Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

A version of this article first appeared in the Harvard Business Review. Most entrepreneurs today don’t remember the Dot-Com bubble of 1995 or the Dot-Com crash that followed in 2000. Then the cycle repeats with a new set of technologies. And it may work. Dot Com Boom to Bust.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

Perhaps most famously, Guy Kawasaki quipped that the value of an MBA to an entrepreneur is “probably about a negative $250,000.”. The question is, can MBA entrepreneurs really think big? MBA Unicorns Weigh Heavily Toward Software, Consumer Internet, and E-Commerce. Key Insights. Red Ventures (HBS, Wharton). that of GSB).

Programming 120

Programming St. Louis Cofounder India 120

Hearpreneur

JULY 28, 2019

It impacts the pace at which businesses grow and it remains interesting to see trends that will emerge from some of these technologies. We asked entrepreneurs and business owners about the technologies that will have the biggest impact on technology and here’s the responses. #1- 1- Virtual reality.

Technical Review 50

Technical Review Technology Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur 50

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Every announcement – whether it was a funding round, exit or layoffs – was analyzed within the context that the tech bubble has definitely burst or that we’re still in the bubble. In other words, any correction in public valuations happened quickly and has now stabilized. The industry entered the year bracing for an apocalypse.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Early Stage Portfolio Valuation 60

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical VC thesis: “we invest in tech startups in Europe at an early stage” However, our experience shows that in many cases: . “Tech” means B2B Saas/Fintech or Consumer apps. Technical” Companies (i.e. any mention of a focus on tech companies). Technical founders . Occurrences.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Entrepreneurs can now achieve an awful lot with very little money. When startups can do more with less money the returns from investing small amounts of money go up, and that can be seen in rising Series A valuations and declines in the average amount of money raised before exit. It went up on their blog yesterday. _.

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 119

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Angels invest in one out of every forty deals they review (2.5%) versus the one out of 400 by VC’s (0.25%). Entrepreneurs need to find a way to get traction (sales) without funding. Entrepreneurs need to find a way to get traction (sales) without funding. Perhaps the library or a local tech company can host.

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

it is also the title of a fabulous book from Internet 1.0 In a world where the economy only heads in one direction (read: 2009-2014) most investors & entrepreneurs forget to pay attention to gross burn. Valuation. I wanted to call out special attention to valuation in this debate.

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. As the risks below get eliminated the higher the valuation investors are prepared to pay.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

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

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

I have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. The movie, “The Social Network” might have had more of an impact on creating future entrepreneurs than any other event of the past 5 years.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Valuations were enormous relative to progress in companies. Companies with less than $2 million in revenue were asking for $50-60 million valuations and getting them. I spent my days meeting companies, figuring out what areas of the market interested me and trying to get a sense for how VCs thought about fair valuations.

Stock 305

Stock Technical Review Marketing Greece 305

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. So I agreed to offer my current thinking on the economy and what it portends for the VC industry & fund raising for entrepreneurs. raise money now to weather any storms). Such is the case with advanced batteries.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Technical Review Balance Sheet Government 298

VC Cafe

JULY 5, 2010

investors the opportunity to participate in the Israeli high-tech market. based Angel capital with early stage technology companies in Israel, and do so in a way that substantially mitigates the risk of seed stage investing. VC Cafe: What is the premise of Janvest and how large is the fund? Our aim is to connect U.S.-based

Technical Review 106

Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage 106

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

are eliminated during due diligence. 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. Build a prototype product.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

As an active angel investor myself, I understand how the process works, and I see the disappointment in the eyes of entrepreneurs who approach angel groups for funding and often get turned away for not being timely or prepared in the minds of potential investors. A business needs technical, marketing, financial and many other skills.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Angel Groups 120

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

VCs tout themselves as frontier technology investors, but most are using the same infrastructure tools they have used for the past 20+ years: Excel and recent college grads searching Google. According to Knowledge.VC , under 5% of US VCs have a full-time team member focused on technology. . But we’re doing it slowly.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2017

Today, the move to digital technology is driving marketplace change at a seemingly ever-increasing rate. 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.

Technical Review 136

Technical Review Demand Valuation Business Model 136

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

JANUARY 21, 2011

Sunil contacted me asking if he could apply to become a columnist on Entrepreneurs-Journey. I asked him what are the highlights of his “career&# as an entrepreneur so I could be confident in his credibility and he had stories to tell that we could all learn from. It turns out Sunil has done a few things.

Internet 80

Internet Technical Review Stock Due Diligence 80

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 29, 2020

Personal protective equipment (PPE) are now being routinely used to ensure health and safety, virtual shopping is at an all-time high due to qurantine and lockdown, and physical interactions have been limited to mobile and online platforms. These are some of those: 1. Medical Products. Assistive Devices : Global Market Insights, Inc.

Demand 173

Demand Product Artificial Inteligence Software Review 173

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 12, 2010

In the technology world there are a few websites that most startups track to keep up with the latest financings, acquisitions, product announcements and gossip: BusinessInsider, TechCrunch, Mashable, GigaOm, etc. Specifically we talked about Slide having gotten a $550 million valuation before being sold to Google for $182 million.

Seed Stage 232

Seed Stage Valuation Private Equity Venture Capital 232

Genuine VC

JULY 19, 2010

I think that the number of players in this devloping class of what I’d call “Micro VCs” will continue to increase over the coming years: the model fits into an opportunity on the capital supply side, as well as more importantly becomes the right product for many entrepreneurs on the demand side. That’s no secret.

Seed Stage 175

Seed Stage Technical Review Dilution Offshore 175

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

are eliminated during due diligence. 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. Build a prototype product.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Cracking the Code

AUGUST 3, 2011

Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. In search of Europes next tech stars. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. internet. (6). In search of Europe's next tech stars. at 11:03 AM.

Software Review 67

Software Review Europe Technical Review Search 67

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. is the leading consumer internet company with Terry Semel as CEO. Silicon Valley is still emerging from the tech bubble and massive downturn of late 2000-2002. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. LinkedIn: The Series A Fundraising Story. May 26, 2011.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

In the early 80’s he left academia to work on venture capital investing with Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies. They chose the name First Round Capital because they thought capital would be deployed most efficiently at smaller seed stage rounds considering the cost to build an internet business had come down drastically.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Posted on September 14, 2009 by steveblank Over the last 30 years Wall Street’s appetite for technology stocks have changed radically – swinging between unbridled enthusiasm to believing they’re all toxic. One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. What Do VC’s Do?

Silicon Valley 235

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 235

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

Some entrepreneurs think that (more) money will solve all their company’s problems. Compass.co, a benchmarking and research service, analyzed 3,200 internet startups and found that 74 percent “fail due to premature scaling.” We believe the message applies as much today as it did in 2015 when it was published. --.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Any SoCal entrepreneur raising early-stage money should put Rincon on their short list. Before booking a hotel I always check out Trip Advisor and read reviews. It’s hard for angels to assess whether or not to invest because they often have day jobs and can’t commit to the kind of due diligence that most VCs go through.

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Consumer spending is 70% of the economy and will continue to be stretched – We can look all we want at tech innovation, VC funding cycles and hot M&A deals, but ultimately growth and therefore investment must be underpinned by revenue. This has a tangible impact on the valuation of start-ups and the pace of investment.

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Stock Hawaii Early Stage 269

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

The founders felt that having a legitimate site for content would discourage Silicon Valley VC’s from funding entrepreneurs to create the next big TV killer. To say that the tech elite were cynical of Hulu’s launch would be an understatement , but by the time it launched just a few months later it was getting great reviews.

Video 292

Video Technical Review Advertising Distribution 292

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This post describes how companies using the Customer Development model can increase their credibility, valuation and probability of getting a first round of funding by presenting their results in a “Lesson Learned&# venture pitch. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

Customer Development 267

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 267

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 20, 2011

Or a company like Zappos (who was famous, growing, and profitable) still got only a 1x sales valuation when bought by Amazon because of thin margins. There’s many possibilities, each of which will cause a different valuation of your company. They wanted to control Internet telephony, and Skype was the clear winner.

Sales 260

Sales Channel Cofounder Valuation 260

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

. × At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. It doesn’t matter whether an entrepreneur is in our portfolio, whether we’re considering an investment, or whether we’re casually meeting for the first time. Entrepreneurs often ask me for help with their pitch decks.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. In comparison, the overall technology sector growth was projected at 9-10% in early 2010 and this forecast did not change significantly today. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). internet. (6).

Software Review 101

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Europe 101

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. In the software an internet space a number of companies obviously had strong public offerings (LinkedIn, Yandex, Pandora, RenRen, et al). The very strongest companies can still likely get out if they really wanted, but may not command the valuations they hoped for in more bullish times.

IPO 100

IPO Marketing Silicon Valley Private Equity 100

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

We’re taking a slightly different approach to our second feature in the Inspiring Entrepreneurs series. Kik Chat had been a bit of a complicated service, offering both free SMS when a user’s phone was offline, and free Internet-based messages when they were online. I went to university in Waterloo in 2005 for engineering. It was a hit.

Entrepreneur 167

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Mobile 167