Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

Early-stage investors in technology startups are only looking for growth-oriented companies that can achieve an “exit&# someday – either via selling your company to a larger company or via an IPO. They did an inside round, spent a bunch of money and then went through a fire sale of the business less than 2 years later.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Scalable Startup

JANUARY 27, 2011

Flat to negative revenue growth is a real red flag, especially for early stage companies. If you’re venture funded, things get kind of ugly -unhappy board members, cut off from communications, down- rounds to keep you going, or no more funding. Your stakeholders start to wonder what is going wrong? Press Mentions?

Revenue 22

Revenue Early Stage Down Round Software Review 22

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

In 2010, we were recruiting for a Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Backupify, and it was clear that many of the people I was interviewing wanted the CEO role. I called the recruiter running the search and told him I was going to step down and hire a CEO. It’s nice to get great valuations and hire A-players.

Founder 120

Founder Startup Cofounder Business Model 120

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Sustainable growth: Prioritise sales efficiency over growth at all costs. So in terms of hiring, get people that can help you build the product faster… anything that minimizes the time between observing a need or a problem, and the execution or the fix for it.” A large board not only slows you down, but it removes agency.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

However, many variables come into play when investing at the early stage. A VC’s job is to spot sustainable trends while they are in formation stages, and form a point of view on the timing of the adoption of those trends. Build solid relationships with strategic partners and customers.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

However, many variables come into play when investing at the early stage. A VC’s job is to spot sustainable trends while they are in formation stages, and form a point of view on the timing of the adoption of those trends. Build solid relationships with strategic partners and customers.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

thebarefootvc

JULY 26, 2015

However, many variables come into play when investing at the early stage. A VC’s job is to spot sustainable trends while they are in formation stages, and form a point of view on the timing of the adoption of those trends. Build solid relationships with strategic partners and customers.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40