valuation 292

Valuation Deal Flow Lead Investor Cofounder 292

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

previously explained that it usually requires some equity, but here is some more step by step practical advice. Sean Murphy on the first dozen enterprise customers - Gabriel Weinberg , September 8, 2010 I recently did a Traction Book interview with Sean Murphy who runs a boutique cutomer development firm in Silicon Valley.

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year. Bokér/1 Next David Sarna with Hendon, Stamford Hill & Co. He is willing to give up 33% of equity for this $1 million investment. Raymond is wondering why he cannot attract financing.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year. Bokér/1 Next David Sarna with Hendon, Stamford Hill & Co. He is willing to give up 33% of equity for this $1 million investment. Raymond is wondering why he cannot attract financing.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

The last blogger in Silicon Valley. Since the iControl system chronicles all meetings, I was able to find the automatic picture snapped from my first meeting with the founders, Reza Raji and Chris Stevens on April 22, 2004. ProfessorVC. Monday, June 20, 2011. How much is enough? Financing, that is.I

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28