Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

There is much talk these days that startup valuations have decreased and may continue to do so and that the amount of time it takes to fund raise may take longer. The earlier the round, the less capital you need and the more reasonable your valuation the less time that is needed generally to raise capital.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Valuation Software Review 150

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

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

Startup valuation, under no circumstances, can be described as a simple affair. While valuing a publicly traded company is more or less straightforward, the case with a rarely profit making startup is not quite the same. Here are several factors that are taken into account while these startups are evaluated.

Pre-Money Valuation 124

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Sweat Equity Startup 124

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

So, putting all that together, to get a pitch meeting with me, an entrepreneur would probably have the best result with the following strategy: Read up on the kinds of investments I make, and the kinds of opportunities I am seeking. Invested Interests Power Pitches angel investor business David Rose entrepreneur meeting pitch startup'

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 29, 2012

The company sought to raise $125,000 for 25% of the comapny, implying a $375,000 pre money valuation. Unsurprisingly, all the sharks passed, based on market size and valuation expectations. Revenue or distribution can both be evidence that, in the Bear and the Rat’s case, the dogs literally are eating the dogfood.

Pre-Money Valuation 97

Pre-Money Valuation Offshore Valuation Cofounder 97

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. Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! What a bubble means for each entrepreneur. I believe that.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. First priority is real revenue, customers and contracts. Future revenue projections are not relevant at the pre-revenue stage.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

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

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

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

Before I do, however, I want to talk about a thumb rule that I'd like to propose to entrepreneurs about raising money. So at any point, if you are trying to raise money, and you are hearing from investors that you are too early and have too little validation, it may be a good thing. Value Of Insight Consulting, Inc.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

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.

Pre-Money Valuation 246

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 246

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations. 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. By Tim Keane, Angel Investor, Golden Angels Investors, LLC.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

They won a design award at a trade show, but have no revenue and no orders. This does neither, so I’m out” Cuban said, “I see you guys not as entrepreneurs but as wantrepreneurs” I agree with him. In this way, they remind me of the Lifter Hamper entrepreneur. The entrepreneur was clearly desperate.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Berkonomics

JANUARY 28, 2021

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up pre-money valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Here’s the “what.”. And here’s the “why.”.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 62

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

During the summer of 2010, I developed a workshop, A New ACEF Valuation Workshop for Angels and Entrepreneurs. To provide some reference points, I surveyed thirteen angels groups in North American to determine their recent experience in negotiating the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies.

Angel Groups 125

Angel Groups Valuation Pre-Money Valuation St. Louis 125

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

We both agree that the later-stage valuations are being driven up to a point that feels irrationally priced [he uses b-round SaaS valuations as an example and I am willing to be even more broad based]. Most of those industries are fee-based and are competing on revenue growth. Startup Lessons' And we ended.

Valuation 309

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Later Stage Non-Compete 309

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Salesforce.com is a startup with 76,000 subscribers (over 2.1M 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. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Most startups view venture capital funding as a blessing from above — eager to take it as soon as they can get it. Tempted by large sums of money and the perceived validation that comes along with being funded, founders turn to venture capitalists to accelerate their company’s growth. The expectations are fundamentally misaligned.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

ithacaVC

JANUARY 14, 2014

I was giving some advice the other day on how to approach Series B investors in terms of valuation. Company X raised its Series A at a pre-money valuation of $5mm and it raised $4mm dollars. So the post-money valuation after the Series A was $9mm. It has just started to generate revenue.

Pre-Money Valuation 58

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Term Sheet 58

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 1, 2012

pre money valuation). Cuban has interest in a gluten free diet, and claimed that he liked the company, but his only concern was valuation. Price is always a consideration in investing, but particularly so if the entrepreneurs have shown an interest in an early exit. The entrepreneur took this offer.

Pre-Money Valuation 158

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Participating Preferred Preferred Stock 158

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 22, 2012

The company has gotten off to a fast start, $150k in revenue in the first two months, with all the marketing coming from social media. This implies a pre money valuation of $1.045M. See my breakdown of week 2 for more on how to calculate pre money valuation.). In 2010 they did $10k in profits.

Pre-Money Valuation 101

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Differentiation 101

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5 million and is established by negotiations between the entrepreneur and the angel investors. Such comparisons can only be made for companies at the same stage of development, in this case, for pre-revenue startup ventures.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

The past year was a wild ride for startups and founders, giving a whole new meaning to the ”rollercoaster” aspect of being an entrepreneur. A combination of competition for top talent and an effort to bring employees back to the office drove startups in Israel to throw extravagant parties and all-inclusive retreats abroad.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

There is a universal truth: fewer than one in a thousand start-ups meet or exceed their projected revenues in the periods planned. So how do you use financial projections as valuation metrics when you know the odds of those being accurate predictors of the future are so very unreliable?

Valuation 48

Valuation North Carolina Oklahoma City Silicon Valley 48

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

It’s meant to be a bit provocative but the reality is that I give this advice to entrepreneurs all the the time and I usually leave the “e&# off of the end. I learned all of this myself on your side of the table raising money at my first company. The list goes on. Legacy deals have “hair.&#. But pass they will.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

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. The cap is irrelevant if the next equity financing is at a valuation below the cap amount.)

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Particularly when there are multiple closings taking place over a period of months, the fuse burns awfully quickly on a 12-month note given the many competing priorities of early stage entrepreneurs. Thus, it’s in everyone’s best interest to see the startup raise more capital rather than declaring default and demanding repayment.

Finance 107

Finance Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 107

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 23, 2015

So whereas seed rounds five years ago may have been less than a million dollars on a pre-money valuation of three or four million, today''s seed is up and over a million and usually closer to two million, with post money valuations nearing $10 million. and at least it will all make sense.

Post-Money Valuation 60

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Seed Money 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

A reminder that it is important for all entrepreneurs is to remember to be careful about “deal drift.” I think the perfect saying to have as a reminder is “time is the enemy of all deals,” or as my wife is all too tired of hearing me say, “Don’t pop the champagne until the ink is dry on the contract and the money is in the bank.”.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

dondodge.typepad.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Community is more powerful than money or technology » August 11, 2007 How much equity for investors and employees? Entrepreneurs face some pretty tough questions at a very early stage. Should I take Angel or VC money? How much money should I raise? Talk to other entrepreneurs - These are tough questions.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Dilution Valuation 40

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

A few months ago, I was talking with a friend of mine who is a successful serial entrepreneur. He has done incredibly well financially on his past two startups, and he’s now building his 3rd company. And companies typically have $2m-$3m revenue runrate at this point. And there’s a huge difference in valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 90

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 90

www.currentlyobsessed.com

MAY 28, 2010

Currently Obsessed Joe Heitzeberg – Entrepreneur | Tech Geek | MBA Home About Me Joe Heitzeberg is an internet entrepreneur who has started and sold two companies. Entrepreneurs are generally too focused on pre-money valuation, and VCs know this. Future value is key. cthomaschase great post.

Valuation 42

Valuation Channel Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 42

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

A few months ago, I was talking with a friend of mine who is a successful serial entrepreneur. He has done incredibly well financially on his past two startups, and he’s now building his 3rd company. And companies typically have $2m-$3m revenue runrate at this point. And there’s a huge difference in valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 48

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 48

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 26, 2013

The entrepreneur will need to be ready and able to respond to due diligence information requests. This process may include the provision of various scenarios on revenues and costs as the investors validate forecasts initially presented. Pre-money valuation. Startup Funding' Amount to be invested.

Angel Investor 51

Angel Investor Due Diligence Pre-Money Valuation Angel Groups 51

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

The entrepreneurs had made $150k in revenue running classes for four months at a gym in New York, selling out the classes at $35/class. The right number to focus on is pre money valuation as that is how an investor is valuing the company before the investment. post money valuation and a $1.35M pre money valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 163

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 163