Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Ive been talking to the folks at [a very good VC firm] about helping them with a new venture. Take a look and let me know what you think.

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Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer 131

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 28, 2008

We pitch to potential partners, vendors, publishers, conferences, employees, and even lawyers. Most important slide: about the founders In a pitch meeting, try to spend as much time as possible talking about the key questions for your pitch. is it a revolutionary and novel idea? is this team the one to back? who is the customer?

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 128

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read. But be philosophically consistent: periodically take the time to question your own expertise and that of your friends, partners and investors. Make the effort to test your assumptions.

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Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 12, 2008

You might get a bunch of inbound emails from other press and partners, and all of these things can contribute to a feeling that you’re on your way to getting tons of traffic. It’s easy to overestimate the impact of this kind of traffic because it just feels good to have your name and company featured. It strokes your ego.

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Audience San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean 119

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 30, 2009

I thought Id share a little bit of that, too: I’ve been interested in different approaches to software development going back to 1987 when – in my first company Feld Technologies – my partner Dave Jilk and I started talking about “semi-custom software development&# (way ahead of its time).

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Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 68

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 8, 2009

That’s because many of our reports feed us vanity metrics: numbers that make us look good but don’t really help make decisions. Yet even among those who have access to good actionable metrics, I’ve noticed a phenomenon that prevents taking maximum advantage of data. Too much of this data is non- actionable.

San Francisco 84

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 84

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

As a result, the companies get a lot of exposure to VCs, investors, and partners in larger, more traditional startup hubs. Inspiring ideas: real-time biz metrics; safe continuous deployment; A/B split testing. And they expose the startups to a vast network of mentors, none of whom get paid for their involvement.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Lean 113

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 22, 2012

Guest author Arie Abecassis is co-founder of AppStori, a crowdfunding startup for entrepreneurs of mobile apps, and a Venture Partner at DreamIt Ventures. But those metrics don't tell the whole story. Startup Exits Are Great, but There Are Other Positive Outcomes.

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Startup Portfolio Metrics Bootstrapping 133

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 27, 2009

This will be an in-depth discussion with a handful of entrepreneurs and founders that have been pre-selected. Herein lies the reason my partner and I started Dillotronics - as well as the reason your take on the matter resonated so well here. Thanks for an enjoyable evening. June 3, 2009 8:16 PM Tom Gimbel said.

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Lean Austin San Francisco Continuous Deployment 60

Austin Startup

AUGUST 30, 2018

So while the number of dollars pouring into Austin may be increasing, that metric is only favorable to businesses that warrant those sized-rounds. And second, a more mature company is better positioned for an acquisition or an IPO, giving the investors an “end in sight.”

Austin 48

Austin Early Stage San Francisco Later Stage 48

David Teten

JANUARY 28, 2013

The good news for Techcrunch readers: Every major study conducted to date has placed angel investors’ IRR between 18 and 38 percent, as summarized by my Partner John Frankel and Professor Robert Wiltbank in prior Techcrunch articles. Only one metric showed statistical differences between these deals and others.

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IRR Angel Investor Angel Groups Cofounder 114

Rob Go

APRIL 13, 2015

We ended the trek chatting with Paul English, the co-founder of Kayak at his venture foundry Blade. Lending Club: IPO Market Cap: $8.4B, Revenue: $98M (2013), Employees: 628 (2014), Rev / Employee: $156K. Lending Club: IPO Market Cap: $8.4B, Revenue: $98M (2013), Employees: 628 (2014), Rev / Employee: $156K.

Technology 28

Technology IPO Boston Cofounder 28

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 12, 2007

Attendees included Blue Nile , Postini , LinkedIn , Lifelock , Wize , Sparter , Zopa , Revver , Wikia , Flock , Vimo , Delivery Agent , Gerson Lehrman Group , Pure Networks , Zensys , Summit , T3Ci , Endeca and Nominum - a wide spectrum of companies, both in terms of stage (very early to pre-IPO) and sectors (consumer internet, software, chipsets.).

Software Review 48

Software Review SEM Marketing Las Vegas 48

Ben's Blog

AUGUST 17, 2020

When speaking with founders and private growth investors, we hear countless references to “multiples paid” on current or near-term revenue; both obsess over this because a higher multiple translates to a higher valuation. A multiple is a company value divided by a metric. But Wall Street expects Incredible Software Co.

Valuation 36

Valuation Balance Sheet Cofounder Forecast 36

David Teten

MAY 16, 2011

He began his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Geleerd also co-managed the IPO of Manufactured Home Communities, LLC, now Equity LifeStyle Properties, LLC which owns and operates the highest quality portfolio of resort communities in the United States. in Economics from Columbia University.

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Naming Government Intellectual Property LLC 122

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

For more page-turning corporate drama, including the feud between Intermix co-founders and UCLA college buddies Brett Brewer and Brad Greenspan, Nasdaq delisting, proxy contest and lawsuits by Greenspan after he was fired as CEO, see Stealing MySpace by WSJ reporter Julia Angwin. MySpace became its own company, MySpace, Inc.,

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Austin Startup

MARCH 2, 2019

Speak with potential customers, speak with industry experts, speak with potential partners?—?validate The first post was sent to me by Josh McClure, the co-founder and CEO of Real Massive, who I first referenced in my Lucky7 post about Lola Savannah. validate your idea while you also use your own judgment about market timing.

Advisory Board 51

Advisory Board Cofounder Greece Bootstrapping 51

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 1, 2009

As for a topic Im particularly interested in, Id be curious about partnerships: the type of formal or informal relationships one tech co has with another in terms of either cross marketing or integrating each others products. I question what numbers I would need to be considered respectable and/or worth a potential partners time.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 60

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Establish credibility with potential partners. You need to combine your product with others, and this requires partners like OEMs or system integrators. A marketing launch can help you get in the door with those partners, if youre having trouble getting their attention. Founders push for it.

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San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

× At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. In a single year, the classic general partner in a venture firm is exposed to around 5,000 pitches; decides to look more closely at 600 to 800 of them; and ends up doing between 0 and 2 deals. What will that partner tell their partners?

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2020

I've known Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Community at Airbnb for a long time. This was supposed to be Airbnb's biggest year by many measures, including its IPO, which was one of the most anticipated since the 2008 financial crisis. People, not just metrics. Your customers and your investors like partners?

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Silicon Valley Hosting Cofounder Employee 60

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 7, 2010

At least, not in the traditional sense of trying to squeeze every tenth of a point out of a conversion metric or landing page. Even if it shows improvement in some micro metric, does that invalidate the overall design? That was evident in the metrics and in the in-person usability tests. No one feature is to blame.

San Francisco 154

San Francisco Lean Metrics Design 154

ConversionXL

JUNE 2, 2022

Fullfunnel co-founder Andrei Zinkevich says, “ABM is not that complicated, and it’s also oversimplified.”. iRidium narrowed their audience into five segments: Best customers; Members of the target account buying community; Thought leaders ; Partners; Media and industry publications. Results from Snowflake’s ABM efforts post-IPO.

Marketing 105

Marketing Campaign Artificial Inteligence Sales Cycle 105

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

While many travel industry leaders chose to “go dark,” as Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky put it , while they decided how to navigate next steps, Chesky took a different approach: He got candid. Greylock Partners · Brian Chesky | People-First Capitalism. So we have to think of ourselves as partners.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 69

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 6, 2018

My talk was about the 7 lessons I’ve learned on the journey from founder to CEO. where I am now a Venture Partner?—?in First Round has been an incredible partner in our journey from startup to public company. I started off my talk emphasizing that the journey matters most in your transformation from founder to CEO.

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Founder Cofounder Software Review San Francisco 51

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

A great product enables customers, developers, partners, and even competitors to exchange their unique currencies in combinations that lead to financial success for the company that organizes them. Startup founders need to use their own judgment to ask: which is the riskiest assumption underlying my business plan?

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 6, 2008

For example, we simply cannot make the changes we need because weve already promised something to partners. If you ever have the opportunity to remove a feature without impacting the customer experience or business metrics - do it. For this person, theres always some reason why what were learning about customers cant help. Were doomed!

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Agile 128

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

While many travel industry leaders chose to “go dark,” as Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky put it , while they decided how to navigate next steps, Chesky took a different approach: He got candid. Greylock Partners · Brian Chesky | People-First Capitalism. So we have to think of ourselves as partners.

Silicon Valley 36

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 36

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was hanging out the other day with my buddy Jody Sherman, founder & CEO of EcoMom. Co-founded a company in the private jet business – sold to Virgin America. I had also expressed my concern for SproutBaby’s lack of independence from their partner with Jody. Through this process he raised $2 million.

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Valuation Deal Flow Lead Investor Cofounder 292

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 7, 2008

It exists to serve the needs of customers, and it does this by offering its capabilities to other functions in the company, and partnering with them. Startup Visa update ► February (5) Kiwi lean startup + Australia next Why diversity matters (the meritocracy business) Beware of Vanity Metrics (for Harvard Business Rev.

Software Review 94

Software Review Technical Review Part-Time VPE San Francisco 94

Scalable Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

And so the other reason that I am very interested in delving deep into this space is that it seems like IPOs like Workday, Palo Alto Networks are sort of — they have metrics and analytics that Wall Street understands, more so than a Facebook; like “We are going to sell X number of this in the next year.” Netscape Navigator…

Software Review 22

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Stock 22

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 4, 2021

It was one of the year's most successful IPOs so far, and has been heralded as a "landmark moment" for cryptocurrency's entrance into mainstream investing. Just before the IPO, I had a far-reaching conversation with co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong as he approached this major milestone for the company he co-founded back in 2012.

IPO 113

IPO Cofounder Technical Review Government 113

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2009

– Eric Ries In April of 2009 my partner and I had an idea for a web app, a B2C platform that we are selling as SaaS [software-as-a-service]. Rich Collins , founder of the Lean Startup Circle , responded to the poster with some Q&A. Rich Collins , founder of the Lean Startup Circle , responded to the poster with some Q&A.

San Francisco 144

San Francisco Customer Wiki Lean 144

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 4, 2008

2007 was a turning point for the SaaS industry with the successful IPOs of NetSuite, SuccessFactors, DemandTec, Salary.com, Aprimo and Constant Contact. The 23rd started with a quick overview of the achievement of our Software and SaaS portfolio in 2007 presented by Byron Deeter, the co-head of our West Coast SaaS practice.

Software Review 48

Software Review South Korea IPO Portfolio 48

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2010

Sure, when entrepreneurs create startups that grow up into mature companies, they become part of an established industry, with its own ecosystem, norms, partners and best practices. Re-reading it recently, I was struck by an idea that I dont think is too widespread yet: that entrepreneurship is an industry. Teaching at Berkeley (and beyond).

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 122

Austin Startup

MAY 29, 2019

But Bazaarvoice actually has a working network effect that benefits all participants: retailers, brands that sell through those retailers, consumers that shop at those brands and retailers, and Bazaarvoice and some of its partners. I wrote about this in detail in my first annual shareholders letter after Bazaarvoice became a public company.

Networking 48

Networking Fractional CTO CTO Hire B2C 48

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. Startup Metrics for Pirates â?? SaaS Metrics Tutorial â?? Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet â?? Founder Equity Issues.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53