Gust

APRIL 13, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. You may be too independent to be partner material. Level of integrity.

Partner 179

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 179

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

We had nascent revenues, ridiculous cost structures and unrealistic valuations. I learned to avoid unnecessary conferences, avoid non-essential costs and strive for at least a neutral EBITDA if for no other reason than nobody was interested in giving us any more money. Until we weren’t. Nobody cared about our valuations any more.

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2011

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ Ten Steps in Choosing the Right Startup Partner ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. You may be too independent to be partner material.

Partner 240

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 240

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2022

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, costs, and tasks you don’t like. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. All decisions will be made jointly.”

Partner 351

Partner Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup 351

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 18, 2017

by Andrew Durlak, Co-Founder & VP of Operations at Scout RFP. If the entire business isn’t caught up on digital transformation, it makes it difficult (impossible, even) for finance leaders to engage in strategic leadership and optimize revenue opportunities by driving ROI from tech investments. Making the first move.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Finance Software Review Due Diligence 124

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”? While the answers are somewhat semantic, the pre-seed funding round is making a comeback in 2024 startup financing. Not only the bar for seed rounds has gotten higher (as less seed rounds get done) but also the founders prefer to build their company based on milestones.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2010

A week ago I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ How to Select an Ideal Startup Co-Founder ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal business partner. You may be too independent to be partner material. Similar values and goals.

Partner 230

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 230

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 25, 2018

Today, Mark Attanasio gets to flex his full range of expertise and interests as co-founder and Managing Partner of Hillcrest Merchant Partners, a Toronto-based merchant bank focused on early stage and mid market growth companies. One of the advisory areas Hillcrest Merchant Partners works in is electric metals.

Partner 113

Partner Technical Review Management Due Diligence 113

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 11, 2020

by Shaun Djie, Co-Founder & COO of Digix. Amidst the outbreak, governments across the region, such as Singapore have been promoting the use of digital finance as a means to minimise physical contact and stamp the spread of the virus, channelling more monetary support for the growth of e-payments and digital financial solutions.

Asia 290

Asia Technical Review Technology Singapore 290

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2021

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten Founder” problem. Later, when your venture is trying to close on financing, or even going public, that forgotten partner surfaces, demanding their original share.

Cost 363

Cost Non-Compete Accredited Investor Cofounder 363

David Teten

MARCH 5, 2021

All of the 40 companies’ 92 founders were male. based founders, 35 were white* American; four were white immigrant/first generation, from France, Ukraine, Russia and Iran; and four were Indian immigrant/first generation. Of the 19 Western Europe/Israel-based founders, all were white. Of the 43 U.S.-based

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 78

View from Seed

APRIL 14, 2020

VCs are always founder focused no matter the market environment. But in a FOMO world, more investors are willing to take a chance on a founder that they don’t know, but seems to match some of the heuristics of other high quality founders. This gets really challenging if it remains difficult to meet in person or to travel.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Arif Bhalwani is the co-founder and CEO of Third Eye Capital (TEC) in Toronto, Canada. TEC is one of Canada’s largest and most experienced private credit firms, specializing in providing asset-based capital solutions to companies that are underserved or overlooked by traditional sources of financing, primarily banks.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Due Diligence Bankruptcy Intellectual Property 134

David Teten

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Blue Future Partners, a venture capital fund of funds, recently interviewed me on ESG in venture capital. Most of Africa runs on a cash economy, making it much harder to Africans to access credit, low-cost financial transfers, and other basic tools of a modern economy. . Starship was launched by the co-founders of Skype.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Partner Technical Review Cofounder 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

why the hell has seed financing declined so much in the past 3 years?? You might like to think that a bunch of savvy venture capitalists saw a market niche for raising smaller funds or perhaps there was a generational shift where disgruntled junior partners spun out of bigger firms to start their own gigs.

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

What most managers miss is that every month cut from the time it takes to perform such tasks cuts the cost by the value of a month’s worth of fixed overhead or burn. Ignoring the cost of product for a moment to make a point, saving a month’s fixed overhead by making processes more efficient, could easily double profits for the year.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

The Next Web

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Here are their breakdowns of the costs and time investments to create 10 of the world’s hottest startups. This means — assuming you already have a laptop — the cost is almost nothing to build the next Twitter. 1) Twitter. But a good developer could make it quicker.”. 3) Facebook. Others would say one million or a much bigger number.

Cost 168

Cost San Francisco New York City Ruby 168

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2014

It was a company whose product I believed in and whose founder I liked, but a firm lobbed in a term sheet at a price 33% higher than what I had offered using a very light agreement meant for a much earlier stage company. Then, I read about the idiotic comments made by a co-founder of Rap Genius. Perhaps we all should. No, probably not.

Term Sheet 143

Term Sheet Founder Cofounder Software Review 143

View from Seed

OCTOBER 24, 2019

As seed rounds have atomized, it’s not uncommon for founders to raise 3 or even 4 rounds prior to a series A. The reality is that if a founder raised every one of these rounds, and lead investors always got their “target” ownership, the level of dilution would be ridiculous. Founders with limited experience. should be avoided.

Dilution 149

Dilution B2B Burn Rate Early Stage 149

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Does the traditional VC financing model make sense for all companies? 2018 also had the fewest number of angel-led financing rounds since before 2010. John Borchers, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Decathlon Capital, claims to be the largest revenue-based financing investor in the US. Absolutely not.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 20, 2019

by Chris Grey, co-founder and COO of CapLinked. Finance companies increasingly recognize that their people are the most valuable resource and need to be managed more thoughtfully as well as efficiently. Finance companies now consider mobile oriented tech as part of the core work-flow. Vendors cut costs and get paid faster.

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Software Review Private Equity Cofounder 127

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

One of the things that founders have the most angst about is whom they should have on their board and at what stage of the business. Why you should set up a board at the seed round of funding I know these days with SAFE documents and rolling convertible notes many founders prefer not to set up a board early on.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

The objection goes something like this: “yes, I can see rookie founders turning to you for a seed round. But won’t all good founders go to established firms that raise series A’s out of the gate?”. Our response was that this might happen. This is because the market actually has changed.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

As an agenda for each meeting, I suggest: – How can we most add value, in addition to helping with financing? Dan Kozikowski, Partner and Head of Platform, First Mark Capital , said to me, “Firms should match services to the stage-specific needs of companies. I have developed a founder curriculum on my blog. AskAnything.VC

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

We we backed Team Grove’s mission (Kevin sourced the deal and joined the board) and just encouraged the team not to ramp up costs like many contemporary startups because we’re going to play the long game. Yet it can be personal, low-cost and ubiquitous. eliminating herbicides & pesticides. ” Enter Grove.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Software Review Founder Boston 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2019

Image via Pixabay Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. All decisions will be made jointly.”

Partner 177

Partner Sweat Equity Cofounder Equity 177

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 9, 2018

by Miron Lulic, founder and CEO of SuperMoney. However, not all companies have the working capital available to offer in-house financing programs. Partnering with a third-party POS financing platform is an attractive solution but finding a partner with competitive rates and reasonable implementation costs can be a challenge.

Finance 157

Finance Sales Programming Cost 157

View from Seed

MARCH 1, 2016

The same metaphor is true for modern, “legacy” businesses — most businesses that exist today have co-evolved against one another in a careful dance of suppliers, distributors, competitors, and partners. Are you able to achieve pricing 10 times better than incumbents due to unfair cost advantages? Enter the Kudzu. then go do X.

Founder 120

Founder Technical Review Cofounder Non-Compete 120

YoungUpstarts

MAY 27, 2019

by Christopher Grey, co-founder and COO of CapLinked. Often young founders don’t think about basic concepts like unit economics, which is selling something for more than what it costs to make. Inexperienced founders often overestimate their own importance and don’t appreciate the importance of the team they build around them.

Cofounder 170

Cofounder Private Equity Software Review Equity 170

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

by John Vrionis, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. This article highlights their advice on issues ranging from financing to patent trolls: While startups may believe lawyers are too costly, working with one early on avoids potentially serious problems later. ” The Cost of Financing. Incorporation.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 14, 2019

It is estimated that at least 80% of all startups rely on personal funds from their founders for operations, albeit in their formative stages. If you have been self-employed, you probably have had episodes where you cannot clearly differentiate between work and personal finances or time. 1. Savings.

Balance Sheet 128

Balance Sheet Limited Liability Company Bootstrapping Startup 128

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. Executives run the day-to-day so often the board is more involved as a sparring partner at key intervals. That’s true.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2017

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. We both have the same vision.”

Partner 149

Partner Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup 149

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2014

This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest. I quit a very well paid job at Accenture with very little time remaining before making partner and took a risk of having no job security at all. And that’s what differentiates founders and early employees.

Founder 409

Founder Salary Startup Early Stage 409

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2012

Every startup faces a myriad of challenges that are well beyond the scope of any founder, so you need a few guiding lights to illuminate the road ahead. Even more importantly, you should expect these members of your team to be your advocates to angel or VC investors, or even be part of your friends and family financing round.

Advisory Board 239

Advisory Board Technical Review Startup Software Review 239