Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2023

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited angel investors. The amounts from angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Angel Investor 246

Angel Investor IRR Venture Capital Valuation 246

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Revenue multiple? Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. People seem concerned about valuation. Me: More dilution? Why don’t they set a valuation then? About $1 million.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5% raised from angels.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

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. These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue. Reasons for funding. ? Incubators and Accelerators. Government programs.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

I think it’s important for enterprise startups to layer in professional services into your revenue stream. deliver profitable revenue that while on gross margins of 50% vs. software at 85-95% it is still profits to help you cover fixed costs. Control Size of PS Revenue Relative to Software Business. rollout support.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited angel investors. The amounts from angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Angel Investor 314

Angel Investor Entrepreneur IRR Valuation 314

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count.

Preferred Stock 304

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 304

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count.

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. As the risks below get eliminated the higher the valuation investors are prepared to pay. So rounds tend to be “range bound&# where the top end of the valuation spectrum often being done in boom markets (i.e.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.]

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Consumer spending is 70% of the economy and will continue to be stretched – We can look all we want at tech innovation, VC funding cycles and hot M&A deals, but ultimately growth and therefore investment must be underpinned by revenue. This has a tangible impact on the valuation of start-ups and the pace of investment.

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Stock Hawaii Early Stage 269

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2014

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. The amounts from Angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Angel Investor 266

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Venture Capital IRR 266

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

If you want to raise venture capital more easily the advice could be quite practical and counter-intuitive. Many companies that are raising B or C venture capital rounds right now raised their initial money in 2005-2008. Talk openly about valuation and what they’ll accept so you know what you’re dealing with.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 10, 2014

Well, if you group them all up, here''s what you get: Pre-Money Valuations (M). You wind up with about a four-ish valuation, mostly right around four, but with some outliers that bring up the average. So, if you''re looking at pre-money valuations saying "But hey, my deal wasn''t valued at X, WTF??" Pre-Money Valuations (M).

Pre-Money Valuation 146

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation Term Sheet 146

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. Gio expects to get to about $500,000 by the end of this year and asked me for advice on venture funding. You can get cash without diluting your ownership in the company. Because customer financing equals revenue, not equity.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Many Asian entrepreneurs tell me that they want to raise funds from Silicon Valley firms because they perceive the valuations to be higher. The venture capital landscape in Asia is varied and complex, as most of the active firms on the continent are concentrated in just a few areas. Finally, don’t over-optimize on valuation.

Asia 132

Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

Did raising money at a $500 million valuation help secure the $1 billion deal? 99.9999% of you won’t be contemplating raising capital at $500 million any time soon or selling for a billion. My friend Christin Herron of Intel Capital weighed in on the issue. “Impending” valuation. Was this a good thing?

Valuation 316

Valuation Balance Sheet Dilution Term Sheet 316

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2016

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. The amounts from Angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor IRR Valuation Startup 120

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. One of the questions I get, more often than not, is what is the appropriate valuation of my business. Each industry typically has its unique valuation methodologies. Your industry.

Valuation 167

Valuation Forecast Seed Stage .Net 167

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Either way, if you know you’re going to fail, it’s much better to do so with your own money on the line than money that also costs you in dilution, perpetuity or more. You benefit from the capital and investors benefit from a nice discount at conversion, usually in the range of 20 percent. I speak from experience.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

David Teten

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

Download the Startup Options Valuation model here. In particular, this model is designed to help all team members understand the impact of dilution on their options. Enter Raul: This capital table startup options valuation model was created with the purpose of valuing options for an illiquid, early-stage start-up.

Employee 155

Employee IRR Startup Mexico 155

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 16, 2020

They decided to raise venture capital money in order to build a factory, open new stores, and take advantage of their newfound fame to go into wholesale. Part of it was that we had gotten over our skis on valuation, making further investment unattractive to both new and existing investors.

Bankruptcy 95

Bankruptcy Private Equity Seed Stage Dilution 95

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

" Revenue doesn't pay your bills, GM does  —  @msuster 2/ Founders obsess with revenue as a vanity metric. Some even grow "bad" revenue just to show growth. But if you want to add some in the comments section on Medium and I’ll make sure to read them.

Founder 242

Founder Dilution Software Review Later Stage 242

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2015

On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count.

Preferred Stock 120

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Recently I’ve been debating with a number of young startup companies that are raising money in the next few months, “what is the right about of capital to raise at a startup?&#. Your revenue will take longer to ramp then you think. add a buffer.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Silicon Valley Warrant 319

Venture Chronicles

MAY 26, 2010

This is the “tastes great, less filling&# debate that recurs on a regular basis in the venture capital and entrepreneur communities. Venture math is really simple, if you raise $10 million for a company that is valued at $10 million “pre-money&# then you have sold 50% of the equity to the new investors.

Lean 40

Lean Early Stage Valuation Startup 40

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: So, you raised venture capital? Revenue multiple? Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. How do you think they’ll feel if your next round is at a $50 million post money valuation and their hard-earned $25,000 is worth 0.05% of your company?

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

The Equity Kicker

MAY 14, 2012

There are certain types of events that investors look to as evidence that a company has overcome certain challenges and has therefore reduced risk in the business and become deserving of a higher valuation. achieving first revenues. breaking through revenue thresholds – e.g. run-rates of £1m, £5m, £20m and so on.

Finance 118

Finance Valuation Venture Capital Dilution 118

Ben's Blog

MAY 24, 2021

billion multi-stage venture capital firm focused on IT-related investments… I also serve on various investment committees, including for the St. Jude Children’s Cancer Hospital and the Stanford Medical Center, and teach entrepreneurship and venture capital at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

SEC 36

SEC Accredited Investor IPO Technical Review 36

Austin Startup

MARCH 23, 2017

Priced equity financings make sense as they provide clarity around valuation and ownership dilution, while creating alignment between the investors and founders. I point back to Fred Wilson’s blog, specifically a guest post by Andy Sack on revenue based financing. However as the above links show, debt is a trickier subject.

Dilution 54

Dilution Equity Warrant Distribution 54

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. Another concept we need to introduce now is valuation. I say "in theory" because in early stageinvesting, valuations are voodoo. As a company gets more established,its valuation gets closer to an actual market value. Startups valuations aresupposed to rise over time.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. I gave them advice I don’t think they were expecting from a VC, “Don’t raise venture capital for this business. This team is talented.

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

You see, Dan knows more about venture than most people; and if Dan isn’t aware that “pre-seed is a thing,” then I haven’t done a good enough job of explaining to the world what I and K9 do! Seed is the new Series A. (~$2M used get for building product, establishing product-market fit and early revenue). Series A is the new Series B. (~6M-$15M

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The investors backed down; wedid another round of funding at a reasonable valuation; the giantcompany finally gave us a piece of paper saying they didnt own oursoftware; and six months later we were bought by Yahoo for muchmore than the earlier acquirer had agreed to pay. Venture investments are usually described in terms ofthat number.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

The agreement contains language providing that, at the Company’s option , the notes may be converted to shares of Common Stock at a predetermined valuation. Entrepreneurs generally prefer #2, provided it’s at a valuation that wouldn’t be absurdly dilutive given the amount of notes outstanding.

Finance 107

Finance Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 107

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

million at a $15 million pre-money valuation. But we weren’t optimizing for dilution – we were building a $1 billion+ company and we wanted the runway to succeed. Morgan Stanley had proposed a higher valuation to let them in. It quickly became impossible to raise venture capital. Yes, this was stupid. Any deal.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 2, 2010

Historically, that was one where the business was clear and there was some initial revenue, even if slight. That’s going to be very problematic for anyone expecting an up round—or even a flat valuation. Tags: Venture Capital & Technology. At that point, it’s a tradeoff on ownership versus chance of survival, right?

Cap Table 106

Cap Table Seed Stage .Net Venture Capital 106