Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

With fewer than 10 employees but almost $2-billion dollars in the bank, they plan on jumping right in. Tech IPO prices exploded and subsequent trading prices rose to dizzying heights as the stock prices became disconnected from the traditional metrics of revenue and profits. But NewTV doesn’t plan on testing these hypotheses.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Cashflow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2018

How do you find the balance between not too small to prove itself but not too big to have an off-putting valuation? Minimizing losses in the year before you begin shopping around for buyers will increase profit and help you get that higher valuation. Another important metric is churn. This plan will help you with that.

Valuation 145

Valuation Technical Review Exit Strategy Metrics 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Companies horde cash and squeeze the most revenue and margin from the money they use. Metrics like Return on Net Assets, Return on Capital and Internal Rate of Return are the guiding stars of the board and CEO. Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter. This is the kind most of us are familiar with.

Private Equity 328

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 328

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.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

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. Next, take a look at your actual revenue each month – not forecast, but real revenue coming in each month. Laying off people?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Who would not want to joint the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Before you bring on partners, develop intellectual property, raise capital, or generate revenues, you need to establish an official business entity. Rounding out the team with employees and freelancers.

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

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

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

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Good whitepaper on advertising measurement metrics | by Ben Kunz – crowdspring.co/HsVIMR. Qualities Of Truly Great Employees | Business Insider by Dharmesh Shah - crowdspring.co/1h0QmFY. ask employees for feedback instead of waiting for them to come to you - crowdspring.co/1akonho. Perfect employees don’t exist.

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

There were no metrics. Him: On metrics. Revenue multiple? Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. If we priced it based on any metrics your company would likely be worth less than 7 figures at your A round. People seem concerned about valuation.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

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. I prefer a financial goal, such as “achieve $20 million in revenue within five years.” There are many roads to Rio, so they say.

Later Stage 62

Later Stage Early Stage Valuation Acquisition 62

ConversionXL

AUGUST 11, 2021

A sponsorship strategy should cover five areas: Assets Audience data Asset valuation Activations Market identification. Asset valuation. An inventory of metrics: Click-through rates, newsletter subscribers, downloads, social engagement, revenue figures, etc. Your most obvious asset is the product itself. Source ).

Audience 139

Audience Social Media Email Ruby 139

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

In theory when you went public, everyone’s shares were now tradable on the stock exchange, but usually the underwriters required a six month “lockup” when company insiders (employees and investors) couldn’t sell. While there was an occasional bad apple, the public markets rewarded companies with revenue growth and sustainable profits.

Silicon Valley 230

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 230

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 23, 2022

The CEO shared the revenue target for the year at X, and the revenue target for next year at 3X. One of the board members asked a simple question: “Why is revenue our North Star KPI? One of the board members asked a simple question: “Why is revenue our North Star KPI?”

Metrics 179

Metrics Revenue B2C Portfolio 179

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. ” Historically, investing was a manual, artisan process.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

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. An employee walks up to me and says, “Mark, I’m thinking about buying a house. Sure, our revenue is growing, but is that enough to raise an internal round? It was not.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

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

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. Remember you can’t sustain a business or social cause with no revenue or profit. The smart ones identify and budget innovative approaches, and use metrics to tools to monitor effectiveness.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy 120

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

There were no metrics. Him: On metrics. Revenue multiple? Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. If we priced it based on any metrics your company would likely be worth less than 7 figures at your A round. People seem concerned about valuation.

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

Build Employee Software. Employees are now powerful customers, not just their managers! Cloud accounting is all about matching revenue and costs to consumption…well, except for professional services! SaaS companies use different metrics to calculate renewals. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark).

Software Review 48

Software Review Cloud Technical Review Sales Cycle 48

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 26, 2022

So first, we were much more sort of with a high growth rate, and we did not even care about how we got the revenue when we got it. And now we are much more careful about revenue quality revenues. So the quality of growth has implications on the revenue stream’s sustainability. Would you say that? . David Zhang.

Partner 132

Partner Cofounder Retention Acquisition 132

David Teten

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

The model outputs standard financial statements and key operating metrics based on a wide range of user inputs, and is highly customizable and entirely transparent. The Income Statement sheet allows you to model expenses and revenues as they occur. Download the template financial model in Excel here.

Balance Sheet 154

Balance Sheet Startup Equity Valuation 154

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

" Revenue doesn't pay your bills, GM does  —  @msuster 2/ Founders obsess with revenue as a vanity metric. Some even grow "bad" revenue just to show growth. Negative employees affect others like a disease and you can't ever turn them around.

Founder 242

Founder Dilution Software Review Later Stage 242

The Next Web

DECEMBER 8, 2013

Yes, your firm must produce more revenue or cut costs in order to stay healthy – but the health of your agency is deeper than pure financial growth. Revenue: As a small agency, you are always in search of revenue. Keep in mind that the bottom-line isn’t always found in the ledger.

Cofounder 140

Cofounder Valuation Revenue Social Network 140

Up and Running

JULY 22, 2019

For instance, the 2019 TSX Venture 50 companies—which are all growth-stage companies accessing investors on TSX Venture Exchange—reported increasing their employee count by roughly 2,200 people in 2018, representing an average hiring growth of 307 percent. This would not have been possible without the support of their investors. Start early.

Canada 78

Canada Early Stage Valuation Finance 78

Berkonomics

MARCH 31, 2016

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. Email readers, continue here…] I prefer a financial goal, such as “achieve $20 million in revenue within five years.”

Later Stage 48

Later Stage Early Stage Valuation Acquisition 48

Bryce Dot VC

DECEMBER 30, 2016

we’ve developed a simple 12 step program for those of you looking to break the habit in 2017: Step 1- We admitted that we are powerless over VC’s partnership dynamics, tastes in trends, and their ever moving milestones—and that trying to time, or anticipate, them will make our lives, and the lives of our customers and employees unmanageable.

Venture Capital 45

Venture Capital Programming Metrics Valuation 45

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

— Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. Typically, this caliber of bankers wouldn’t talk to you unless your company had five profitable quarters of increasing revenue.

Founder 263

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 263

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Point Nine Capital uses 15Five for continuous employee feedback. Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. Lighter Capital, a Revenue Based Investing VC, offers a Cost of Capital Calculator. 7) Negotiate .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

It’s not just matter of personal pride and fulfillment, it’s a matter of meeting your own expectations and keeping your promise to your clients and your employees. While one may see profits as a success, others may view it as customer satisfaction, employee retention, or innovation. Thanks to Hosea Chang, Hayden ! #2-

Entrepreneur 133

Entrepreneur .Net Metrics Revenue 133

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Some will demonstrate strategically justifiable metrics and have fantastic ‘up round’ exits; others may see liquidation preferences kick in which will negatively impact founders and employees; others may fulfill the adage “IPO is the new down round” , which has been the case for more than half of the public companies on our list. “We

Liquidation Preference 70

Liquidation Preference Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net 70

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

They feel the money can and should be spent on ways to grow the company, so they shift into growth mode by hiring more employees, paying themselves, hiring salespeople, running paid ad campaigns, and spending on overhead. Clearly investors should promote the idea that startups need to have clear metrics for terminating the discovery mode.

Metrics 136

Metrics Cofounder Cram Down Liquidity Event 136

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 15, 2011

For a public company, the stock price often reflects short term revenues and profits. Importantly, simply building your revenues and profits (particularly just in the short-term) are not a perfect indicator of the value of your company. monthly, quarterly, annual) goals for metrics like revenues and profits. You should.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Salary Stock Revenue 96