ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

If you’re running a business without products currently deployed, it can be difficult to negotiate with investors in good faith. How can either of you confidently give a valuation of a business that doesn’t make money? Usually, a product they can see, use, or touch will not be enough. More Leverage.

Startup 130

Startup Revenue Cofounder Angel Investor 130

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table. Not FU money, but “feed the family&# money. I raised $500k in seed money to start the company.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

Many very successful, non-technology companies have also been products of venture capital, including Home Depot, Starbucks, and Staples. The reality today is that capital is more available than ever and entrepreneurs have become more sophisticated, so founders are looking for more than just cash from their venture backers.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

So for this first post, here’s the best advice I can give you: join an awesome founding team and get your product out the door ASAP. 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. I need money for the servers. No raising money.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

If you’re running a business without products currently deployed, it can be difficult to negotiate with investors in good faith. How can either of you confidently give a valuation of a business that doesn’t make money? Usually, a product they can see, use, or touch will not be enough. More Leverage.

Startup 78

Startup Revenue Cofounder Angel Investor 78

Up and Running

MAY 12, 2015

Drawing on advice from our own Tim Berry, founder of Palo Alto Software and Josh Cochrane, our VP of Product Development, I’ve broken down a few of the different options for entrepreneurs looking for feedback on their pitch. The three who agreed to do it had some semblance of a relationship with the founders beforehand.

Angel Investor 60

Angel Investor Software Review Technical Cofounder Due Diligence 60

cdixon.org

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll gauge people’s excitement level for the product and for various features. You are building awareness around your product and, presumably, persuading others of its value. Finding cofounders is a biggy, and because 99.9%

Stealth 68

Stealth Startup NDA Cofounder 68

Feld Thoughts

JULY 14, 2015

A company raises $1m of seed money from angels in a convertible note with a $6m cap. Assuming equity is raised at or above that cap, the total dilution, before the new money, is 16.6% (equivalent to an equity financing of $1m at a $6m post money valuation. The product gets a lot better. Here’s the scenario.

Recapitalization 70

Recapitalization Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Angel Investor 70

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

He and his co-founder were both PhD’s in applied math who believe they can make some serious inroads on next generation search. We thought we’d take our plan and go raise seed money. We can’t raise money knowing our plan is wrong.”. asked the founder who had spent the time crafting the perfect plan. “On

Business Model 328

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 328

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

And since a startup thatsucceeds ordinarily makes its founders rich, that implies gettingrich is doable too. A lot ofwould-be startup founders think the key to the whole process is theinitial idea, and from that point all you have to do is execute.Venture capitalists know better. Ideally you want between two and four founders.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 28, 2014

This week, we present legendary angel investor Ron Conway (commonly referred to as the “ Godfather of Silicon Valley ”) and Marc Andreessen , a brilliant entrepreneur and co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Is this person rifle-focused and obsessed by the product?’” –Ron Conway (at 1:17).

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Cofounder Silicon Valley Venture Capital 67

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

Chris Dixon provided some commentary on Twitter that he believes I missed “the most important point about fund size.&# He’s specifically referring to his point of view that entrepreneurs shouldn’t take seed money from “big VC’s&# (he defines them as > $100 million). You raised angel money.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

He is also the founder of Hallspot , a new social networking site exclusively for college students that has raised hundreds of thousands in seed money and will launch on September 27 at Thorne’s alma mater, where more than 6,000 students have pre-registered for the service. Haha, quite a few. 34 is a lot!

Social Network 82

Social Network Oregon Programming Cofounder 82

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

Myth #2: You need a lot of money to start. Businesses do require some capital, but this doesn’t mean that every startup has to raise millions of dollars in seed money. David Rubenstein , co-founder and CEO of private investment firm The Carlyle Group, agrees that taking a risk pays off in the end. So are the ants.

Washington 48

Washington Incubator Cofounder Angel Investor 48

pandodaily.com

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

“I wouldn’t expect anyone except seed investors to complain about it,” Graham says. “Founders don’t think their problems are due to trends. And in fact, overall trends are a second-order effect for founders.” Sarah Lacy is the founder and editor-in-chief of PandoDaily. Sarah Lacy.

Technical Review 93

Technical Review Silicon Valley Incubator Syria 93

crowdSPRING Blog

APRIL 23, 2018

Many successful products and services share the origin story of “I needed something like this, so I built it.”. A challenge that some entrepreneurs don’t consider is that innovative, never-before-seen products and services often stand alone. This means that products in this category need to launch with a robust marketing plan.

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Startup Seattle Social Media 69

www.paulgraham.com

AUGUST 1, 2008

In the last batch of startups we funded, we had several founders who said theyd thought of applying before, but werent sure and got jobs instead. In essense, let the market design the product. This is a problem for founders, because it makes raising money take longer and cost more in legal fees.

Web 54

Web Startup Silicon Valley Technical Review 54

Seeing Both Sides

MARCH 2, 2011

I had the pleasure of teaching a new case at HBS yesterday on foursquare that I co-authored with Professors Tom Eisenmann and Mikolaj Piskorski as part of Tom's new course "Launching Technology Ventures". Minimum viable product: they didn't wait years and years to perfect the product but instead got it out there to solicit user feedback.

API 44

API Valuation Lean Burn Rate 44