The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Arif Bhalwani is the co-founder and CEO of Third Eye Capital (TEC) in Toronto, Canada. As an investor, these experiences have honed my ability to see beyond spreadsheets and valuations, to the core of what makes businesses thrive: the people, the vision, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. The firm has made more than $4.5

Technical Review 130

Technical Review Due Diligence Bankruptcy Intellectual Property 130

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As the idea went from innovating on software & systems to launching a company to rolling it out in the field brought on Rahul Gandhi as his co-founder to physically launch the company. An example of the systems companies build are pricing & revenue management tools to best help to optimize yield.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

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

Steve Blank

MARCH 12, 2014

We realized that past K-12 Entrepreneurial classes taught students “the lemonade stand” version of how to start a company: 1) come up with an idea, 2) execute the idea, 3) do the accounting (revenue, costs, etc.). We wanted to teach our students how to think like entrepreneurs not accountants. That’s when everything changed.

Lean 334

Lean Customer Development Startup Silicon Valley 334

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Most founders bootstrap product development.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Berkonomics

JANUARY 28, 2021

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up pre-money valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Why fight about valuation, or disappoint the founder at the outset?

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 62

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

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins. That includes us.

Early Stage 108

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 108

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. They won a design award at a trade show, but have no revenue and no orders.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 7, 2015

Companies were being bought (and valued) at 10x forward revenue only to be valued at between 0.5x revenue several years later. We were bought for a more reasonable 1x revenue (and about 4x pre-tax income) when the value of the AmeriData stock, options, and cash we took out were factored in. I’d argue the 0.5x

Stock Options 70

Stock Options Cofounder Revenue Hosting 70

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 29, 2012

The company sought to raise $125,000 for 25% of the comapny, implying a $375,000 pre money valuation. Unsurprisingly, all the sharks passed, based on market size and valuation expectations. The founder, Shelton Wilder (in the middle below), sought to raise $60,000 for 20% of the company to build inventory.

Pre-Money Valuation 97

Pre-Money Valuation Offshore Valuation Cofounder 97

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

Andrew Krowne and I recently co-wrote an article in Tech Crunch , Why SAFE Notes Are Not Safe for Entrepreneurs. This is a fundamental issue that does, indeed, boil down to understanding the post-money valuation of a company. This is very common when the company is still in its infancy and the valuation goalposts remain distant.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Funding challenges and other issues founders face in the early days of starting up were the focus of interviews with the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern). Will Zell , co-founder and CEO of Nikola Labs wireless power company.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Ohio Columbus Entrepreneur 120

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Amanda is the Co-founder at Barney an M&A firm that specializes in the digital marketing space. 17:49] Have you ever experienced a transaction where a Founder sold the company to their existing team? [18:35] She's the co-founder at Barney, an M & A firm that specializes in the digital marketing space.

Entrepreneur 80

Entrepreneur Technical Review Cofounder Valuation 80

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

How else can you explain this headline matching a story about a professional social network still trying to explore revenues raising $17mm on an $80mm valuation? Did I mention it only took the founder a month? venture capitalists are now asking tougher questions about start-ups' revenue and profits.". Is this an opinion?

Venture Capital 114

Venture Capital Marketing Term Sheet Software Review 114

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

What is it, and how should founders think about it? note: We’d like to be extra clear that founders should not take on venture debt if they don’t have 100% visibility into repaying the loan, as banks that need to recoup their loan my force the company or you as the guarantor into liquidation or bankruptcy. Business model?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). Yes… he was a very successful PayPal exec and previously co-founder & VP Product of SocialNet. It was a pretty good valuation for the time. It was a $4.7M

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

So even if my own mother asked me to meet with you, and you were pitching me a biotech opportunity for a $10 million investment at a $90 million valuation, I might take the meeting, but it wouldn’t be particularly useful for either of us. Now comes the really tricky part: getting me to review all that stuff you just neatly uploaded.

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm.

Founder 252

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 252

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

I had lunch last week with Tom, the CEO of a startup that was quickly becoming a large company – last year’s revenue was $40M, this year likely to be $80M maybe even $100 million in ad revenue. to drive traffic to their site, which they then turned into ad revenue.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

Berkonomics

JULY 10, 2014

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up premoney valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Why fight about valuation, or disappoint the founder at the outset?

Valuation 71

Valuation Cofounder Founder Revenue 71

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Generating solid revenue streams early on will make many of the fundraising problems much easier to handle later on. 4 Reasons to Focus on Revenue Before Fundraising. Along those same lines, revenue also makes investor negotiations much easier to navigate. More Independence. More Leverage. More Choice.

Startup 130

Startup Revenue Cofounder Angel Investor 130

VC Cafe

JULY 27, 2021

The According to Alon Grinshpoon, co-founder and CEO of EchoAR: “3D content is now everywhere. Alban Denoyel , Sketchfab’s co-founder and CEO. According to the Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2021–2025 report by PWC, Worldwide VR content revenue surged 31.7% Alon Grinshpoon, EchoAR.

Cofounder 183

Cofounder Mobile Revenue Cloud 183

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Companies horde cash and squeeze the most revenue and margin from the money they use. Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter. The companies that can show “startup-like” growth rates of 50% plus per year will get stratospheric market valuations. This never ends well.

Private Equity 326

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 326

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

As a testament to the growing power of “the creator economy,” visual content creation app development startup Lightricks has secured an impressive $130 million investment round, at a valuation of $1.8 Audiences constantly consume information through the different content channels daily. Platform and Scaling Vision.

Private Equity 140

Private Equity Developer Venture Capital Merger 140

Steve Blank

MAY 13, 2010

But startups can shoot themselves in the foot when founders use consultants at the wrong time or in the wrong way. After a bit more discussion, I discovered the “problem in getting traction” meant revenue was zero. Customer Development is designed so that you the founder(s) gather first hand experience about customer and market needs.

Founder 206

Founder Cofounder Business Model Customer Development 206

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 5, 2019

by Dan Abatte, co-founder of 81-c. Are you fresh out of Y Combinator with $1 million in funding at a $10 million valuation? Call me old school, but I believe in metrics like growth, revenue, and profit. Making it” is relative. In my 20+ years of entrepreneurship, I’ve seen a big change in how success is defined.

Valuation 162

Valuation Cofounder Metrics SEC 162

Version One Ventures

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Over the last few years, the start-up market has focused almost exclusively on hyper-growth, quick valuation increases, raising large amounts of capital, and trying to take companies public in a premature way (SPACs). in revenue in 2022 for Jobber’s customers. These jobs resulted in over $13 billion USD (!!!)

Cofounder 95

Cofounder Portfolio Valuation Revenue 95

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

It goes like this, “If your next round investor can see how fast you’re scaling then you can raise money based on your user traction and your valuation can hit the sky. The company with no revenue and a $150k burn rate that raised $2.5 I often wonder why they didn’t find a way to bring in some revenue to cover costs.

Burn Rate 412

Burn Rate Dilution Revenue Valuation 412

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

Jack Tankersley, a long time mentor of mine, co-founder of Centennial Funds, and co-founder of Meritage Funds, wrote me a very long response. Many people used it as justification for stuff and there were very few critical responses that dug deeper on the history. This isn’t correct either. A good example is Symantec.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

The past year was a wild ride for startups and founders, giving a whole new meaning to the ”rollercoaster” aspect of being an entrepreneur. Patrick Collison , self-made billionaire founder of Stripe. Bill Gates , founder of Microsoft. ValuatIon should be a function of value, not ego. Our goals, their goals.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 24, 2011

Our co-host for the program was TiE Midwest, based in Chicago. Additional work in figuring out the precise go-to-market consumer, academic institution, or enterprise - each is a different business), and consequent business model and pricing model will help enhance the company's valuation. You can register for the next roundtable here.

Illinois 114

Illinois Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Chicago 114

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

We make a point of keeping our records updated in the major data-trackers tracking the VC industry, e.g., CB Insights , Crunchbase , Dow Jones , Mattermark , Palico , Preqin , Pitchbook , and ThomsonReuters , since they are a source of data to LPs and to potential co-investors interested in us. . Pitchbot.vc 3) Originate investments.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

This is a guest post from Rob May , a co-founder and CEO of Backupify , which raised $19.5M Rob,” he said, “no offense, but you aren’t going to get a world class, been-there-done-that CEO into a company with less than $1 million in revenue. Hang out with other founders and CEOs. and sold to Datto in late 2014.

Founder 120

Founder Startup Cofounder Business Model 120

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. … Checking In on Foursquare’s Valuation – [link]. Red All Over: Newspaper Revenues Fall In Q3 – [link].

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Generating solid revenue streams early on will make many of the fundraising problems much easier to handle later on. 4 Reasons to Focus on Revenue Before Fundraising. Along those same lines, revenue also makes investor negotiations much easier to navigate. More Independence. More Leverage. More Choice.

Startup 78

Startup Revenue Cofounder Angel Investor 78

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

For starters let me use “CEO” as a proxy to include her “inner circle” which might mean co-founders or might just mean senior execs of the business. The Mind of the Founder. The mind of a founder is wired differently than most people. The startup CEO was not the original founder.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417