Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

With a focus on transforming raw data into actionable insights, Databox has carved out a niche for itself, offering unique solutions for businesses to visualize their metrics in a customized manner. The rising importance of predictive AI-driven analytics became clear, hinting at a future where forecasts will shape decisions.

Metrics 76

Metrics Analytics Forecast Software Review 76

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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership at all levels. By going on sales calls you pick up directly the feedback of what customers want and also what they’re telling you about competition.

CTO Hire 308

CTO Hire Management Technical Review Part-Time VPE 308

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

A description of the problem you’re solving for your customers, and your solution to the problem, which is usually your product or service. Also, make a bullet list of the marketing activities that will drive customers to your door. Also, make a bullet list of the marketing activities that will drive customers to your door.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

In other words, the future of financing is continuous funding, not discrete. Listening to first-time entrepreneurs talk about their competitive advantages is as predictably invalid as the local weatherman's 10-day forecast. Customer Care Today. Customer Validation needs to have the CEO actively involved. Silly, right?

Software Review 217

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Technical Review 217

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Entrepreneur Homepage Startups Starting a Business Home How-To Guides Startup Basics Business Ideas Business Planning Startup Financing Success Stories Home-Based Business Starting a Business Play Video How to Take a New Product from Just an Idea to a Business (Video). Financing Some Jobs Act Proposals Make Headway.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 30, 2018

From the outside, it might appear that accounting and finance are complex tasks in need of simplification. In the case of early-stage companies, the work can often be done by an entrepreneur with a basic understanding of financial modeling. Why customer acquisition? Predictions.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Early Stage Acquisition Forecast 100

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Bearman held the position of Head of Business for HSBC UK for over two decades, where he was responsible for setting the strategic direction and growing HSBC’s UK small business customer base. Raising or sourcing affordable finance is one of the main challenges that aspiring business owners face. Tips for aspiring business owners.

Early Stage 82

Early Stage Forecast Small Business Business Plan 82

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 15, 2017

They have free research facilities, mentorship, and easy-to-reach customers. For example: Who are your target customers? What is so special about your company and product that the customers should know? It shows who you are, what your company produces, and why customers need it. But it needn’t be. Write a business plan.

Startup 160

Startup Social Media Forecast Early Stage 160

Up and Running

MAY 9, 2016

Who are your customers? How will you finance your company? There may be times, in the early stages of your business, where that’s what you have to do to pay the bills. Who are your customers? Your customers are not necessarily the end occupier or user of the finished work. How will you finance your company?

SBA 60

SBA Demand Forecast Balance Sheet 60

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

So what magic can the founders use to justify a $4M valuation (or even the $1M valuation) at this early stage? Early customers and contracts in progress add value. Every customer contract and relationship needs to be monetized, even ones still in negotiation. NewCo doesn’t have any of these yet.

Valuation 270

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 270

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 12, 2011

When we were last with Dick and Jane on Finance Fridays, our fearless entrepreneurs were figuring out how to split up their founders equity and account for an investment from Jane. Build a financial model that forecasts the P&L. QuickBooks allows you to forecast expenses. as a C-Corp in Delaware. historical data).

Balance Sheet 136

Balance Sheet Forecast Cap Table Early Stage 136

Up and Running

MAY 3, 2012

And besides, obtaining early-stage investment is no guarantee of success, either. They need to have a better understanding of the process rather than myopically focus on building something without any clear sense of the market size, the likely demand or their costs of customer acquisition. Surely we can do better?

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Technical Review Silicon Valley Lean 82

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

So what magic can the founders use to justify a $4M valuation (or even the $1M valuation) at this early stage? Early customers and contracts in progress add value. Every customer contract and relationship needs to be monetized, even ones still in negotiation. NewCo doesn’t have any of these yet.

Pre-Money Valuation 246

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 246

Up and Running

AUGUST 20, 2014

According to global banking institution HSBC, there are three things you should keep in mind as you learn about managing your cash flow and your business finances: Profits are not cash. Not to mention the mental stress of having to make back every dollar you spent in the early stages of setting up your business.

Forecast 135

Forecast .Net Dividend Finance 135

OnlyOnce

JUNE 9, 2022

Larger companies usually fall into the rhythm of doing quarterly all-hands meetings sometime after the end of the quarter, usually around a Board meeting, with a quarterly recap and forecast for next quarter. But for early stage companies, there’s no tried-and-true method. Custom wallpaper for the Trello board.

Cofounder 62

Cofounder Hosting Forecast Early Stage 62

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

So what magic can the founders use to justify a $4M valuation (or even the $1M valuation) at this early stage? Early customers and contracts in progress add value. Every customer contract and relationship needs to be monetized, even ones still in negotiation. NewCo doesn’t have any of these yet.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

So what magic can the founders use to justify a $4M valuation (or even the $1M valuation) at this early stage? Early customers and contracts in progress add value. Every customer contract and relationship needs to be monetized, even ones still in negotiation. NewCo doesn’t have any of these yet.

Valuation 234

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Startup 234

Up and Running

JUNE 25, 2014

Hopefully I’ll be able to add some value with some of the financing needs that your businesses may need. Then we look at what the small business financing needs. “How do I tackle my financing needs as a startup?” I think there is a process where you can participate via Twitter, or ask questions.

Small Business 89

Small Business SBA Finance Bankruptcy 89

Women Entrepreneurs Can

SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

Business loans are not always a sign of mismanaged finances. Upfront costs for startups can be extremely expensive, and a term loan is especially useful to finance your expansion efforts. Do your homework by doing a revenue forecast. Taking a loan will help safeguard the continued growth of your business.

Due Diligence 40

Due Diligence Forecast Finance Bankruptcy 40

NZ Entrepreneur

OCTOBER 10, 2019

Early stage business investors such as angel investors or venture capital companies are generally only interested in companies with great potential for success and a high return on investment. A target customer analysis and marketing plans for both launch and growth phases. What do investors want to see in a business plan?

Business Plan 51

Business Plan Forecast Venture Capital Angel Investor 51

Small Business Force

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

In early stage companies (and even some later stage or mature ones), there is no one area where most entrepreneurs and small business owners are lacking in just basic fundamentals, than in dealing with their company's finances and financial management. If it was a distribution business, shipping costs were critical.

Finance 37

Finance Management Forecast Entrepreneur 37

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

For angel groups, the distinction between groups and VCs on this issue is dwindling, especially as angel groups do bigger rounds of financing.   Note that this applies only to earl stage Series A-type equity financings and assumes no cash dividends are paid to investors. This is why a bottom up approach is more credible.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Up and Running

JULY 28, 2016

See Also: A Complete Guide to Forecasting Sales for Your Monthly Subscription (SaaS) Business. This encompasses their podcast (featured above) and the advice and how-to section of their site, where you’ll find articles on everything from financing your startup to company culture. Communities and networking. Growthhackers.

Startup 60

Startup Analytics Metrics Community 60

Venture Chronicles

AUGUST 23, 2013

An example of this is having a board member say “well you should just charge more” without first considering the competitive dynamics of a market, or the product and customer perspective on value. well a lot of things can derail the best laid plans.

Management 66

Management Startup Liquidation Preference Dilution 66

David Teten

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

Asset management also shows the traditional earmarks of an industry ripe for disruption — most obviously, unhappy customers and extremely profitable incumbents. Almost every other industry collectively does what it promises; the restaurant industry does give all its customers food.

Management 114

Management Pre-Money Valuation Venture Capital New Hampshire 114

Up and Running

JULY 14, 2015

Peter: Techstars is probably the most famous accelerator but the idea of the accelerator versus the incubator because there is living field, because there’s this very early stage fields for them both. The cool thing is with the device like, that with the science like that, there’s a lot of early stage proving ground needed.

Incubator 60

Incubator Email Startup Oregon 60

www.currentlyobsessed.com

MAY 28, 2010

It hardly deserves any attention at all in the early stages. For some closing thoughts, I’ll just add that: Valuation tends to be too much of a focus for most early stage companies. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s not. That’s a nice way of putting it.

Valuation 42

Valuation Channel Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 42

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

The company has just missed its quarterly revenue forecast. Or their could be deals from two or more different categories of customers. Before a customer makes a purchase, especially a large purchase, they are likely to have interacted with the company via several campaigns. What can be done to avoid the problem going forward?

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

Seeing Both Sides

OCTOBER 24, 2015

There has been a lot of good stuff written over the years on the topic of calculating customer lifetime value (LTV). Many blogs suggest you simply divide 1 by your monthly churn rate to get to a number of months of duration that you can expect to collect revenues from your customer. But you are not mature.

Churn Rate 20

Churn Rate Early Stage Revenue Metrics 20

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 9, 2019

I’ve spent countless hours looking at historical finances, budgets, forecasts and future projections. The only other significant cost item that I see in some early-stage startups is inventory (for hardware or eCommerce companies). People often ask me, “why don’t they just use cameras?”

Product 214

Product Software Review Technical Review Security 214