Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Founder’s perspective. How to build a great forecast. Experience.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I recently wrote a post about why I didn’t think early-stage startups should have COOs. This person can do budgeting, forecasting, strategic planning, legal, HR, office moves, etc. “We’re all equal co-founders and we don’t care about titles.&# I expected it to be controversial and it was.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

" Today I had two conversations with early stage startups (see Free CTO Consulting ). In both cases, the founder and I brainstormed on ways to shift the product in order to get closer to what I perceived as something that would be great. " One was an enterprise software product. Customer Validation 101.

Customer 227

Customer Fractional CTO Viral Lean 227

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Every Flexible VC structure allows founders to access immediate risk capital while preserving exit, growth trajectory, and ownership optionality. . Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

One of the biggest mistakes I see early-stage startups making is hiring “seasoned&# sales professionals or hiring people too senior, too early. I see way too many startup founders who don’t have experience in selling and probably don’t feel that comfortable going to customers and asking for orders.

Hiring 346

Hiring Sales Startup Early Stage 346

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Founded in November 2007 in New York City by Alexis Maybank and Kevin Ryan (co-founder of DoubleClick); CEO is Susan Lyne (ex-CEO Marta Stewart Living Omnimedia) Revenue estimates: $50mm in 2008; $170mm in 2009 (versus budget of $150mm); $450mm forecasted for 2010. Employees: 20.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

VC Cafe

JUNE 30, 2022

While estimates vary widely, we forecast it may generate up to $5 trillion by 2030 Value Creation in the Metaverse, McKinsey June 2022. We’re excited to partner with early stage founders who see the future in the same way, and are working on the technologies that will help bring this vision forward.

Cloud 200

Cloud Venture Capital Cofounder Non-Compete 200

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership at all levels. This applies to both founders and to VC’s that work with them. But I work hard not to “skip&# below the CEO or founders.

CTO Hire 308

CTO Hire Management Technical Review Part-Time VPE 308

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 27, 2018

As part of The Startup Magazine founder interview series , we talked with Travis Batiza, the founder of AssuredLeads, a sales and marketing platform serving the insurance industry. My co-founder, Taylor Stinchfield, and I helped build a rapidly-growing insurance agency prior to founding AssuredLeads. Great advice.

Founder 112

Founder Sales Cofounder Early Stage 112

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. Nor do they exist in the investors of early-stage companies. Founders think in options. And when you get their forecasts they’re always sandbagged. Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people.

Sales 382

Sales Startup Technical Review Matching 382

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

“If you can fix a problem for someone and do it better, quicker, and/or cheaper than your competitor, you’re off to a good start.” – Gabriel Kuperman, founder and CEO of CuePin. We created UpKeep to fill this void—a cloud-based solution that was affordable for any size business.” – Ryan Chan, founder of UpKeep.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 21, 2022

Welcome to ‘500 Founders’ where we ask startup founders and innovators from around New Zealand, What is one piece of advice you would give to people working on their first startup and why? Tina Chou – Founder. ” Dean Brown – Founder. Thomas Clyma – Cofounder. TheTestMart. Triage-Plus.

Founder 88

Founder Cap Table Cofounder New Zealand 88

Up and Running

AUGUST 20, 2018

The most classic business planning scenario is for a startup, for which the plan helps the founders break uncertainty down into meaningful pieces, like the sales projection, expense budget, milestones, and tasks. This simple plan format is also great for early-stage companies that just want to sketch out their idea in broad strokes.

Business Plan 119

Business Plan Technical Review Lean Forecast 119

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

Next, take a look at your actual revenue each month – not forecast, but real revenue coming in each month. If you’re an early stage company, that number may be zero. If so, whatever revenue forecast and sales cycle estimates you had are no longer valid. Are your customers closing for the next few weeks? Laying off people?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Christian Reber, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based 6Wunderkinder. Together with my co-founders, we started by building a simple web app based task manager on PHP called Lunchbox. You can follow him on Twitter, where he is @ChristianReber.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Software Review Cofounder Early Stage 120

Up and Running

OCTOBER 1, 2019

There’s a lot to be said for youthful energy, but early-stage small businesses and startups can leverage the value of experience as well. Nobody wants to think about legal trouble when they launch their business, but no founder can afford to ignore this very real potential pitfall of starting a company.

Hiring 77

Hiring Technical Review Small Business Forecast 77

YoungUpstarts

JULY 27, 2020

by Michael Sipe, author of “ The AVADA Principle ” and founder of 10x Catalyst Groups. Spikes in infections in many states, double-digit unemployment, consumer and lender concerns, and steep economic challenges in the wake of a long shutdown make it difficult to forecast if and when many companies will fully recover.

Merger 205

Merger Forecast Early Stage Small Business 205

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

In venture capital in particular, early-stage companies are often operating in frontier industries, where the rules are unpredictable and conventional analytic frameworks may be misleading. Signal is a fundraising tool for founders run by NFX Guild, which identifies the most relevant VCs for you. . Pitchbot.vc

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

This is the home of Jason Cohen, software startup founder, bootstrapper, investor, and mentor. Jason does an excellent job explaining the math behind more complex subscription forecasting, but also touches on topics like marketing and company culture. As co-founder of Y Combinator and co-founder of the Viaweb which sold to Yahoo!

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Through a network of Delivery Partner organisations, the Start Up Loans programme provides pre-loan support to help applicants to develop a business plan, a fixed-interest loan of up to £25,000 to start or develop their business, and mentoring to support new loan recipients throughout the early stages of their business journey.

Early Stage 107

Early Stage Forecast Small Business Business Plan 107

Eric Friedman

JANUARY 23, 2022

I finalized my notes for the ODX Accelerator program, the early stage accelerator I am building at On Deck , and I wanted to summarize here. I love the start of programs, when teams are excited – all at the earliest stages of company creation. What equity you give early stage advisors matters. Fundraising.

Early Stage 78

Early Stage Equity .Net Vesting 78

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Franchises Franchises Home Franchise 500 Home-Based Low Cost Top New Fast Growing Top Global Biz Opportunities Franchises for Sale Franchises A Bright Forecast for a Solar Panel Installation Franchise. Sweat equity is just one component of early-stage valuation. Franchises Beware of Song Birds When Doing Homework on a Franchise.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). I thought I’d revisit it and share the story… First, you have to rewind mentally to early 2003. But keep in mind at this point Reid’s a first-time CEO.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 18, 2011

His name is often associated with other successful Israelis such as: Shai Agassi , Better Place founder and CEO and former next-in-line to become CEO of SAP, Safra Catz , CFO and co-president of Oracle, and David Perlmutter , an EVP of Intel and GM of Intel Architecture Group.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital New Zealand Startup 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. Nor do they exist in the investors of early-stage companies. And when you get their forecasts they’re always sandbagged. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. My first startup was no different. It’s always too high.

Sales 316

Sales Technical Review Matching Hiring 316

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

I’d like to take a step back and discuss the significance of IP as a component of the overall value that founders intend to create as they grow the company. The questions that arise most with respect to any category of IP at the earliest stages include: How will this affect our chances of getting funded on favorable terms ?

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2010

The startup founder who gets fired just as his/her company is growing into large company could be a cliché – if it wasn’t so true – and painful. I’ve been the founder who got fired, I’ve been on the board as my friends got fired and I’ve been the board member who fired the founders.

Agile 120

Agile Development Team Review Leadership Merger 120

OnlyOnce

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

In most startups, the founder is the first salesperson and while it may be difficult to let that go you’ll eventually scale, add sales reps, or maybe some form of a Sales Manager once there are more than a couple of reps. ( Post 1 of 4 in the series on Scaling CROs). You can find this post on the Bolster blog here ).

Revenue 62

Revenue Hiring Forecast Early Stage 62

Austin Startup

JUNE 22, 2020

Far too often, founders spend inordinate time talking to angels and VCs trying to convince them of their vision, commitment and results. The phrase, “missionaries, not mercenaries,” applies just as equally to early-stage investors as employees. How could a company only six months old have $600k in revenue this month?

Vertical 64

Vertical Early Stage Forecast Revenue 64

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 20, 2018

“Early stage” has been coopted by billion-dollar VCs who try to shoehorn a $10m ARR SaaS company into their idea of risk capital. And the verbal gymnastics of some founders! Why does this matter to founders (and to us)? How to describe the phase of company we seek to invest. A few reasons.

Forecast 108

Forecast Early Stage Dilution Later Stage 108

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 14, 2011

a group of entrepreneurs from TiE Chennai gathered at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) Research Park campus, and we spent the next four hours discussing strategy and tactics of early-stage entrepreneurship. At 11 a.m., The value proposition is well articulated, validated, and very clean. Quantum Arc.

India 126

India Technical Review Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 126

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

Equity for Co-founders. Founders can compensate them in either equity or salary as per their preference. This range decreases if there are more founders. A reasonably accurate forecast of these characteristics serves as the foundation for a reasonably accurate value of the asset. Equity for Advisor. Equity for Employees.

Valuation 108

Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. On the other hand, if the pre-money valuation is $4M, the founders ownership remains at a healthy 80% level.

Valuation 270

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 270

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

It is with this backdrop that I was really happy to learn from my friend Ethan Anderson (HBS alum & founder of RedBeacon) about an awesome program at HBS run by Tom Eisenmann called Launching Technology Ventures. However, I advocate a more nuanced approach for early-stage startup teams” 1. Specifically, 1.

Startup 319

Startup Early Stage Sales Cofounder 319

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

He is the co-­founder and CEO of Quote Roller and PandaDoc. However, figuring out the way your startup should make money could be challenging, especially for us left­-brained founders. Inbound marketing is not easy, and it’s hard to forecast without trying it for a few months first. Inbound marketing has some downsides.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. On the other hand, if the pre-money valuation is $4M, the founders ownership remains at a healthy 80% level.

Pre-Money Valuation 246

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 246

OnlyOnce

JUNE 9, 2022

” So I was intrigued when I saw a new way of doing all-hands meetings published by my friend Daniel Odio (DROdio) on his founder community called FounderCulture. But for early stage companies, there’s no tried-and-true method. Sometimes other founders write these. I call it “plagiarizing with pride.”

Cofounder 62

Cofounder Hosting Forecast Early Stage 62