A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 21, 2017

Revenue multiples, profit multiples, premium over the previous financing — these are metrics used by sellers to help determine a minimum acceptable price. Even for startups, it takes years for a new product to become good enough to demand many millions of dollars in revenue.). Yet mobile advertising revenues were paltry.

Balance Sheet 242

Balance Sheet Vertical Acquisition Revenue 242

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2023

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Valuation 235

Valuation Revenue Viral Retention 235

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The valuations were too high! The company started the year with no revenue and at it’s peak had a run rate well in excessive of $100 million / year. The key is being able to dial back variable costs during these period. There was seasonality, theft, tough unit economics and slowing funding rounds. We are now in Act IV.

South America 250

South America Global New York City Software Review 250

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

We are in a bubble (with so many private $1bn+ valuations). Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. pre-money valuation you certainly would want to exercise your right to continue investing if you had prorata rights. Where are we today? more than 5 years ago?—?and

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

This article will assist you in gaining a fundamental understanding of equity valuation, kinds of equity, and other related topics. The market regards equity as an ownership “share” in a corporation’s income revenue stream. Importance of equity valuation. Select an appropriate valuation method.

Valuation 108

Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

Any place with a fixed cost that relies on foot traffic will come under pressure. Your revenue plans are no longer valid. What’s your monthly cash burn at your new low revenue level? Cut costs to stay alive for 24 months. Payroll costs/other variable costs. Others are cutting their valuations.

South Korea 333

South Korea Salary Business Model China 333

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

The startup industry may be “resetting,” which doesn’t mean a “crash” but rather just a resetting of valuations, timescales, winners/losers, capital sources and the relative emphasis of growth rates vs. burn rates. Pragmatic cost cuts are always possible and often productive. Be realistic on valuation.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Balance Sheet Dilution 150

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5% raised from angels.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

The Startup Magazine

JULY 17, 2022

If a corporation is eligible, claiming research and development tax credits might result in considerable cost savings and these advantages include the following: An increase in the flow of cash. If the certifying organization verifies that your initiative is a research and development project, you are legally entitled to receive financing.

Developer 134

Developer Germany Software Developers Software Development 134

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. After all, growth equals high valuations and loads of venture capital! In revenue terms our first two years of sales were $2.1 Growth, again. And headlines.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

MakeSpace (as he named it) would help you get your excess goods into low-cost warehouses. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer? and we were met with weak demand, slow growth and high costs.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 22, 2023

However, that doesn't mean you should ignore cost or quality. In recent years, eCommerce companies have begun to increase revenue by selling products directly via social media networks. All of these changes should make managing our finances easier and more accessible for everyone. #19- Every year, social media coverage expands.

Artificial Inteligence 122

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Social Media 122

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. It is going to cost a lot of money just to get the initial batch of products to test the market and would definitely require external funding. Incubators and Accelerators.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

As a thumb rule, try to get enough validation so that you can get to at least a $2 million pre-money valuation before raising equity capital. That is debt financing that converts into equity at the Series A valuation once the price for that is set. (I Sub-$2 million pre-money, it is better to bootstrap.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This is the most concrete valuation element, usually called the asset approach.

Valuation 270

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 270

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How should I finance my new venture? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup? The overarching idea, of course, is to reduce the cost of capital while maintaining appropriate flexibility for the venture.  2]   Aligning interests in structure: cost and risk.

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Suppose further that he's going to cost $60k a year in salary and overhead, x 1.5 = $90k total. If the company's valuation is $2 million, $90k is 4.5%. Of course, to be able to use this kind of formula, you will need to be able to determine how much impact the person will have and figure out a valuation.

Early Stage 391

Early Stage Equity CTO Hire Sweat Equity 391

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Both have worked.Google reached $1 billion in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400 billion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit.

Revenue 246

Revenue Entrepreneur Valuation Viral 246

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

I think it’s important for enterprise startups to layer in professional services into your revenue stream. deliver profitable revenue that while on gross margins of 50% vs. software at 85-95% it is still profits to help you cover fixed costs. Control Size of PS Revenue Relative to Software Business. configuration.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

— 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. Typically, this caliber of bankers wouldn’t talk to you unless your company had five profitable quarters of increasing revenue. The founders.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! In addition to FOMO it is partly driven by massive increase in valuations for earlier-stage companies who raised money at bit seed prices but who still have product risk. And for some that means that despite waiting they may see worse valuations in the future than now.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2016

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400B. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Revenue 145

Revenue Valuation Startup Viral 145

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

There are two reasons to raise money: You have a killer idea that is only partially validated, that you think can get to $50M+ of revenue in 5 years with 80%+ gross margins (if margins are lower, you need a lot more revenue)and you need money to get to product-market fit, or. Not all startups need outside investment to grow.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Cloud computing and the open source movements have brought down the costs of starting a company by more than 90%. They need a combination of capital and experience to separate from the rest of the pack – the low cost of starting a business means it is even more vital to become the market leader more quickly. The Exit Problem.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

YoungUpstarts

MAY 14, 2018

Think of financing an acquisition as an exercise with two parts that work in concert: 1) structuring a desired deal with a suitable target and 2) obtaining the funding. Valuation is almost always a priority issue for everyone involved but keep in mind that the structure and terms of the transaction are just as important.

Acquisition 124

Acquisition Finance Raleigh Mezzanine 124

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 20, 2011

They’ve heard rules of thumb like “A growing software company is worth 5 times their trailing 12-months revenue.&# Even narrowing the field as much as feasible, revenue multiples varied between 1.2x The “Multiples&# argument does work well in industries where company’s growth and revenue is highly predictable.

Sales 260

Sales Channel Cofounder Valuation 260

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Bates: Good morning and welcome to our CEO panel, “How to Fine-Tune Your Small Business Finances From Funding to Growth” which I think is the direction that we would all like to be going. I’m here with some really phenomenal CEOs who are going to talk to us today about small business finances from funding to growth.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

You are sure to be happy when your business reaches a Series B financing round because it usually means your company has a higher valuation. These are: Revenue Recognition issues. Share-based Compensation. Accounting for Income Taxes. Revenue Recognition. by Bryce Welker, founder of Crush The CPA Exam.

CPA 165

CPA Stock Options Valuation Stock 165

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.] The Valuation Question.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This is the most concrete valuation element, usually called the asset approach.

Valuation 234

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Startup 234

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This is the most concrete valuation element, usually called the asset approach.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

Despite the recent growth of crowdfunding, angels continue to be one of the major sources of financing for new ventures, so it behooves every aspiring entrepreneur to understand who these people are. Since they know that most startups fail, their target return is ten times investment, so be prepared to talk cost vs revenue and product life.

Angel Investor 322

Angel Investor Valuation Syndicate Syndication 322

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 15, 2020

Let’s now explore the major developments and ultimate use cases for the Lightning Network in two categories: A) payments/finance and B) Web3. . Use Case I: Payments and Finance . And >40% of that revenue is coming from in-game purchases. 1) Generalizable Payments .

Networking 168

Networking Global OTC Security 168

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 23, 2017

PC and mobile interfaces dynamically display portfolio valuations and exposures, along with system-generated investment recommendations tailored to a specific client’s financial goals and risk appetite. According to research from JP Morgan, revenues from investment banking peaked in 2009 at $207.7 Underwriting.

Technical Review 154

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Software Review IPO 154

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. The best technologies are barely invisible and low cost.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

They should heed the age old advice that raising slightly more money while you can is always better than trying to optimize future valuations. Should VC’s really be impacted by public market valuations when the money that they’re investing today should be for returns in 7-10 years? Short answer – yes.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118