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 59

Founder Vesting Vesting Cap Table Founder 59

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Airbnb founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia had difficulty securing funding, so they launched a mini project to build some funds and catch investors' attention. Using this capital , the founders launched and enjoyed exponential growth in their first year, with 10K users and thousands of listings. Photo Credit: Jack Underwood.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Southern California South Africa 98

The Next Web

DECEMBER 12, 2013

But now that we’ve entered a mobile, social era, commerce companies have to find engaging ways to keep customers involved and coming back to get the most bang for their buck,” says Manish Chandra , founder and CEO of Poshmark. “So So many commerce startups get it wrong – focusing on customers before community.”.

Mobile 136

Mobile Silicon Valley Viral Technical Review 136

ConversionXL

APRIL 4, 2017

Virality and Referral. Virality is the key lever of many of the most famous growth examples: Dropbox, Uber, Facebook, Hotmail. If, for every customer you acquire, you can acquire 1-10 more with viral loops , you can spend a lot more on acquiring that first customer, right? Predictable Revenue. Unbounce blog.

Channel 118

Channel Marketing Viral SEO 118

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

is an elegant way to model any service-oriented business: Acquisition Activation Retention Referral Revenue We used a very similar scheme at IMVU, although we werent lucky enough to have started with this framework, and so had to derive a lot of it ourselves via trial and error. But its not really viral growth, even when its exponential.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2007

Part of the discussion around this is the talk about the founder who only got $83M (as compared to $3xxM for the other founders) who bailed out early and choose to go back to school. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? The poor guy. What a bad $200M decision.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 18, 2023

He i s a renowned digital marketing expert, digital marketing consultant, speaker, and co-author of Digital Marketing for Dummies. He’s the Founder of theCLIKK, an email newsletter about digital marketing. He is a digital marketing consultant, speaker and co-author of Digital Marketing for Dummies. This is John Jantsch.

ChatGPT 90

ChatGPT Advertising Email Viral 90

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

I talked to Adam Hempenstall, founder and CEO at BetterProposals , who has been using freemium for three years for his SaaS product: “Honestly, I think it was a mistake. You’re not going to go viral Dropbox style, so having a freemium model doesn’t really work. Let’s face it—everyone likes free stuff. Youtube ads. $1

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 3, 2020

by Daniel Quindemil, Founder of I AM Builders. Viral Marketing. According to Google, viral marketing is a “method of marketing where consumers are encouraged to share information about a company’s goods or services via the Internet.”. Everyone is always looking for the next big thing. How do you pull that off? Go execute!

Sales 165

Sales Marketing Social Media Viral 165

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

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Hugo Woodhead is the founder of Pilcro , which sells brand management software. Kim and his co-founder, Theo Lee, did the formal market research—including a thorough investigation of Kickstarter. American Biophysics, which had $70 million in annual revenue, was later sold to Woodstream for just $6 million. His solution?

Product 110

Product Campaign Acquisition Social Media 110

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

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. Newsflash – if you had $75k revenue / month you’d have 8 months cash left in stead of 4. I see this weekly. million and has 4 months cash left. Fair point.

Burn Rate 412

Burn Rate Dilution Revenue Valuation 412

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. A campaign should only be used if your product has a “viral” quality to it. Inbar Madar , Founder and Business Consultant, M.I.

Startup 141

Startup Campaign Cofounder Venture Capital 141

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. But keep in mind at this point Reid’s a first-time CEO.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Up and Running

AUGUST 2, 2017

As the founder of a publishing company focused specifically on serving entrepreneurs, I see the same problem over and over: When a business owner decides they want to write a book (or do anything else, for that matter), their goal is to be the best. How does a book get you attention?

Viral 88

Viral Video Metrics Non-Compete 88

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

Shares are often considered a ‘vanity metric’ in the sense they don’t always directly help a business generate more revenue. The more shares a piece of content gets, the higher the chance of it ‘going viral. – Joel Klettke, Founder, CaseStudyBuddy. Amy Balliett, Founder, Killer Visual Communications.

SEO 163

SEO Metrics Social Media Audience 163

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

All startups, including non-profits, need revenue to thrive, such as such as from subscriptions, retail, online, licensing, or services. They want to see revenue to share in the return. Here I recommend a 5-year projection of revenues, expenses, and funding requirements. Provide specifics on the customer business model.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 19, 2012

Avoid the 50/50 co-founder model – here’s why – [link]. SaaS products aren’t viral – [link]. Internet Ad Revenues Rise to Historic $17 Billion in First Half 2012, Up 14% Over Half-Year 2011, According to IAB – [link]. Then Act | crowdSPRING Blog - [link]. Want to get a job at a startup?

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Alistair and Ben, co-authors of the book Lean Analytics, will help you sort it out in our next webcast, Lean Analytics for Non-tech Companies. In the Udemy course, Alistair and Ben expand these basics into a description of how to create empathy, stickiness, virality, revenue, and scale. Alistair: There are plenty.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

abovethecrowd.com

OCTOBER 17, 2013

The company, which the founder cleverly named “Stitch Fix,” had a remarkably unique offering compared to other women’s fashion experiences. Awareness of the service was clearly spreading virally through word of mouth. Customers are first asked to fill out an in depth profile to help identify their size, style, and preferences.

eCommerce 62

eCommerce Technical Review North America San Francisco 62

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

TokyoYuki Question: What about giving an added incentive to potential developers, in exchange for part of up-front fees, a percentage of the revenue generated from the app/program? View More » Business The 12 Days of Holiday Revenue Maximi. MapQuest Founder on the Past, Present. Saitek Executive.

Software Developers 79

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Software 79

mashable.com

OCTOBER 27, 2010

The site is run by Mercy Corps , which intends to help “small businesses grow faster, generate more revenue, and employ more people.&# I've also recently created a private email discussion list for technology company founders at FounderList.com to network, share, and learn from each other. What will you find here?

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Social Media Technical Review Social Network 94

Up and Running

AUGUST 1, 2017

What a lot of startup founders don’t realize is that when you take on VC funding, you also take on business partners. In 2005, Claus Moseholm co-founded GoViral, a Danish company which specializes in harnessing the internet to promote advertisers’ videos and make them go viral. Otherwise, start looking for funding elsewhere.

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Cofounder Finance Security 113

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

Last night 500 Startups co-hosted an event called Inbox Love on the Google campus that brought together a number of entrepreneurs and companies who are working in the email space. Marashi is the co-founder and former CEO of Xoopit, an email indexing service that was acquired by Yahoo last year. They want to fund businesses.

Email 122

Email Startup Cofounder Viral 122

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 23, 2011

Being an entrepreneur isn’t exactly rocket science, but in the case BlogFrog ‘s co-founder Rustin Banks, he literally is one. “It forced us to get laser-focused and drive customer value and revenue as quickly as we could,&# he remembers. There was also less seed investment available.

Community 162

Community United States Colorado Social Media 162

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Over breakfast he got me up to date on his life since school (two non-CEO roles in startups,) but he wanted to talk about his third startup – the one he and two co-founders had started. We’re at 70 people, and we’ll do $40 million in revenue this year and should get to cash flow breakeven this quarter. ”

Startup 120

Startup Lean Venture Capital Advisory Board 120

VC Cafe

JULY 27, 2017

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, podcast industry ad revenue will reach $220 million in 2017, up 85 percent from 2016’s $119 million ( source ). My own fascination with podcasts began with a warm recommendation from Pablo (founder of Antidote ). Serial exploded in popularity and spread virally. itunes.apple.com.

Audio 109

Audio Silicon Valley Curation Cofounder 109

thebarefootvc

DECEMBER 16, 2011

The viral nature of social media no doubt aided this growth, as did improvements in the online shopping experience. Kiva co-founder Jessica Jackley’s latest venture Profounder is one platform that could power these transactions.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review India Mobile Hockey Stick 110

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

Google realized that being the way to find the world’s information was a blitzscalable market, thanks to the network effects in its AdWords revenue engine. Paul’s track record as a serial entrepreneur was far more impressive than either Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick or Lyft co-founder Logan Green.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. Mike Arsenault and his two co-founders—all with technical backgrounds—built their MVP while working full time for other SaaS companies. million in revenue a year. . Qualified.io

Sweat Equity 78

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 78

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

we had no revenue. As a result, we knew that our pitch would need to steer into investors’ biggest concern: the lack of revenue. We are the leader in the professional domain with viral growth. Instead, our strategy was to steer immediately into the revenue question because that was the top concern of investors in 2004.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Before StartEngine, Howard co-founded Activision and founded Acclaim Games. . Weaknesses inside the founder team kill startups. The truth is, sometimes you need to replace your co-founders and start over. Usually it’s because the founders were doing exactly what they needed to do to raise money.

Metrics 136

Metrics Cofounder Cram Down Liquidity Event 136

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 1, 2016

Our goal was to create a viral environment where personal networks and recommendations helped drive online store purchases. My co-founders and I started eVestment for two primary reasons. We asked ourselves – How can social media and commerce exist in harmony? Thanks to Jess Waldeck, Maven Xchange. #10

Entrepreneur 48

Entrepreneur Non-Compete LLC Social Media 48

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. Mike Arsenault and his two co-founders—all with technical backgrounds—built their MVP while working full time for other SaaS companies. million in revenue a year. . Qualified.io

Sweat Equity 50

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 50

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 14, 2011

Another issue I have come across is securing a co-founder that is both technical and excited about marketing. I think the craziest story comes from a serious conversation I had recently, with my team, about me running on Wrigley Field in a panda suit to help QRazy Panda go viral. What was your biggest learning curve/experience?

Small Business 92

Small Business SMS Bootstrapping Viral 92

VC Cafe

JULY 27, 2017

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, podcast industry ad revenue will reach $220 million in 2017, up 85 percent from 2016’s $119 million ( source ). My own fascination with podcasts began with a warm recommendation from Pablo (founder of Antidote ). Serial exploded in popularity and spread virally. itunes.apple.com.

Audio 60

Audio Curation Silicon Valley Media 60

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. Founders however are asked to take low salaries and never really get back the time they worked for free.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329