Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Who would not want to joint the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? The days of lengthy, text-heavy, business plan documents prepared by expensive experts are behind us. You don’t have to be a heavily funded later stage startup to get access to “big data,” customer analytics, and metrics dashboards.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

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.] The Valuation Question.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

ConversionXL

AUGUST 11, 2021

A sponsorship strategy should cover five areas: Assets Audience data Asset valuation Activations Market identification. Asset valuation. Your sponsor proposal document or webpage is a deal-maker or a deal-breaker. The sponsor proposal is the most important, but least-understood, document in the sponsor industry.

Audience 139

Audience Social Media Email Ruby 139

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

With the real data from that surge, you need to take a hard look at business model realities, cost of customer acquisition, inventory costs, and other key metrics. Even huge valuation increases will evaporate overnight when profitability is nowhere in sight, and you run out of money.

Silicon Valley 215

Silicon Valley Bankruptcy Metrics Valuation 215

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

So how do you use financial projections as valuation metrics when you know the odds of those being accurate predictors of the future are so very unreliable? million), but certainly also allowing the investor to put much lower values into each test, resulting in valuations well below that amount. The Method should allow for this.

Valuation 48

Valuation North Carolina Oklahoma City Silicon Valley 48

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Regardless, this document is a viable alternative to creating decks at the seed stage, and we wanted to deconstruct what that might look like below. Examples of housekeeping include the following list, though not every item will appear every time: Finance: Cash out date, burn rate, 409A valuation, cap table, common/preferred stock dashboard.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

David Teten

AUGUST 6, 2015

The official Standards are more granular, and are the equivalent of programming style: a set of standard methods which help you create an easy-to-use and self-documenting model. HOW TO MAKE THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT READABLE. I think far too few people take advantage of styles in both text documents and spreadsheets.

Balance Sheet 60

Balance Sheet Software Review Forecast Acquisition 60

David Teten

JULY 23, 2019

– 1 sentence with most exciting metric from their growth. – Ideally revenues and other financial metrics if we can include that. – Fundraising history summary, including notable current investors and last round valuation. . TEMPLATE DOCUMENT FOR SHARING INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITH OTHER VCs.

Portfolio 60

Portfolio Elevator Pitch Syndicate Syndication 60

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Include a current valuation estimate. Financial forecast and metrics. People ask me if they really need ANY business plan, unless they are looking for an outside investor.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2010

It’s human nature to prioritize the metrics that get measured, so the simple act of keeping track is often enough to have a significant positive impact. You should document the status of your partnership negotiations so that you can easily gauge progress. Tags: scorecard venture value Akira Hirai business valuation.

Intellectual Property 223

Intellectual Property .Net Valuation Distribution 223

View from Seed

DECEMBER 11, 2019

Yes, there are intermittent points of feedback along the way, like valuation marks from subsequent rounds of financing. It’s been documented repeatedly that the mean/median fund (let alone an individual investor) faces subpar performance, and the true winners in the space are outsized. And that’s for the successful investors!

Venture Capital 204

Venture Capital Cap Table Partner LP 204

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Communications with New Board & Investors Ensure all of your investors have all legal documentation of the round, including an electronic version of the final cap table. Hire a firm to conduct a 409a valuation to set a strike price for your employee stock options, which nees to be at or above “fair market” value.

Founder 156

Founder Cap Table Stock Options PR 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2016

When the business starts to scale, you need documented processes and people with the right skills and training who can do the right work without you. You need to nurture non-organic growth partnerships and acquisitions to maximize your valuation. Trust your gut, and ignore naysayers.

Social Network 120

Social Network Demand Valuation Acquisition 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Include a current valuation estimate. Financial forecast and metrics. People ask me if they really need ANY business plan, unless they are looking for an outside investor.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Up and Running

JULY 22, 2019

Be sure to demonstrate its potential by clearly documenting key performance indicators, highlighting key customers, and demonstrating realistic revenue projections. To help investors get an insider view on company growth, it’s important to share meaningful metrics consistently. People love to “average up” by doubling down on winners.

Canada 78

Canada Early Stage Valuation Finance 78

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Include a current valuation estimate. Financial forecast and metrics. People ask me if they really need ANY business plan, unless they are looking for an outside investor.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

That Google document provides cut and pasteable text I can share with other investors, based on their stage, focus, and appetite. . Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. If you have one, please contact me.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Include a current valuation estimate. Financial forecast and metrics. People ask me if they really need ANY business plan, unless they are looking for an outside investor.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

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. If the Micro-VCs are looking for Series A-like metrics, what does a company do when it’s just getting started? So, I’d like to thank Dan for shocking me into action.

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

Board Effect

MAY 13, 2019

At this stage, startups should be taking the time to develop a cap table structure that supports growth; plugging in the formulas to eventually model valuations and equity dilution during seed-stage negotiations. Managing Cap Tables in Seed and Angel Funding. This is just enough to cover your bases at this stage of the game.

Cap Table 40

Cap Table Management Liquidity Event Dilution 40

Software By Rob

APRIL 2, 2014

Ensure they document everything they do in detail. For example, in SaaS businesses, there are a number of key metrics that buyers expect to see, such as life-time value, churn, product breakdown split (assuming you have packages), conversion data and much more.

Affiliate 67

Affiliate Valuation Reputation Sales 67

Up and Running

JANUARY 14, 2022

Our major challenge was how do we compete with companies that have billion-dollar valuations, millions in investor funding, and millions in revenue? We’re in the electronic signature and document automation space. This metric let us know the potential traffic available in our niche – excluding brand searches. Domain authority.

SEO 104

SEO Software Review Search Acquisition 104

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

What most founders don’t realize is: Every stage of a startup requires a different set of metrics and milestones and founder skills. What is some of the critical metrics that matter? Note that each market – web/SAAS/physical products – and channel – online/direct sales – has different metrics and a different funnel steps.)For

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Up and Running

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Whichever type of plan you choose, remember that a business plan is a living document. Milestones and metrics that you’ll need to hit to be viable. Others predict Automated Valuation Models will provide more sophisticated revenue and expense information, possibly replacing financial analysts. Milestones and metrics.

El Paso 61

El Paso Business Plan Technical Review Forecast 61

Professor VC

AUGUST 26, 2011

What are the key drivers and metrics? Thought it would be appropriate to share his questions and my answers below related to the topic at hand: The main questions have to do with presentation of documents to VCs. Byron Deeter has a good blog post on SAAS metrics. The importance is what is behind the numbers. How do you think?

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Hockey Stick Venture Capital 35

Software By Rob

APRIL 2, 2014

Ensure they document everything they do in detail. For example, in SaaS businesses, there are a number of key metrics that buyers expect to see, such as life-time value, churn, product breakdown split (assuming you have packages), conversion data and much more.

Affiliate 27

Affiliate Valuation Reputation Sales 27

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 5, 2020

This means that creating a simplified and easy-to-navigate software that allows real-time metrics and communication to be had in a professional management environment is currently an industry for the taking. This may be due to the complexity or upkeep that is needed to be maintained by a non-remote team. 10- Virtual field trips for kids.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur China 157

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

One key to this population growth has been the remarkable ease of the Unicorn fundraising process: Pick a new valuation well above your last one, put together a presentation deck, solicit offers, and watch the hundreds of million of dollars flow into your bank account. By January of 2016, that number had ballooned to 229.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Startup Company Lawyer

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

This was particularly common from 2001 to 2003, after the dot-com crash when companies had raised a large amount of venture financing at high valuations. Under a change of control bonus plan, eligible employees are entitled to certain benefits upon change of control transactions as specifically defined in the plan documents.

Retention 31

Retention Liquidation Preference Employee Common Stock 31

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

Friendster’s valuation set the tone for the entire social networking space. LinkedIn would create a networked resume document — a resume 2.0 — instead of traditional job listings with private resumes. And show that you’re focused on the metrics that matter: revenue numbers, engagement traction, etc.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

ConversionXL

APRIL 12, 2017

Jared Spool: Is Design Metrically Opposed? Useless measures and silly metrics. Metric: A measure we track (usually over time). A metric should tell you what you will do differently. Combine qualitative usability research and quantitative custom metrics (not metrics that come out of the box). Image Credit.

San Antonio 86

San Antonio Metrics B2B Analytics 86

Cracking the Code

JULY 6, 2007

SaaS business metrics: why are they different? I was surprised today when I went through the NetSuite IPO filling (S1) to see that it looked very much like any Enterprise software document - not a single mention of churn or % of recurring revenues. Different models require different performance metrics. Friday, July 06, 2007.

Software Review 66

Software Review Metrics Valuation Technical Review 66

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Managewith.us - Collaborative Task Manager Mavenlink - manage project communications, documents, schedules, budgets, payments Industrial Logic – Agile eLearning Misc Office Help Google Apps – cloud mail server, calendar, docs, etc. Lighthouse – Issue Tracking Tool.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

For modifications, please edit the original document here. Scanning / Document Management. Startup Metrics for Pirates â?? SaaS Metrics Tutorial â?? Mavenlink -Â manage project communications, documents, schedules, budgets, payments. Boilerplate Venture Funding Documents. model legal documents.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53