Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Rounding out the team with employees and freelancers. Successful startup teams today have a mix of remote employees, freelancers, and contractors. Fundraising through online platforms and crowdfunding.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

People refers to the management and employees that are currently employed by the business. Committed employees and tenured management teams can act as a value driver as they are directly involved with the direction and growth of your company. 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. 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 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

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

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

In a new book, “ The Leadership Capital Index ,” Dave Ulrich, a best-selling author, business consultant, and business school professor, provides some real insights and metrics on what makes up the elements of goodwill in the minds of top valuation experts. I have paraphrased his key points here as follows: Leader personal impact.

Leadership 120

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation 120

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

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Metrics like Return on Net Assets, Return on Capital and Internal Rate of Return are the guiding stars of the board and CEO. As Harvard professor Clayton Christensen noted, these efficiency metrics provided wise guidance for times when capital was scarce and raising money was hard. This is the kind most of us are familiar with.

Private Equity 326

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 326

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

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

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Who would not want to joint the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Rounding out the team with employees and freelancers. Successful startup teams today have a mix of remote employees, freelancers, and contractors. Fundraising through online platforms and crowdfunding.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 24, 2023

Maturing proficiency with innovation metrics. Innovation becomes a basic part of the company culture, and a critical mass of employees recognize their role in the process, and feel empowered to innovate. This requires dedicated resources of both time and money. The result is an emerging proficiency, and recognition of the potential.

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. Switch your focus from product development to sales. Increase communication, both internally and externally.

Merger 379

Merger Due Diligence SEC IPO 379

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. What are the new financial metrics? Large retail chains are shutting down their stores. Are those assumptions about payers still correct?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

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

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

Also during this time, the underlying metrics in that business can change positively, potentially trapping companies to accept the initially-agreed upon valuation. by a mile, continued to soar in volume and valuation. the firm may have a right to raise up to $100B but may not call all of it).

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

With the real data from that surge, you need to take a hard look at business model realities, cost of customer acquisition, inventory costs, and other key metrics. Even huge valuation increases will evaporate overnight when profitability is nowhere in sight, and you run out of money.

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

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

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 30, 2017

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. There is lots of it available in the market.

Warrant 195

Warrant Valuation Metrics Startup 195

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. 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. Your A round?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 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

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

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

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. There are many roads to Rio, so they say. But there is one overwhelming method of appraising the effectiveness of a business leader.

Later Stage 62

Later Stage Early Stage Valuation Acquisition 62

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. Most employees want cruising altitude, most founders live in take off mode. It was not.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

Examples include – Roam Research – the note taking app that recently raised a seed round at $200M valuation Superhuman – the email productivity tool Masterclass – video classes from subject matter experts. That’s how Slack got started. Subscription fatigue?

B2C 187

B2C Cloud Valuation Acquisition 187

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. 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. Your A round?

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Proactively solicit input to create a board deck template and metrics dashboard to present at the first Board Meeting, so that you’re able to set a strong in-control tone. Foundation for New Employee Hires Formulate and socialize with the Board acceptable compensation bands (both salary and equity options) for new employees.

Founder 156

Founder Cap Table Stock Options PR 156

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

Build Employee Software. Employees are now powerful customers, not just their managers! SaaS companies use different metrics to calculate renewals. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. SaaS business metrics: why are they different? mguinan said. My Investments.

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. SaaS business metrics: why are they different? Cracking The Code. Monday, October 27, 2008. Hard times. Posted by Philippe Botteri. at 9:32 AM.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Europe Venture Capital 48

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. The smart ones identify and budget innovative approaches, and use metrics to tools to monitor effectiveness. Customers and employees want a business with staying power and constant innovation for longevity.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2016

As an executive, the business will demand your attention on a 24-hour basis and you must interact with employees and customers every day to keep the momentum going. As the business grows, you must learn to hire and train employees, and utilize outsourcing in non-core areas to keep up with the volume and detailed expertise required.

Social Network 120

Social Network Demand Valuation Acquisition 120

Cracking the Code

JULY 10, 2009

When I complained at the United Airlines desk, the employee looked at me in disdain, saying that this was not enough to be called a "damage" and that - of course - she could not do anything for me. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. SaaS business metrics: why are they different?

Software Review 63

Software Review Technical Review RSS Europe 63