Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

Matt was the co-founder/CEO of Return Path. The founders of each company talked and, in between efforts to decimate the other, agreed it might be worth merging to survive. He co-founded it in partnership with High Alpha (we are LPs) and SVB. I’ve been working with Matt since 2000. Fred Wilson was his lead investor.

Fractional CTO 195

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 195

ReadWriteStart

JULY 7, 2023

This difficulty is something that Jatin Mehta, one of the co-founders of SpeedyBrand, is aware of. Before being distributed through a variety of channels, the automatically generated content can undergo additional personalization via SpeedyBrand’s user-friendly dashboard and be edited.

Generative AI 127

Generative AI SEO Artificial Inteligence Forecast 127

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

Some of these folks are founders and CEOs, but not at high-growth tech startups. On the other hand, they could be the opposite—much more focused on near-term cash distributions than long-term equity appreciation. They might not understand how a pre-revenue startup could be worth anything, let alone be valued at $5mm.

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

Version One Ventures

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Union Square Ventures – one of our favorite co-investors – added to Top Hat’s existing investors and USV’s Albert Wenger joined their Board of Directors. They took an innovative approach to distribution. They focused on revenue early on. Ultimately, success comes down to the persistence and hustle of the founders.

Vertical 132

Vertical Technical Review Cofounder Sales Cycle 132

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. .

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

At the pre-seed stage, when the creator has a concept, the founder’s background, educational qualifications, domain experience, previous ventures, market size, and the complimentary talents brought by the cofounders are some of the most critical variables to consider before investing in a startup.

Seed Stage 124

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 124

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. If you’re following Tesla, you might be interested to know that Sloan wasn’t the founder of GM. The founder of what became General Motors was William (Billy) Durant.

Michigan 268

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 268

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2013

Anyone who reads this blog frequently will know that I am a big believer in low-cost video content and specifically the power of YouTube as a content creation & distribution platform. Distribution costs have, too. The industry finally has one of their own at the helm of the largest YouTube network. Mr. T (DeStorm) vs. Mr. Rogers.

Video 320

Video Los Angeles Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 320

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Rick Boerebach is a co-founder of ZEEF.com , a curated link directory built by passionate experts. If your startup’s goal is to sell a product or service but you’re having a hard time with your revenue model, affiliate marketing might be the perfect match to give you that much-needed boost. What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate 134

Affiliate Revenue Internet Marketing 134

NZ Entrepreneur

DECEMBER 10, 2020

Now, cofounders Paul Simpson and Dominic Sutton are sharing what they learned during the ups and downs of the journey. That’s where the founder thing comes in, whereas the Angels are more focused on growth projections and risk.”. A company is more than the CEO / founder, so tell your angel investors who’s in your team.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence Startup 103

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Great marketing is required to generate revenue and grow every business, especially new businesses which have no brand recognition nor loyal customer base. Usually these are described as revenue growth drivers, as outlined in a new book, “ The Revenue Accelerator: The 21 Boosters to Launch Your Startup ,” by Dr. Allan Colman.

Marketing 333

Marketing Revenue Matching Viral 333

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

GrowthHackers founder and former Head of Growth at Dropbox, Sean Ellis , coined the term: “A growth hacker is a person whose true north is growth. In his course on Growth Mindset (part of CXL’s Growth Marketing Minidegree ), WeTheFuture.org founder John McBride describes three key components of a successful growth marketer: 1.

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

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. Financial Snapshot: 2010 Revenue: $170 million. 2010 Net Income: $8 million.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

Here the focus is on Pink Stuff, a British cleaning paste, which was #CleanTok mainstreamed to a quadrupling of revenue ($125m annually) and distribution to 55 countries. As Jared notes, To hedge against this predictable outcome, more founders should adopt longer vesting cycles for themselves and the earliest (big equity) employees.

Founder Vesting 60

Founder Vesting Vesting Cap Table Founder 60

Austin Startup

AUGUST 9, 2021

Chargify, the leading billing platform for B2B SaaS, today announced the appointment of Matt Downs as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) effective immediately. He will play a pivotal role as Chargify and SaaSOptics are brought together as the industry leading SaaS subscription billing and revenue platform.

Revenue 72

Revenue Georgia Texas Colorado 72

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Ask a technical founder about his startup, and he'll proudly describe his stunning software — simple, compelling, useful, fun. Then he'll describe his cutting-edge platform — cloud-based, scalable, distributed version control, continuous integration, one-click-deploy. Maybe you'll even get a wobbly demo. (Or Advertising ??

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Every business needs marketing, distribution, a positive revenue model and intellectual property to survive. Another great learning opportunity and win-win deal is to co-founder a new high-tech startup team. You have proven that you can create an innovative product, but creating a business is a whole new challenge.

Intellectual Property 243

Intellectual Property Matching Business Model Cofounder 243

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

Thanks to all of the amazing founders, advisors, co-investors, corporate partners, and others that helped make 2018 an amazing year. To that point, we are most excited when our founders are able to go from slide deck to product-market fit and Series A and beyond. We are truly grateful for your support. First check to Series A?—?congrats

Stealth 79

Stealth Advisory Board Cloud Virginia 79

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

Matt was the co-founder/CEO of Return Path. The founders of each company talked and, in between efforts to decimate the other, agreed it might be worth merging to survive. He co-founded it in partnership with High Alpha (we are LPs) and SVB. I’ve been working with Matt since 2000. Fred Wilson was his lead investor.

Fractional CTO 70

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 70

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 these are “gross” revenue numbers.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Duct Tape Marketing

AUGUST 23, 2023

He is the co-founder of Boast.ai, where he leveraged the Community-Led Growth model to bootstrap the company. He is also the co-founder of Traction, a community empowering over 100k innovators through connections, content, and capital. He is the co-founder of Boast.ai This is John Jansen.

Community 54

Community Kuwait Cofounder Bootstrapping 54

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

Interviewing them will provide you with their wants and needs from a messaging perspective and uncover topic ideas and distribution channels. Much like your audience analysis report, it will ensure everyone involved in the planning, production, and distribution process is aligned. Well-defined goals and objectives.

Audience 127

Audience Non-Compete Distribution Channel 127

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

Clavier began his presentation at the beginning of a company's lifecycle, asking how many co-founders a startup ought to have. He says that one is too lonely, two is good and three is a great number if they can combine their skills to cover design, development and distribution. Are all co-founders equal, Clavier asked?

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2021

Every business needs marketing, distribution, a positive revenue model and intellectual property to survive. Another great learning opportunity and win-win deal is to co-founder a new high-tech startup team. You have proven that you can create an innovative product, but creating a business is a whole new challenge.

Intellectual Property 328

Intellectual Property Matching Business Model Cofounder 328

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

The founders were very sympathetic; a man, laid off from his job, and his very pregnant wife, who sold their house and investing $150k into the business and are working hard to make a go of it. At this point, the very pregnant cofounder was weeping. He had been at it for 6 months and had no sales or distribution lined up yet.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 25, 2023

Growing Your Audience (And Your Revenue) With A Book written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Matt Briel In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast , I interview Matt Briel. Questions I ask Matt Briel: [1:29] Could you tell us about the origin story of Lulu and how did it come to be? [2:25]

Audience 88

Audience Revenue Distribution Differentiation 88

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 9, 2012

From Lean Startup Machine , Lean LA and San Diego Tech Founders , to countless speeches and workshops, I have seen the impact that their leadership has had first hand. The problem is when you’re chasing revenue; any and all customers will seem like the right customer. Not an online clothing catalog, mind you, but a clothing company.

Entrepreneur 167

Entrepreneur Lean Southern California San Diego 167

Transformify

APRIL 21, 2017

I spoke with Toptal Co-founder and CEO Taso Du Val to find out more about how Toptal got started and his predictions for the future of the talent economy. We have arguably the largest distributed workforce in the world. How did you come up with the idea for Toptal? Where are you located? Why have you been successful?

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Cofounder 40

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. .

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 29, 2012

The company was started six weeks ago, had no sales and no retail distribution yet. The founder, Shelton Wilder (in the middle below), sought to raise $60,000 for 20% of the company to build inventory. Revenue or distribution can both be evidence that, in the Bear and the Rat’s case, the dogs literally are eating the dogfood.

Pre-Money Valuation 97

Pre-Money Valuation Offshore Valuation Cofounder 97

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

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Then, about two weeks before launch, I distributed a survey to those 256 partners. But when I ran the numbers, the revenue from just the first three months from the 150 who were interested in premium would cover the investment and more. It wasn’t a scalable solution, but it was a start. 60 percent of respondents chose premium!

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 1, 2011

Chris McCann is the co-founder of StartupDigest , the members-only guide to the tech startup world. Since most companies have little to no revenue, who else has already invested in the deal is heavily weighted to prove value. Follow McCann on Twitter @Mccannatron. Roberts also takes issue with the emphasis on ?social

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Due Diligence Cofounder Startup 123

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Companies horde cash and squeeze the most revenue and margin from the money they use. For example, Coke added snack foods, which could be distributed through its existing distribution channels. If they don’t, then the management team has simply become caretakers of the founders’ legacy. This never ends well.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

Maker announced it has raised $62 million this year, acquired an amazing off-YouTube distribution network and grown its business in monetary terms by almost 300% year-over-year off of an already large base. but not that this justifies take a 45% revenue share. This revenue share comes after the YouTube split.

Networking 366

Networking Media Distribution Video 366

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 4, 2023

Joe Flanagan, Founder, 90s Fashion World No, Too Many Lenders While the idea of sourcing capital from multiple smaller sources is an enticing one, the reality is far less pleasant. Inbar Madar , Founder and Business Consultant, M.I. It can serve as a centralized hub for distributing all of your most important information.

Startup 141

Startup Campaign Cofounder Venture Capital 141

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? All things being equal, of course, you’d rather have more revenue rather than less. And yet revenue alone is not a sufficient goal. More on that in a moment.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167