Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Here’s the punchline: if you run your company as if you have closed a VC equity financing round even though you actually closed a convertible debt round, you’ll be in much better shape when it comes time to raise your Series A financing. Early customer development talks are going great which keeps the team really excited.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

The second thing that’s changed is that we’re now Compressing the Product Development Cycle. In the 20 th century startups I was part of, the time to build a first product release was measured in years as we turned out the founder’s vision of what customers wanted. Founders Need to Run the Company Longer. The founders.

Restful 238

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 238

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

These lost startups land higher valuations, have larger teams, outsource more product development and spend more money on customer acquisition than their peers. Before you indulge in marketing, sales and blinged-out offices, find product-market fit. Is your problem the market or the product? Lose focus.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

VC Adventure

MARCH 17, 2022

With the markets down significantly, financings (at least at the later stages) slowing down, and inflation and interest rates on the rise, perhaps now is a good time to talk about your burn rate. Hopefully, you took advantage of the robust financing markets of the past few years to put some money on your balance sheet.

Balance Sheet 121

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Metrics 121

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. As part of my initial customer outreach and research phases, I personally (not over a phone call, social media, or a landing page) met with over 600 potential partners (recycling centers and local businesses). It was a change of course.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Keep the valuations consistent with company progress. Messy cap tables can come back to haunt you when you do a financing or sell the company. The bottom line is that the pedigree of your investors will have much to do with your ultimate valuation and with your enjoyment of the startup experience.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

This partnership speaks to a core philosophy of the program where we encourage entrepreneurs to get as much customer validation as possible before raising too much money, use other people's channels if you can get to them, don't burn too much cash, and all that good fiscal conservative stuff. Brainscape. The answer to the question is neither.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

These firms can provide various services, including financing and business advice. They can also help you develop your product and sales channels. This is usually done through a prototype , which shows the key characteristics of your product. This allows you to skip the complicated valuation calculations.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

signup, upgrade, trial pricing Zuora – online subscription management FeeFighters – find the cheapest credit card processors HealPay – Collections made easy Customer Support Tender – support, knowledgebase tool for your site GetSatisfaction - conversations between companies / customers.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

This post is intended to be a dynamic document, and I will attempt to update it from time to time with new questions that may arise or as financing trends evolve. Q: What amount of financing is considered Pre-Seed? It’s a legitimate stage of financing in the venture eco-system as of this writing (October 2017).

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Steve Blank on Lean Customer Development. Customer service. Google Custom Search Engine. Customer Relationship Management. great web customer acquisition tutorials. customer retention, churn reduction, lifetime value. free/cheap web customer relationship mgmt software. Codeacademy. Steve Blank.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Small Business Force

AUGUST 31, 2013

I came to find that they had differing ideas about timing, valuation, to whom they should sell and how long or whether they would stay with the company. Hopefully, each of you has a different set of skills that complement each other. Make sure you are leveraging each other's strengths while offsetting each of your weaknesses.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Partner Technical Review Founder 40

Growthink Blog

JANUARY 24, 2018

Elon Musk’s electric car maker saw its valuation grow to more than $60 billion last year, greater than that of General Motors in spite of selling 90% less cars! One Wisdom: The future of selling just about everything will be owned by businesses that provide, as Warby Parker does, truly delightful online customer experiences.

Artificial Inteligence 48

Artificial Inteligence San Francisco Valuation Reputation 48

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 10, 2013

You may have self-financed the initial startup costs and/or raised FFF capital without a business plan , but in order to attract seed investment from Angel investors you will need a comprehensive plan complete with extensive market research and a detailed financial model. Product Development. Startup Funding'

Angel Investor 55

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Seed Capital Advisory Board 55

Software By Rob

APRIL 2, 2014

This can lead to complex transfer arrangements between buyer and seller which can be a deterrent for investors from the outset and is also an ongoing headache for both parties post sale as it will often involve contingency based financing agreements. Ensure they document everything they do in detail.

Affiliate 67

Affiliate Valuation Reputation Sales 67

mashable.com

MARCH 7, 2011

Billion View Comments How HTML5 Is Aiding in Cross-Platform Development February 22, 2011 by Christina Warren View Comments email share email share The Mobile App Trends Series is sponsored by Sourcebits , a leading product developer for mobile platforms. Ars Technica used PhoneGap to build its iPad app.

Developer 93

Developer HTML API Ruby 93

Software By Rob

APRIL 2, 2014

This can lead to complex transfer arrangements between buyer and seller which can be a deterrent for investors from the outset and is also an ongoing headache for both parties post sale as it will often involve contingency based financing agreements. Ensure they document everything they do in detail.

Affiliate 27

Affiliate Valuation Reputation Sales 27

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

So, please note the TAM Analysis is a vitally important aspect of building any financing strategy. He needs to generate enough profit so that he can grow organically and build his business systematically, and without expecting a lot of outside financing. Raymond is wondering why he cannot attract financing. 30 million market?

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

So, please note the TAM Analysis is a vitally important aspect of building any financing strategy. He needs to generate enough profit so that he can grow organically and build his business systematically, and without expecting a lot of outside financing. Raymond is wondering why he cannot attract financing. 30 million market?

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

are just emerging for business people (customer development, business model generation,). The more structured the effort of the 'distribution' people will be, the clearer the communication with design and technical people and the higher mutual respect/valuation. Colin Hayhurst , CTO co-founder then CEO of start-up b.

Technical Review 51

Technical Review Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 51

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

People: founder-run and trying to recruit amazing technical talent (the product development team is a huge priority at this stage) and integrate a few senior managers to help prepare the company for scale - which leads to cultural clashes and communication challenges. Financing: holy crap - we are running out of money in 6 months!

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20

Tim Keane

APRIL 24, 2006

The product development cycle was excellent. However, the distribution channel we had planned to use lacked the sophistication ultimately required by the product design, and the manufacturers adoption cycle was insufficient. Technology doesn’t win; products win. The product development cycle was excellent.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Venture Capital 60