Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. Entrepreneurs need to think about 1) when to raise money, 2) why to raise money and 3) who to take money from, 4) the consequences of raising money. What are revenue strategy and pricing tactics? William Shakespeare.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 334

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Or should they look to one of the new wave of Revenue-Based Investors? Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. But should they? Optionality.

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

I like the guy because he’s credited with coining the word entrepreneur. According to Schumpter, capitalism is an evolutionary process where new industries and new companies continually emerge to knock out the old. As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital.

Private Equity 326

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 326

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. Entrepreneurs need to think about 1) when to raise money, 2) why to raise money and 3) who to take money from, 4) the consequences of raising money. What are revenue strategy and pricing tactics? William Shakespeare.

Venture Capital 226

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 226

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

Just as I was getting the swing of things the world shifted beneath my feet and the stock market went into a free fall and venture capital all but shut down for nearly a year. The advantage is that in many of our best deals we now have $50+ million invested so we can really support entrepreneurs as their businesses scale.

IP 223

IP Intellectual Property IRR Cofounder 223

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2016

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. The amounts from Angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. How experienced is your team?

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor IRR Valuation Startup 120

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Please see later version of this post on May 16, 2010 Entrepreneurs are often not experts in the area of term-sheet negotiations and all of the surrounding issues.   Investors sometimes “present” the terms they’d like and expect the entrepreneurs to react.   Internal Rates of Return naturally compound, so a 50% IRR is 7.59

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Hippoland

NOVEMBER 13, 2016

When I was an entrepreneur, it never crossed my mind how VCs measure their success. The #1 problem with the venture capital game, in general, is that *actual success* is measured over decades not years. So, as an entrepreneur, in many cases, you are pitching people who may not even be good investors.

IRR 48

IRR Valuation Portfolio Due Diligence 48

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 30, 2008

The business of venture capital is relatively young. The birth of modern-day venture capital (not considering the European monarchs financing explorations and projects as venture capital) can be traced back to American Research and Development, which was started by Georges Doriot.

IRR 48

IRR Venture Capital LP Early Stage 48

Seeing Both Sides

APRIL 10, 2011

billion market capitalization. million in revenue the year before. . In 1997, a Charles River Ventures fund yielded a stunning 15x return, backing such superstars as Ciena, Vignette and Flycast. Matrix had a fund in 1998 that yielded an eye-popping 514+% IRR. We had recorded $1.8

IPO 48

IPO IRR Brazil Government 48

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

A high performing, high-growth SAAS company that may have been worth 10 or more times revenue was suddenly worth 4-7 times revenue. Many modern entrepreneurs have limited exposure to the notion of failure or layoffs because it has been so long since these things were common in the industry. Entrepreneurs/Founders/CEOs.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40