Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Minimum viable products (MVPs) are recommended for validating the market, with iterative enhancement to quickly meet market feedback. Rounding out the team with employees and freelancers.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Approximately 46% to 80% of middle-market sell-side transactions fail to close and, according to Forbes, 8 out of 10 businesses do not sell at all. People refers to the management and employees that are currently employed by the business. Processes refers to operating procedures and employee handbooks.

Exit Strategy 246

Exit Strategy Intellectual Property Valuation Metrics 246

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. Use social media for early marketing. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Use future cash for payments where possible.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2017

A CPA provides input on tax structure and metrics, and assists with due diligence related to your industry. Think about your employee and ownership hats. Protect your company’s customers, employees and intellectual property. Plan for your company’s eventual valuation. Must you wear both simultaneously?

Partner 208

Partner Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence 208

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. ” Fire, Ready, Aim. And it may work.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. Use social media for early marketing. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Use future cash for payments where possible.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2018

by Ryan Gould, Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Services at Elevation Marketing. How do you find the balance between not too small to prove itself but not too big to have an off-putting valuation? First up is the size of the customer base itself, especially in relation to the size of the market.

Valuation 145

Valuation Technical Review Exit Strategy Metrics 145

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. Every business and brand has unique requirements to fit into their market environment. Leadership brand development.

Leadership 120

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Think about this; 7 years ago Nokia owned 50% of the handset market. Fast-forward to today—Apple is the most profitable Smartphone company in the world and in Spain Android commands a market share of more than 90%. Its worldwide market share of Smartphones has dwindled to 5%. Apple owned 0%.

Private Equity 328

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 328

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Cashflow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. Use social media for early marketing. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Use future cash for payments where possible.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Is Small Business Marketing On Facebook A Complete Failure? 7 Ways to Make Your Business Card Your Best Marketing Tool – entm.ag/12oQZzW. But a nearly $4 billion valuation?

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Sam also had a vision as early as 2012 about how MakeSpace would be a large employer of middle-income jobs: The company would hire employees rather than just have contractors and he would lead the effort to ensure they had opportunities for growth and benefits for their families. How profitable is my product or service?

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. Use social media for early marketing. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Use future cash for payments where possible.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 24, 2023

The focus at this level, primarily in companies that have a long history of success, usually in very stable markets, is to continue sustaining and exploiting existing advantages. I see this often in highly regulated markets, and ones driven by bureaucrats. Maturing proficiency with innovation metrics.

Silicon Valley 277

Silicon Valley Government Early Stage Valuation 277

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

When you see startups like SpaceX and Pinterest grow from a low valuation to a billion dollars in just a few years, it’s easy to assume that if you just keep doing what you are doing, you can get there as well. Of course, customer relationships, and penetration into new market segments are also critical elements.

Merger 379

Merger Due Diligence SEC IPO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Who would not want to joint the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Minimum viable products (MVPs) are recommended for validating the market, with iterative enhancement to quickly meet market feedback. Rounding out the team with employees and freelancers.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

Large companies are sending employees to work at home. If you’re running a startup or small business, your first priority (after your family) is keeping your employees and customers safe. This math works in a normal market…. Unfortunately, it’s no longer a normal market. What are the new financial metrics?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

Hundreds of new micro funds somehow keep getting into the market. If every sector is to be transformed by technology, and if private markets keep growing, it makes today’s conditions understandable. More and more angels will be minted as the 2019 IPO class emerges. 5/ Early Effects Of The Softbank Effect.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Bottom Up Market Sizing » January 12, 2010. Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations. The Valuation Question. When companies seeking their first round of serious funding are good enough to receive a term-sheet from an investor, the first issue that always arises is valuation.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

Image via Pixabay As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Document processes and metrics for economies of scale.

Silicon Valley 215

Silicon Valley Bankruptcy Metrics Valuation 215

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 5, 2019

Entrepreneurs nowadays want to boast about brand-name investors, huge rounds of funding, and a team of high-skill employees. Are you fresh out of Y Combinator with $1 million in funding at a $10 million valuation? But flattering media attention too easily shifts focus away from the metrics that matter. You’re clearly killing it!

Valuation 162

Valuation Cofounder Metrics SEC 162

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 30, 2017

There is lots of it available in the market. Valuations are always astronomical for other companies (i.e., If your venture continually has too little of it, you either are spending too much time looking for it, your valuation is stupid, your management team is inept, your venture is not worthy, or more likely all of the above.

Warrant 195

Warrant Valuation Metrics Startup 195

ConversionXL

AUGUST 11, 2021

All companies that This Week in Startups’ audience of entrepreneurs, company founders, and marketers would be interested in. A well-thought-out strategy lays the foundations for your sponsorship efforts in the same way a marketing strategy guides your marketing campaigns. Asset valuation. Market identification.

Audience 139

Audience Social Media Email Ruby 139

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 16, 2014

Instagram had 13 employees when they sold for a billion dollars. That was before WhatsApp sold for 19 billion dollars, with 55 employees. That’s $345m per employee, compared to Instagram’s paltry $77m per employee. What does it actually mean that metric X is better than average and metric Y is below?

Metrics 246

Metrics Early Stage Retention Revenue 246

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

There were no metrics. Him: On metrics. Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. It’s simply what a market is willing to pay based on a future belief that your company will grow and non-linear rates and be worth much more in the future. Me: I know.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

An investor had few hard metrics other than the actual financials, and little technology to make the process scaleable. Over the past few decades, better metrics became available, and investors could take a more analytical, data-driven approach. 1) Market fund. .” Historically, investing was a manual, artisan process.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. Valuation caps can come into play in settings other than seed-stage convertible note financing rounds. Read on for a fuller explanation.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Berkonomics

JUNE 16, 2022

We can invent lots of metrics to measure progress for a leader, including revenue, profit, employee satisfaction, cost containment, percentage of available market, and more. But there is one overwhelming method of appraising the effectiveness of a business leader. What is your leadership end game goal?

Later Stage 62

Later Stage Early Stage Valuation Acquisition 62

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

According to a new report by investment bank GP Bullhound, the Consumer Subscription Software (CSS) market is expected to be worth $150 billion a year by 2022. In addition, it helps Apple take potential market share from other services like Spotify (music) or Disney+ (streaming) or Peloton (fitness). That’s how Slack got started.

B2C 187

B2C Cloud Valuation Acquisition 187

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

A $1 trillion global market. Good press and industry mojo wasn’t enough to overcome the financial metrics of the business and the offers came in at more like $10 million. The business concept was strong, we just needed to tweak it to adjust for market changes and we needed patience and resilience. Dilution / valuation.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 21, 2016

Bill Gurley wrote an incredible post yesterday titled On the Road to Recap: Why the unicorn financing market just became dangerous … for all involved. Also, they have a strong belief that any sign of weakness (such as a down round) will have a catastrophic impact on their culture, hiring process, and ability to retain employees.

Marketing 70

Marketing Down Round Startup IRR 70

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

To do this they have to accomplish five things; 1) get deal flow – via networking and legwork, they identify likely industries, companies and teams with the potential for rapid growth (less than 10 years), 2) evaluate those companies and teams on the basis of technology, market opportunity, and team.

Silicon Valley 233

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 233

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

For startup founders, it’s never too early to start thinking about putting together a target market advisory board. The target market advisory board should consist of 2–4 industry veterans who have connections to C-level execs and VPs in your target market. Target market advisors can help add to your credibility.

Advisory Board 48

Advisory Board Sweat Equity Marketing Vertical 48

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

As the first segment to emerge in scale and the most application oriented, SaaS has lead the market to date with the largest market size, highest gross margins, and highest per-seat pricing. Build Employee Software. Employees are now powerful customers, not just their managers! SaaS 13 Index Valuation. at 7:42 PM.

Software Review 48

Software Review Cloud Technical Review Sales Cycle 48

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 27, 2008

Lehman Bank employees stage a protest by blockading the entrance to the Banks Headquarters. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. sales and marketing. (10). Impact of the recession on SaaS Sales&Marketing pr. Measuring sales and marketing effectiveness of Saa.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Europe Venture Capital 48

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

There were no metrics. Him: On metrics. Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. It’s simply what a market is willing to pay based on a future belief that your company will grow and non-linear rates and be worth much more in the future. Your A round?

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

Of course, I understand and don’t condone bad actors who get greedy, and exploit ways to unjustly squeeze customers and employees. Show an aggressive marketing and sales plan. With today’s rapid pace of change and information overload, word-of-mouth and social media alone is not a viable marketing plan.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy 120