YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2018

How could you position your company in the sales pitch to make the growth potential visible and appealing to prospective buyers? Profile Your Customer Base. Another element that affects a business’s sellability is the state of its customer base. Another important metric is churn. Track Media Perception & Presence.

Valuation 145

Valuation Technical Review Exit Strategy Metrics 145

Up and Running

JANUARY 2, 2013

Impress the investors with what you and your team have accomplished to date (sales, contracts, key hires, product launches, etc.). Customer Acquisition : This is usually one of the most skipped sections of an investor pitch and a full business plan. How will you reach your customers? How much will it cost?

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Due Diligence 164

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2016

Premium ventures need real traction, such as 100 million users, 10 million in revenue, or brand recognition around the world. If you don’t yet have a hundred investors knocking on your door, it’s time to put more focus on viral marketing, closing customers, and exponential growth. Credible yet flexible exit strategy.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Merger Exit Strategy 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Productivity and repeatability is the hallmark of a good business, whereas a hobby usually assumes everything is custom built and personal.

Entrepreneur 328

Entrepreneur Exit Strategy Metrics Operations 328

Up and Running

AUGUST 28, 2018

Financial summary: Explain your business model, startup costs, revenues, and liabilities to the company. Then you’ll think through your ideal customer , your competition , and your opportunities for growth. Components of this section include: Your marketing and sales plan. Your funding ask and exit strategy, if applicable.

Business Plan 72

Business Plan Technical Review Exit Strategy Oregon 72

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 18, 2024

With her expertise, she’s boosted hundreds of agencies to millions in revenue, attracting premium clients willing to pay 50-600% fees. As a former business exit advisor, she crafts exit strategies, adding up to five figures to clients’ net profit monthly so they can focus on growth. I can't quite let go of this.

Framework 64

Framework Sales Cycle Sales Hiring 64

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. Any custom manufactured IoT device would require software development as well as hardware customization. Both of which are expensive and time-consuming.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 9, 2018

Between choosing location in new cities to creating an exit strategy after you attain success, penetrating a new market requires a strategic plan. Research these three key customer boundaries for information on each market segment: Demographics. Customer habits. Map Out an Exit Strategy. Psychographics.

Jacksonville 189

Jacksonville Due Diligence Exit Strategy Marketing 189

Up and Running

MAY 17, 2017

Plus, you’ll always be prepared in case an opportunity or desire to sell arises in the future—it’s a smart idea to have an exit strategy. In sales, it is a common practice to take the needs, wants, and desires of your potential customer and to present your product or service as a solution. million in sales revenue.

Acquisition 92

Acquisition Technical Review Revenue Exit Strategy 92

Reid Hoffman

JULY 23, 2020

This week, I’d like to turn to the question of how current market conditions affect the approach entrepreneurs should take towards their exit strategy. The larger company has to decide, “What you do is key to one of my strategies, so I’ll buy you.” That gave us the power to choose our exit strategy.

IPO 36

IPO Exit Strategy Acquisition Technical Review 36

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Here are three important reasons for the question: Good investment paybacks normally require an exit event. Investors know that the fun of a startup turns into managing production processes, sales processes, and personnel in a few years.

Exit Strategy 264

Exit Strategy Private Equity Equity Technical Review 264

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

What market are you targeting and how are you going to get sales? Here is what you should do: You market and try to acquire initial customers, enough to get you going. Let’s say you have a goal to get at least 1,000 customers in first three months. Next, get better at learning from customers. But do they stop?

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Here are three important reasons for the question: Good investment paybacks normally require an exit event. Investors know that the fun of a startup turns into managing production processes, sales processes, and personnel in a few years.

Exit Strategy 376

Exit Strategy Startup Private Equity Equity 376

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Marketing, sales, and partners. Solution and benefits.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

Here is how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Define the characteristics of the overall industry, market forces, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Explain how you will make money and who pays you (real customer). Implicit in this is the go-to-market strategy.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

Unfortunately, customers look for value in solving their problem, and new technologies alone scare them, so these solutions don’t get bought by customers, or funded. Attracting business investors is as tough as attracting customers, but it’s a different challenge. Customized marketing strategy and realistic sales plans. “If

Product 145

Product Intellectual Property Liquidity Event Exit Strategy 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Marketing, sales, and partners. Solution and benefits.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Five Quarters of Profitability During the 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s startups going public had to do something that most companies today never heard of – they had to show a track record of increasing revenue and consistent profitability. They taught you about customers, markets and profits.

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

Here is how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Define the characteristics of the overall industry, market forces, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Explain how you will make money and who pays you (real customer). Implicit in this is the go-to-market strategy.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness. Use non-fuzzy terms to quantify customer value. Provide specifics on the customer business model. Budget time and dollars for each.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

In addition, current investors want to see every startup go public or be acquired, as an exit event, so they can get their due return for that investment which has been tied up for the last few years. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Startup Valuation Acquisition 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Here is how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Define the characteristics of the overall industry, market forces, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Explain how you will make money and who pays you (real customer). Implicit in this is the go-to-market strategy.

Elevator Pitch 235

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 235

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2016

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Productivity and repeatability is the hallmark of a good business, whereas a hobby usually assumes everything is custom built and personal.

Exit Strategy 155

Exit Strategy Metrics Operations Cost 155

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

By profit, I simply mean offering a product or service to customers for a price that exceeds the total costs associated with the solution, thus providing some basis for recovering sunk costs and generating a return for stakeholders. Solve a painful problem for customers who have money to spend.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy 120

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Marketing, sales, and partners. Solution and benefits.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In every case, the relevant pitch needs to start by highlighting a real customer problem, then outlining a new solution, with all the features and disruptive technology.

Product 120

Product Intellectual Property Liquidity Event Burn Rate 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Marketing, sales, and partners. Solution and benefits.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Gust

AUGUST 19, 2012

Here is how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Define the characteristics of the overall industry, market forces, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Explain how you will make money and who pays you (real customer). Implicit in this is the go-to-market strategy.

Elevator Pitch 146

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 146

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

They have to have some degree of faith and certainty about what customers are going to want in the future. Successful entrepreneurs do actually predict the future — they know what customers are going to want and when they’re going to want it. What kinds of high-level sales targets do you hope to achieve? Let’s be real.

Business Plan 83

Business Plan Lean Forecast Exit Strategy 83

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Investors want to hear about customers with money who have a painful problem that you can solve now. Investors are looking for a concise description of your product or service without technical jargon or fuzzy marketing terms with value quantified in customer terms. What are your specific marketing and sales plans?

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2016

The team succeeded in all functional areas, but we found it difficult to generate sales for our new and innovative technology. The initial vision becomes reality and is being tested by customers and partners. An exit strategy is being discussed by senior management and funding partners.

Leadership 120

Leadership Matching Exit Strategy Europe 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2015

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Productivity and repeatability is the hallmark of a good business, whereas a hobby usually assumes everything is custom built and personal.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Metrics Operations Cost 120

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

You may love what you do and be filled with passion for every customer you serve as a self-employed business owner, but enthusiasm does not pay the bills. As a management tool, develop a business plan with a five year projection and an exit strategy. Do not be afraid to create more than one revenue stream.

Management 100

Management Small Business Administration United States Exit Strategy 100

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

I previously posted a detailed presentation with sales technology tools useful for B2B sales. is an AI bot which helps companies refine their sales pitch to VCs. A number of analysts have particular focus on serving the customers of technology companies, e.g., Gartner and 451 Research. Pitchbot.vc are using AngelMob.co

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Growthink Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2017

But you'd certainly share the news that you launched your new website or reached $1M in annual revenues. To better understand your customer. An in-depth customer analysis is essential to an effective business plan and to a successful business. To document your revenue model. What is the company's exit strategy?

Business Plan 128

Business Plan Private Placement Exit Strategy Finance 128

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

Keep your focus on customers rather than investors. Don’t quit your day job until the revenue is flowing. Keep your exit strategy options open as you learn. Thus they will insist on a sale or public offering at every opportunity, which will likely force you out.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Exit Strategy 120

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Sales & Marketing | Wednesdays. Exit Strategies. Strategy and Planning. SALES & MARKETING. Strategy and Planning >. Why Arizona Bay started taking stock from its customers instead of cash. Arizona Bay has also blended equity payments with revenue-sharing deals. Finance | Tuesdays. Newsletters.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40