Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Should SaaS companies trade at a 24x Enterprise Value (EV) to Next Twelve Month (NTM) Revenue multiple as they did in November 2021? Median valuations for early-stage valuations tripled from around $20m pre-money valuations to $60m with plenty of deals being prices above $100m. What is a VC To Do? super size or super focus.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. I believe that Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Sweat Equity 207

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 207

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2020

by Zain Jaffer, serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Zain Ventures. When it occurs, the consequences can be swift and devastating, wreaking potential havoc on a once steady stream of revenue. In the early stages, it isn’t uncommon for businesses to bank their earnings on a handful of customers (or sometimes, just one).

Customer 347

Customer Development Team Review Advisory Board Private Equity 347

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

It follows up on my posts discussing why early stage startups should — or should not — move to Silicon Valley. Should Early Stage Startups Move to Austin because of Capital? Tim O’Reilly, Founder at O’Reilly Media and promoter of open source and Web 2.0 Should Early Stage Startups Move to Austin because of Capital?

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Texas 48

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Rational burn profile, up to 50% of revenue at close, scaling down. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

Digital advertising spend is projected to grow 25% this year to $191 billion, and Google (69%), Facebook (59%), Snapchat (116%) and Twitter (87%) all just reported rapid growth in their year over year advertising revenues. founders, marketers, investors?—?and Founders, marketers and growth leaders?—?join

Founder 424

Founder Product Cofounder Acquisition 424

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1 That includes us.

Early Stage 111

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

In addition to being the startup entrepreneur, there are other key roles where Boomers can be a force in driving successful startups, in concert with leaders from Gen-X and Gen-Y: Early-stage angel investors. Supportive co-founder and executive positions. Member of the Advisory Board.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

Eric Friedman

JULY 19, 2019

Many early stage investors look for financial models for 3+ years from founders to make an investment. Like most posts, this request/conversation has come up enough to turn it into my thoughts + the best resources I have to help founders. In fact, for early stage companies you are usually wildly wrong.

Early Stage 114

Early Stage Startup Framework Revenue 114

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 4, 2019

At Wildcat, we recommend benchmarking your startup against the four core architectural pillars of the Traction Gap Framework: product , revenue , team and systems. Each has specific requirements linked to each stage and value inflection point of the Traction Gap journey. What does this mean for their early stage investors?

Framework 127

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 127

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

At Wildcat, we recommend benchmarking your startup against the four core architectural pillars of the Traction Gap Framework: product , revenue , team and systems. Each has specific requirements linked to each stage and value inflection point of the Traction Gap journey. What does this mean for their early stage investors?

Framework 113

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 113

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Client work serves as an additional source of revenue to form new startups. This outside work provides a valuable source of revenue able to be used to fund operations. Over time, this revenue reduces the dependency on outside venture capital sources. It also provides critical domain experience in a variety of business sectors.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups. These are emerging group of professional investors (venture capitalists, ala VCs), who are investing from a fund of other people’s money, with a particular focus on seed-stage startup opportunities. Early-stage startup. Super Angels.

Early Stage 253

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 253

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2013

Once you are able to achieve some real “traction” with your business (paying customers, revenue stream), it may seem the time to relax a bit, but in fact this is the point where many founders start to flounder. Investors often say that successfully navigating the early stages of a startup requires lots of street smarts, guts, and luck.

Early Stage 235

Early Stage Startup Founder Entrepreneur 235

techcrunch.com

AUGUST 12, 2012

Zachary Bogue And Matt Ocko Launch Data Collective, An Early Stage Fund For Big Data Startups. Data Collective has already made 46 investments from its first fund, which it calls “comparable with other seed and early stage funds” (Ocko and Bogue wouldn’t reveal fund size.). Headphones. CrunchBase.

Early Stage 70

Early Stage San Francisco Los Angeles Southern California 70

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. Where else can fast-growing companies get funding?

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

The Next Web

JANUARY 22, 2014

Our report last week on the salaries that startup founders pay themselves stirred up a lot of discussion here on The Next Web, Hacker News , Twitter and beyond. Startup revenue and founder salary. Startup revenue and founder salary. The closest tie between founder salary and another datapoint was found in revenue.

Salary 152

Salary Founder Entrepreneur Burn Rate 152

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

buy out an entire company for its revenue and profits. These include the product itself, the customer, the distribution channel, revenue model, how to get, keep and grow customers, resources and activities needed to build the business and costs.). If they decide to buy, large companies can: license/acquire intellectual property.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” Founder: “$250k / month.” Founder: “Um. Why are you raising so much?”

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

by Lu Zhang, founder and managing partner of Fusion Fund. Competition from other startups and established incumbents, constraints on time and capital, and limited access to talent and technology resources are just a few of the hurdles nearly every first-time founder faces while trying to build a business. Be ready when it counts.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

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. Early-stage. Incubators and Accelerators.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

It occurred to me that although we mentioned our new thematic approach when we raised our last fund in 2017, we haven’t really shared a broader manifesto about how we are approaching the early stage market. It’s been an interesting several years in the early stage venture eco-system, and the sands have shifted considerably.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 24, 2019

As seed rounds have atomized, it’s not uncommon for founders to raise 3 or even 4 rounds prior to a series A. The reality is that if a founder raised every one of these rounds, and lead investors always got their “target” ownership, the level of dilution would be ridiculous. Founders with limited experience. should be avoided.

Dilution 149

Dilution B2B Burn Rate Early Stage 149

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2011

The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups, the hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play. These are emerging group of professional investors (venture capitalists, ala VCs), who are investing from a fund of other people’s money, with a particular focus on seed-stage startup opportunities.

Early Stage 231

Early Stage Seed Stage Angel Investor Silicon Valley 231

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

To most founders a startup is not a job, but a calling. Founders can now access the largest pool of risk capital that ever existed –in the form of Private Equity (Angel Investors, family offices , Venture Capitalists (VC’s) and Hedge Funds.). What does this mean for startup founders? Here’s the thing most founders miss.

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Venture Capital 120

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 28, 2012

But when it comes to core technical skills, more and more entrepreneurs are opting to partner with technical co-founders rather than hiring someone for an in-house position. I really believe that what’s most important for a founder is the ability to have a vision for the company, make sales and hire well. Laura Roeder , LKR.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Cofounder Founder Software Review 131

Berkonomics

JANUARY 28, 2021

Why fight about valuation, or disappoint the founder at the outset? The first is of a 2004 startup that I cofounded and led the investment group for several early rounds, then VC rounds. Email readers, continue here…] The second story involves the same founder. Lessons founders learned. And here’s the “why.”.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 62

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Tempted by large sums of money and the perceived validation that comes along with being funded, founders turn to venture capitalists to accelerate their company’s growth. While the rewards may be a boon to their company in the short term, the consequences of accepting outside funding too early can be debilitating.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

NZ Entrepreneur

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

While capital to large tech companies is increasing, smaller rounds for early-stage companies is drying up. This decline has also become evident in startup accelerator programs shifting their focus on later-stage scale-ups that provide higher returns. Each stage of tech company growth has unique challenges.

Developer 68

Developer Early Stage Later Stage Acquisition 68

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2021

Once you are able to achieve some real “traction” with your business (paying customers, revenue stream), it may seem the time to relax a bit, but in fact this is the point where many founders start to flounder. Investors often say that successfully navigating the early stages of a startup requires lots of street smarts, guts, and luck.

Entrepreneur 422

Entrepreneur Early Stage Founder Revenue 422

Steve Blank

AUGUST 29, 2011

Max and his partners had interviewed and analyzed over 650 early-stage Internet startups. In May they released the first Startup Genome Report — an in-depth analysis on what makes early-stage Internet startups successful. 93% of startups that scale prematurely never break the $100k revenue per month threshold.

Software Review 292

Software Review Early Stage Technical Review Startup 292

YoungUpstarts

JULY 31, 2019

by Anish Sebastian and Juan Pablo Segura, co-founders of Babyscripts. Founders need seed capital to get their operations up and running, and to begin generating revenue. Ten years ago, Ward Cunningham published a Youtube video that introduced the concept of “technical debt” to the world.

Cofounder 127

Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Cofounder Seed Capital 127

Version One Ventures

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Guest post by Mischa Steiner-Jovic, founder and CEO of Awesense Wireless. As a first-time entrepreneur and the founder of Awesense , an early stage tech company focused on helping utility companies reduce inefficiencies and losses in the electrical grid, I’ve had to learn to get used to rejection.

Founder 143

Founder Technical Review Early Stage Security 143

SiliconHills

JUNE 21, 2018

Those early-stage companies have raised $2.5 million and generated more than $1 million in revenue, said Preston James, DivInc co-founder. “In The post Nine Early Stage Startups Pitch at DivInc’s Fourth Demo Day appeared first on SiliconHills. In the next three to five years, you are going […].

Early Stage 84

Early Stage Cofounder Startup Austin 84

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups. These are emerging group of professional investors (venture capitalists, ala VCs), who are investing from a fund of other people’s money, with a particular focus on seed-stage startup opportunities. Early-stage startup. Super Angels.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177