Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. Or ask PlanetRx, an online service for prescriptions, before the Internet was pervasive. More than one smart entrepreneur has been caught in the lofty lifestyle of big money investors, viral growth, and movie star status.

Intellectual Property 314

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Viral 314

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

Now is the time to be an entrepreneur and create a business from your passion. In the early Internet days, it would cost a million dollars to get this far. Those that do it right also have the unprecedented opportunity to join the elite ranks of 250 unicorns (relatively new companies with a current valuation of over $1 billion).

Technical Cofounder 184

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Both have worked.Google reached $1 billion in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400 billion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit.

Revenue 246

Revenue Entrepreneur Valuation Viral 246

VC Cafe

AUGUST 2, 2022

think about the entrepreneurs that started in the early days of the Internet, mobile, crypto, VR and yes… now Metaverse. billion revenue in 2021 for Epic Games and was played by 83.3 billion revenue in 2021, a 107% increase year-on-year. Is there an early mover advantage for being early on a technology trend?

IP 206

IP Cofounder Valuation Acquisition 206

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

We are in a bubble (with so many private $1bn+ valuations). 15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. 50x more Internet users (2.4 Where are we today? Online connections that are 180x faster (10.5

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Here are the key principles I recommend as an advisor to many entrepreneurs: Start your business in your own home. With the advent of the Internet, the size and address of your office is irrelevant. Favor profitability over revenue and user growth. Favor profitability over revenue and user growth. Marty Zwilling

Equity 349

Equity Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity 349

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. I have conversations with entrepreneurs and other VCs on a daily basis about fund raising, the prices of deals, how much companies should raise, etc. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices. That’s stupid.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 29, 2020

So, what are the in demand products during this time of pandemic that both budding and seasoned entrepreneurs may want to consider manufacturing or distributing? estimates in their recent report that medical products will have a very high global market valuation, crossing 30 billion US dollars by 2026. These are some of those: 1.

Demand 173

Demand Product Artificial Inteligence Software Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2017

This technology is not only spawning a new generation of entrepreneurs, but is also changing the educational landscape, all the way down to early grade school. In my view as an advisor to new ventures, the Maker Movement is an integral part of a new age of the entrepreneur. Facilitates building skills and familiarity with new tools.

Technical Cofounder 153

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Wiki Cofounder 153

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” Many entrepreneurs stumble at this point, losing the deal or most of their ownership, by having no answer, saying “make me an offer,” or quoting an exorbitant number.

Valuation 270

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 270

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2020

Here are the key principles I recommend as an advisor to many entrepreneurs: Start your business in your own home. With the advent of the Internet, the size and address of your office is irrelevant. Favor profitability over revenue and user growth. Favor profitability over revenue and user growth. Marty Zwilling.

Hockey Stick 423

Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 423

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Thus entrepreneurs were able to build prototypes and design new products without the traditional huge prototyping cost. They have also become great networking events for meeting other like-minded entrepreneurs. Here are some key positives from an entrepreneur perspective: Shorten the time and cost from idea to prototype.

Startup 397

Startup Cofounder Incubator Early Stage 397

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2017

I was mentoring some graduate students at a local university recently, and I sensed again that profit seems to be a dirty word these days to many aspiring entrepreneurs. Every business needs to develop a revenue model even before a product. Revenue is a percentage of every transaction. Freemium model – people pay for upgrade.

Revenue 166

Revenue Affiliate Advertising Retention 166

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. So here is what I have been telling entrepreneurs privately for the past 6 months. The fact that today’s Internet bubble does not represent all companies does not disprove its existence. I believe that.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

The pervasive ability and need to communicate constantly and globally through the Internet and smartphones is incenting everyone to get more out of their own assets and time, and capitalize on the idle resources of others. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating.

Cuba 316

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 316

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2016

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400B. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Revenue 145

Revenue Valuation Startup Viral 145

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2017

The pervasive Internet and mobile device access allows instant communication of new options, total sharing of customer experiences, and mass customization, on a world-wide scale. Today, the move to digital technology is driving marketplace change at a seemingly ever-increasing rate. New competitors are built to be digital from day one.

Technical Review 136

Technical Review Demand Valuation Business Model 136

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” Many entrepreneurs stumble at this point, losing the deal or most of their ownership, by having no answer, playing coy, or quoting an exorbitant number.

Valuation 234

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Startup 234

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

We’re now in the second Internet bubble. The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. With Netscape’s IPO , there was suddenly a public market for companies with limited revenue and no profit.

Internet 335

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 335

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” Many entrepreneurs stumble at this point, losing the deal or most of their ownership, by having no answer, saying “make me an offer,” or quoting an exorbitant number.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

Perhaps the most misused terms I see these days from entrepreneurs involve CAC (customer acquisition costs) and LTV (life time value) and a lack of understanding these critical components is driving many companies to premature failure. So I spend an inordinate amount of time with entrepreneurs focused on payback. End of story.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. 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.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 15, 2020

Low fee: Lightning supports any size payment all the way down to sub 1 cent micropayments, which will unleash all kinds of new internet native, global commerce and even new payment types like “streaming” – imagine paying by the second for watching a movie or accessing car insurance. . Instead, we’ll own our own identity via LSATs. .

Networking 168

Networking Global OTC Security 168

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

The other day, I noticed an eye-catching headline: "Internet Funding Boom Ends as Fast as It Began". How else can you explain this headline matching a story about a professional social network still trying to explore revenues raising $17mm on an $80mm valuation? Perhaps I need to rethink that. How can you measure it?

Venture Capital 130

Venture Capital Marketing Term Sheet Software Review 130

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Get your Internet domain name and website. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Start early on this one, or you will lose the opportunity. Build a prototype product.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. It would have been easy to explain the difference by changes in the 2010/2011 revenue growth projections but unfortunately that is not the case. revenues while large caps are trading at 6.4x. SaaS 13 Index Valuation.

Software Review 101

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Europe 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2020

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. Or ask PlanetRx, an online service for prescriptions, before the Internet was pervasive. More than one smart entrepreneur has been caught in the lofty lifestyle of big money investors, viral growth, and movie star status.

Intellectual Property 310

Intellectual Property Startup Bankruptcy Viral 310

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 7, 2015

Companies were being bought (and valued) at 10x forward revenue only to be valued at between 0.5x revenue several years later. A few companies got bought before the whole Internet-bubble thing fell apart, and we almost managed to get bought (for around $500 million, but that’s another story for another day.).

Stock Options 70

Stock Options Cofounder Revenue Hosting 70

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

Sure, there is always some seed funding (10% of overall deal flow), but you can bet that this money goes to entrepreneurs who have been there before and won. Your friends and family are really the only answer until you have a significant revenue stream. Internet and healthcare deals stayed flat and funding actually dipped.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

I like the guy because he’s credited with coining the word entrepreneur. Just look at the disruptive challenges that businesses face today– globalization, China as a manufacturer, China as a consumer, the Internet, and a steady stream of new startups. Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter.

Private Equity 329

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 329

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. There’s lots of lore, emotion, and misconceptions of what VC’s do or don’t do for entrepreneurs. While there was an occasional bad apple, the public markets rewarded companies with revenue growth and sustainable profits.

Silicon Valley 235

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 235

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

is the leading consumer internet company with Terry Semel as CEO. I also joke with Reid Hoffman that this was back in the days before he was “Reid” Reid’s an incredible entrepreneur, startup investor, and human being. Google is still a private company (their IPO was Aug 2004). It was a $4.7M

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Get your Internet domain name and website. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Tags: entrepreneur startup funding angel investors. Build a prototype product.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

The pervasive ability and need to communicate constantly and globally through the Internet and smartphones is incenting everyone to get more out of their own assets and time, and capitalize on the idle resources of others. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating.

Cuba 246

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2014

Thus entrepreneurs began building prototypes and designing new products without the traditional huge investment. Here are some key positives from an entrepreneur perspective: Shorten the time and cost from idea to prototype. Very young entrepreneurs get to “touch and feel” the results, and can experiment to their heart’s content.

Entrepreneur 246

Entrepreneur Detroit California Cofounder 246