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

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. I believe that Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Rational burn profile, up to 50% of revenue at close, scaling down. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Things will cost more than you expect. Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. Cash flow out equates to burn rate, and the runway depends on your reserves.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

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

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. The cost of social media done well is low.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. Almost anyone can start a company today on a shoestring budget, following these cost-cutting recommendations: Establish a solid legal structure for your business.

Cost 405

Cost Entrepreneur Burn Rate Social Media 405

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

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

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Process myth: Why building a product leads to failure.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

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. Longer, costlier cycles drain cash on hand while delaying the onset of crucial revenue streams. Launching your startup in a down economy doesn’t make it any less likely to last. Work Off a User Manual Template.

Cost 100

Cost Developer Small Business Administration Marketing 100

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 11, 2021

by Swapnil Shinde, Co-Founder and CEO of Zeni. Don’t rely on spreadsheets to track revenue and expenses; start using accounting tools as soon as possible. Do you categorize your revenue and costs using departments and classes? Don’t use cash basis accounting; track revenue and costs on an accrual basis.

Small Business 208

Small Business Startup Cofounder Vertical 208

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Things will cost more than you expect. Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. Cash flow out equates to burn rate, and the runway depends on your reserves.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

Up and Running

OCTOBER 7, 2019

A data-driven approach can help you make accurate and timely business decisions to meet market demands and improve cost-efficiency. However, as a founder of a small business or startup, you’re juggling many things. KPIs Every Founder Should Track. “What gets measured gets done.” . Marketing KPIs. Sales KPIs.

Founder 71

Founder Retention Metrics Technical Review 71

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 1, 2017

by Angela Leavitt, founder of Mojo Marketing. The end of the year is approaching but many businesses have yet to meet their end-of-year revenue goals. Did it get declined due to timeline, costs associated, lack of testimonials. Angela Leavitt is the founder of Mojo Marketing.

Revenue 127

Revenue San Diego Technical Review Dividend 127

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 the idea went from innovating on software & systems to launching a company to rolling it out in the field brought on Rahul Gandhi as his co-founder to physically launch the company. How profitable is my product or service?

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. Where else can fast-growing companies get funding?

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 7, 2024

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

Artificial Inteligence 120

Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Algorithm Cofounder 120

Mucker Lab

OCTOBER 10, 2023

In navigating the transition from founder-led sales to a structured approach, the pivotal question arises: when to hire a Sales Development Representative (SDR) or an Account Executive (AE) ? However, for early-stage startups with limited resources, a fractional CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) can be a cost-effective option.

Early Stage 78

Early Stage Sales Developer Development Team Review 78

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. How about young or pre-revenue companies? Why did the company abandon a profitable market, even if it could not generate $100 million a year in revenues?”

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 21, 2023

This is a question startup founders ask themselves multiple times a week. It’s not just the competition against the incumbents and the large tech platforms that founders has to worry about, but most importantly is the company’s performance and product market fit. How are we doing?

Retention 109

Retention Conversion Churn Rate B2C 109

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

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Client work serves as an additional source of revenue to form new startups. This outside work provides a valuable source of revenue able to be used to fund operations. Over time, this revenue reduces the dependency on outside venture capital sources. It also provides critical domain experience in a variety of business sectors.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. This relates to another great post Freemium Founders: Start Charging for Things Today!

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 28, 2012

But when it comes to core technical skills, more and more entrepreneurs are opting to partner with technical co-founders rather than hiring someone for an in-house position. I really believe that what’s most important for a founder is the ability to have a vision for the company, make sales and hire well. Laura Roeder , LKR.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Cofounder Founder Software Review 131

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Rick Boerebach is a co-founder of ZEEF.com , a curated link directory built by passionate experts. If your startup’s goal is to sell a product or service but you’re having a hard time with your revenue model, affiliate marketing might be the perfect match to give you that much-needed boost. What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate 134

Affiliate Revenue Internet Marketing 134

Up and Running

JULY 18, 2017

As a founder, you’ve probably been focused on writing your business plan , building out your financial forecasts to position yourself to get funding, and managing the day-to-day minutia of running a business. Founders of young organizations sometimes feel like they’re under a microscope. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Founder 115

Founder United Kingdom Leadership Washington 115

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 24, 2013

Information and communications technology industry players in Singapore claim that manpower costs due to recent changes to the country’s foreign manpower policy are likely to be the biggest challenge this year, according to the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF).

Singapore 133

Singapore Cost Technical Review Retention 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Smart founders and smart salesmen look for customers with a painful problem, rather than pushing a nice-to-have solution. Entrepreneurs set the price of their solution based on their costs, and their perception of value. With the best solutions, the customer gets value which exceeds your revenue. No pain usually means no sales.

Sales 348

Sales Startup Bootstrapping Technical Review 348

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

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 268

Viral Marketing SEM Campaign 268

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Jeff Katzenberg has a great track record – head of the studio at Paramount, chairman of Disney Studios, co-founder of DreamWorks and now chairman of NewTV. Tech IPO prices exploded and subsequent trading prices rose to dizzying heights as the stock prices became disconnected from the traditional metrics of revenue and profits.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

Still, there are a lot of downsides to taking venture money—the push to grow at all costs, our desire to be all up in your business, literally, and sometimes, we’re kind of obnoxious. Some of these folks are founders and CEOs, but not at high-growth tech startups. It will save everyone a lot of cost and time.

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Arif Bhalwani is the co-founder and CEO of Third Eye Capital (TEC) in Toronto, Canada. Are there new revenue streams you can tap into? Simultaneously, we conducted a thorough operational review to identify inefficiencies and areas for cost reduction. The firm has made more than $4.5

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Due Diligence Bankruptcy Intellectual Property 134

ConversionXL

JUNE 8, 2017

It is about focusing your marketing efforts on a few select companies that could represent huge revenue streams. As Des Traynor , co-founder of Intercom put it in the Intercom on Jobs-to-be-Done book : Des Traynor: Some products are better defined by the job they do than the customers they serve. Behavioral segments.

Programming 97

Programming Revenue Analytics Software Review 97

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 19, 2020

In a couple of cases, the founders played lawyer on their own; in the other cases, the founders either used (i) a Web service that did not address IP issues or (ii) an inexperienced law firm. This would arise as a result of a founder improperly “moonlighting” (i.e., Any IP created by a founder (e.g.,

IP 52

IP Software Review Founder Technical Review 52

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Projecting financials is a natural extension of the homework every entrepreneur needs to do on customer opportunity size, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value. Doubling revenue each year is a good target.

Forecast 290

Forecast Burn Rate Widget Business Plan 290

YoungUpstarts

JULY 31, 2019

by Anish Sebastian and Juan Pablo Segura, co-founders of Babyscripts. Founders need seed capital to get their operations up and running, and to begin generating revenue. They need to comply with laws, create back-end processes, and build prototypes — all of which cost money.

Cofounder 127

Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Cofounder Seed Capital 127