Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board. A pre-IPO board usually had two founders, two VCs and one “independent” member. Technology Cycles Measured in Years.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

Two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Each co-founder should get equity for value, based on these key variables: Lived a key role in a previous startup. Amount of venture funding provided.

Cofounder 261

Cofounder Stock Founder Technical Cofounder 261

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 1, 2021

As part of The Startup Magazine Founder Interview Series , we interviewed Maha and David Harper, wife and husband co-founders of Atlas Group London, a construction-tech startup that has digitized the building of healthcare facilities. Construction is a trillion-dollar market, but planning remains complicated and inaccurate.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Founder Saudi Arabia Cofounder 110

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

Review Your Software Subscriptions “Reviewing your software subscriptions can be a quick way to reduce costs. ” — Phil Norton, Founder of Leave Dates In today’s digital age, software subscriptions have become integral to business operations. ” — Carl Jenson, Founder of Compare Bank.

Software Review 138

Software Review Technical Review Retention Cost 138

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? “After reading your post on Why Founders Should Know How to Code it looks like web/mobile startups have it easy. Trying to figure out what the right set of co-founders isn’t so clear. Are We Missing A Founder?

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Each co-founder should get equity for value, based on these key variables: Lived a key role in a previous startup.

Cofounder 435

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Intellectual Property 435

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2017

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. The founder explains that the product is so “buzz-worthy” that usage will spread rapidly through word-of-mouth only, meaning people loving it and recommending it to their friends.

Campaign 167

Campaign Cost Viral Marketing 167

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

This alternative has been around for several decades, with the generally accepted advantage of reducing costs. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Results on commodities, including mature software maintenance, adapt well to low-cost contracting.

Intellectual Property 306

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Software Review Technical Review 306

Eric Friedman

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

My partner ( Steve Schlafman ) and I recently launched Tapestry , an exercise for founders to invest in their relationships, and it was met with an incredible reaction. I had done a lot of this work in the past with founding teams and co-founders and never had a great catch all way of explaining it. Cost: $64.88 (per year).

Software Review 103

Software Review Cost Cofounder New Zealand 103

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

The key to being able to run a business that isn’t yet profitable (on operating margin) is availability of capital to finance losses and preferably at a cost that isn’t too punitive to the founders and employees. CAC is often measured incorrectly and doesn’t often doesn’t capture the true costs of acquisition.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

The Startup Magazine

MAY 31, 2022

As part of our Female Founder series , The Startup Magazine caught up with Claudia Freed, CEO of the Wheaton Illinois-based nonprofit EALgreen. Through the 5 R’s of the circular economy—Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle—EAL converts donations of customer returns and other excess inventory into operational savings for colleges.

Founder 112

Founder Argentina Chicago Switzerland 112

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

It’s such a tricky balance between being cost-focused & scrappy versus being impractical with how you spend your time. Clearly the founders and senior executives of a company are the most valuable resources and their time should be maximized on the most valuable tasks. But alas I must scale with businesses and make money.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Things will cost more than you expect. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Buffer your projected resource requirements. You will make mistakes.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Women Entrepreneurs Can

AUGUST 3, 2020

Leveraging technology within your business model can lay down the path for improved productivity, smoother operation, and increased profits. Here are some of the many ways technology can help streamline your business operations…. This will completely change the way business operations are carried out within the organization.

Technical Review 52

Technical Review Operations Artificial Inteligence Technology 52

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 7, 2024

Guest Author: Danish Ahmed, Founder of startuptools.ai. Companies are turning to AI to streamline their operations, notably in areas like customer service, cybersecurity, and fraud prevention. Furthermore, AI facilitates more accurate financial planning by estimating revenues, minimizing costs , and increasing profitability.

Artificial Inteligence 113

Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Algorithm Cofounder 113

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 21, 2015

by Richard Milam , the Founder and CEO of EnableSoft Incorporated. Budgets are a tricky facet for any business owner however being one of the most critical aspects to the operations, productivity, profitability, and growth of a business. Richard Milam is the Founder and CEO of EnableSoft Incorporated ( www.enablesoft.com ).

Cost 100

Cost Technical Review Software Review Employee 100

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Two conditions that do matter to your startup’s out-year viability are the cost and length of its product development cycle. Startup founders counting the days until break-even or actively seeking outside capital must focus on streamlining their development cycles. Don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.

Cost 100

Cost Developer Small Business Administration Marketing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2021

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. At any rate, “buzz-worthy” and “viral” are marketing illusions that cost big money to create, and these are only the beginning. That’s a double death wish. Marty Zwilling.

Viral 348

Viral Marketing SEM Campaign 348

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

Here’s another from The Startup Magazine Founder Interview Series. In addition, we consult visionaries achieve clarity by creating vision, mission values, 5-year and 10-year business plans, processes and operational manuals and implement them even on a remote level. Best of luck for more future successes.

Leadership 164

Leadership Founder Technical Review Entrepreneur 164

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2012

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. The founder explains that the product is so “buzz-worthy” that usage will spread rapidly through word-of-mouth only, meaning people loving it and recommending it to their friends.

Viral 238

Viral Cost Marketing SEM 238

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

Cofounders only able to work part-time, with responsibility and major income sources elsewhere, don’t carry the same risk as others with more operational responsibility. Investors may not be called cofounders, but they always get equity, commensurate with their share of the total costs anticipated, or share of the current valuation.

Technical Cofounder 247

Technical Cofounder Equity Distribution Cofounder 247

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

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Are there specific metrics needed for future funding rounds or for operations?

Developer 396

Developer Founder Viral Oauth 396

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

The problem is that more SKUs dramatically increases complexity and cost, when you can least afford it. Buy too much inventory too soon to get unit costs down. Unit costs are important, but don’t forget about the cash flow hit, extra storage costs, and the probability of obsolete inventory due to necessary updates or pivots.

Technical Review 306

Technical Review Metrics Social Media Channel 306

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 11, 2023

While it seemed like a good idea and had the Navy’s backing, the founders got turned down for funding by companies, investment bankers and everyone, until they talked to John Parker. Warlock was so large that it was kept at the ERA factory and operated as a remote operations center. Costing $250,000 ($3.2 million today.)

Minnesota 281

Minnesota Engineer Minneapolis Silicon Valley 281

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Are there specific metrics needed for future funding rounds or for operations?

Developer 384

Developer Founder Viral Oauth 384

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

Especially if you are a first-time business owner, the payback for this initiative is well worth the effort and cost. Unfortunately, I see too many new entrepreneurs who let their passion for a new idea or invention blind them to the stark realities of customer need, opportunity size, or pricing and cost implications.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

ReadWriteStart

JULY 5, 2023

Neko Health will be able to revolutionize the healthcare industry and expand its operations beyond the borders of its home country of Sweden as a result of the funding received. After a full-body examination that lasts for ten to twenty minutes and costs a patient €250, the results are discussed with a medical professional.

Sweden 126

Sweden Artificial Inteligence Cofounder Technical Review 126

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

YoungUpstarts

MAY 31, 2018

by Penny Garbus, co-author of ‘ Mining New Gold — Managing Your Business Data “ Every day, businesses across the country hum along efficiently, their operations supported by enormous reams of data that most employees – and bosses – take for granted. Penny Garbus, co-founder of Soaring Eagle Consulting Inc. ,

Cost 104

Cost Security Cofounder Matching 104

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Airbnb convinced travelers to part with 100% of their booking cost up front and then they pay out the required amount to hosts when the stay actually occurs. The straight cost of revenue line is only ~25% of revenue implying a 75% gross margin, assuming you were looking at this in a simplistic revenue / COGS / gross profit manner.

North America 401

North America IPO Prospectus Europe 401

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 29, 2024

As the founder of Smartvu Ltd., Recently we visited Richard Burry in his seaside base of operations in Cascais, Portugal for an intriguing conversation about the keys to online success. It may be distribution, advertising, cost, or other reasons. he remains at the leading edge of Internet innovation and achievement.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Portugal Internet Advertising 111

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Arif Bhalwani is the co-founder and CEO of Third Eye Capital (TEC) in Toronto, Canada. We engage intimately with businesses and their assets, understanding their operations, aspirations, and the hurdles they face. Simultaneously, we conducted a thorough operational review to identify inefficiencies and areas for cost reduction.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Due Diligence Bankruptcy Intellectual Property 126

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Things will cost more than you expect. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Buffer your projected resource requirements. You will make mistakes.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Social Media 310

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Each co-founder should get equity for value, based on these key variables: Lived a key role in a previous startup.

Equity 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can empower enterprises to take their operations to new heights, as companies no longer have to choose between sustainability, safety and their bottom line. Using IIoT and tools such as smart thermal sensing devices, this challenge of sustainability, safety and cost effectiveness can be met.

Revenue 165

Revenue Technical Review Cost Operations 165

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

But, even more important, is how much it costs for an enterprise to move their money around. John Rampton, the Founder of Due, is on a mission to reduce or eliminate the costs associated with payments for hard working entrepreneurs. Expenses add up and can easily get out of control.

Cost 167

Cost Operations Startup Revenue 167