Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development. So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 28, 2011

While Jane was building SayAhh’s revenue projections , Dick focused his attention on building the expense side of the projections. It is simple in that it forecasts how much cash will be coming in the door (revenues + equity financing + debt financing) and then subtracts from that amount how much cash is expected to be going out the door.

Revenue 127

Revenue Balance Sheet Forecast Software Review 127

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

The following is a condensed explanation of seed funding: Seed money is a form of early-stage financing that new businesses receive from investors in exchange for a share of ownership in the company. It is necessary to cover the early stages of product development, thorough market research, and other processes during the initial step.

Seed Stage 126

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 126

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. The Traditional VC Pitch Entrepreneurs who pursue the traditional product development model don’t have customer data to answer these questions. Is there a profitable business model?

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

by Steve Owens, Founder and CTO of Finish Line Product Development Services. Product Mis-Timed – 13%. No Financing/Investor Interest – 8%. Rule #2: Revenue is your first priority. Rule #2: Revenue is your first priority. In this context, revenue can be an investment as well as sales.

Startup 133

Startup Revenue Product Development Distribution 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

Standing for research and development; this activity ultimately creates winning opportunities for the companies leveraging it. Let’s find out the R&D investment meaning and the reasons why invest in research and development, following the example of industry-disrupting companies. Develop a unique product or service.

Offshore 140

Offshore Demand Germany Global 140

YoungUpstarts

MAY 23, 2018

Finances are a huge part of startup success or failure, but while a lack of funds is a significant problem, it’s usually not the biggest problem. Guarding their own interests and being vigilant when it comes to finances is another area in which many startups stumble. Often, founders have an entrepreneurial mindset.

Due Diligence 133

Due Diligence Startup Finance Leadership 133

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In his tenure as CEO of DataSift we have never missed a monthly revenue figure. He has grown our US operations from 1 employee (him) to a global organization of 75 employees that will finish the year with 8-digit revenues (90+% recurring) and more than 350% year-over-year growth. In his spare time he raised nearly $30 million.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 22, 2023

7- Sustainable development Photo Credit: Peter Chatfield One area where I anticipate developments in my field to accelerate in 2023 is the field of sustainable development. In recent years, eCommerce companies have begun to increase revenue by selling products directly via social media networks.

Artificial Inteligence 122

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Social Media 122

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

Not sales, product development, or fundraising. Your internal team creates your external results, such as new products and increased revenues. As Elon Musk says, “A company is just a bunch of people who come together to create a product or service”. It doesn’t take long to ask your employees and network, so do it.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. Sloan kept the corporate staff small and focused on policymaking, corporate finance, and planning. A version of this article appeared in the Harvard Business Review.

Michigan 268

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 268

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2013

Every startup needs access to capital, whether for funding product development, for initial rollout efforts, acquiring inventory, or paying that first employee. Thus “creative” really means maximizing non-bank financing. They have to sell themselves, more than their product, to close on every alternative source of funding.

Finance 243

Finance Startup Equity Early Stage 243

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth. Switch your attention from product development to sales. There is no free lunch.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

ConversionXL

AUGUST 30, 2018

It slows product development. It’s likely to be related to improving revenues, reducing costs, increasing the number of new customers, increasing the sales from existing customers, or increasing shareholder value. Only a company-wide user research culture enables iterative testing throughout the product design process.

Design 111

Design Framework Product Development Technical Review 111

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Silicon Valley 97

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 97

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 6, 2017

Starting in 2016, Research and Development (R&D) tax credits can be used to offset payroll taxes. The Federal R&D credit amounts to roughly 5% of the wages, materials, and outside contractor expenses in research activities related to product and software development, including: Product conceptualization and development.

Indiana 113

Indiana Software Review Software Developers Software Development 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. If you consider yourself a technologist, you probably believe and may be propagating one of the following myths: The first priority for funding should be to develop the technology.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

If you have a technical background and you are focused on product development, consider a co-founder with a sales and marketing background that can focus on selling your world class product. Rather, give titles such as VP of Engineering, Product/Technology, Sales, Marketing, Finance, etc. Early Stage.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Tesla has always put a huge emphasis on product development and technological advancement. From music to finance, airlines and now offering flights to the public into space. Mindbody is a shining example of a business that used innovation and quick thinking to turn negative circumstances into an incredible new revenue stream.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Entrepreneur Software Review SEO 120

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

Since SayAhh is in the pre-launch development stage, the company doesn’t have any revenue yet. They also haven’t launched a product, so there is no corresponding “cost of goods sold” – the direct cost of delivering their product. The default Quickbooks setup uses “Income” to refer to “Revenue”.

Balance Sheet 125

Balance Sheet Fractional CTO Burn Rate Salary 125

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

And, oh by the way, we also really like the idea of the 1M/1M entrepreneurs building valuation and negotiating leverage through these business development efforts, instead of signing off large chunks of their company in form of equity early on. million in revenue. The business is already profitable with $2.9

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

Defense and Intelligence organizations drove the pace of innovation in Silicon Valley by providing research and development dollars to universities, and defense companies built weapons systems that used the Valley’s first microwave devices and semiconductor components. A 20 th century VC was likely to have an MBA or finance background.

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

Besides the general focus on customer and product development, an entrepreneur should foresee the next moves that will serve to guide him on the right path. Right now our solutions are HR-centric but over the next five years, we plan on scaling our products to IT, Finance, Legal, and other aspects of an organization.

Forecast 127

Forecast Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Technical Review 127

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 22, 2012

Let’s start out with the basic functions of a tech company: 1) Engineering 2) Marketing 3) Sales 4) Business development 5) PR 6) Design 7) Product Management 8) HR 9) Operations 10) Finance Ok, that's just overwhelming. Let’s take sales and business development. Ready to start simplifying? The last two are pretty basic.

PR 144

PR Technical Review Seed Stage Design 144

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? All things being equal, of course, you’d rather have more revenue rather than less. And yet revenue alone is not a sufficient goal.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2015

In the Installation Period , a great surge of technology development (Perez calls this Irruption) is followed by an explosion of investment (called the Frenzy.) For example, US Steel had integrated vertically and was involved in the mining of the iron ore all the way to the production of various steel products, e.g., nails.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Venture Capital United States Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth. Switch your attention from product development to sales. There is no free lunch.

Mezzanine 244

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 244

Up and Running

MAY 2, 2011

How revenues are generated. Explain exactly how customers are served, how the product or service is delivered, and how money is collected. so you can demonstrate activity toward continual revenue creation and growth. Lenders want to get their money back, so they are especially interested in knowing how you make yours.

Business Plan 92

Business Plan SBA Revenue Finance 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2014

Every startup needs access to capital, whether for funding product development, for initial rollout efforts, acquiring inventory, or paying that first employee. Thus “creative” really means maximizing non-bank financing. They have to sell themselves, more than their product, to close on every alternative source of funding.

Entrepreneur 254

Entrepreneur Finance Equity Early Stage 254

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. They never understood Market Type. Why does Market Type matter?

Customer Development 196

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 196

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 26, 2022

The Paycheck Protection Program which was formed last year under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, received additional financing. You're likely going to be experiencing revenues in waves, owing to the pandemic booms and dips, and the varying regulations. Companies will also be able to simplify product.

Software Review 120

Software Review Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur 120

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. An entrepreneur can quantitatively test potential buyers’ real intentions and develop a genuine understanding their needs before building out the product (app).

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

Transformify

JULY 13, 2019

Our guest today is Lyneir Richardson , Assistant Professor of Professional Practice and Executive Director of The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED) at Rutgers Business School. Some people are detail oriented and prefer to be focused on product development rather than on interacting with others.

Hiring 66

Hiring Entrepreneur Startup Angel Investor 66

Steve Blank

MARCH 4, 2014

These groups are adapting or adopting the practices of startups and accelerators – disruption and innovation rather than direct competition, customer development versus more product features, agility and speed versus lowest cost. Product management tools like Stage-Gate ® emerged to systematically manage Waterfall product development.

IRR 335

IRR Startup Business Model Agile 335

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

Compared to Accounting, Finance is ruthlessly forward looking. Even if you bleed cash, showing confidence in your product and communicating that you have a concrete, compelling plan for growth will increase the marketplace value of your business. It has never paid out dividends, and clocks around $200 billion in revenue.

Founder 118

Founder Valuation Dividend Startup 118