Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

Some entrepreneurs think that (more) money will solve all their company’s problems. Like a teenager with a million-dollar allowance and an identity crisis, a startup with too much capital and no product-market fit will become capable of making larger mistakes. If you put $1 into marketing and get $2 back, you have product-market fit.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

” Below are our favorite pieces from the past few years, divided in to a few key categories: fundraising, company building, product development, industry trends, and the life of a VC. What Are Your Valuation Expectations? The best approach is to do your own research and reach out to the entrepreneur directly.”

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 15, 2022

If all else fails, your advisor may be able to salvage the sale by reengaging other interested parties. Whether they were critical to product development, marketing, or a successful exit, each of these individuals can have a significant impact on the amount of money the business is worth. Preparing for the sale.

Merger 127

Merger Acquisition Due Diligence Valuation 127

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Almost on a weekly basis, I meet new aspiring entrepreneurs looking to execute on their ideas. Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. The best entrepreneurs are able to get at interviewees’ real intentions. Here’s what I learned from launching my first app, Recycle Spotter: 1.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

David Teten

JUNE 25, 2012

I have a great idea for a product. I’m looking for an entrepreneur to start a company to provide this product, or a development shop which wants to bid on this project. I envision a software tool which makes your underlying software irrelevant, by standardizing the UI across all different products.

Developer 144

Developer Venture Capital Startup Valuation 144

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Ari Newman is an entrepreneur, mentor, investor, and a friend. He works at Techstars where his responsibility is to ensure that the connections between alumni, mentors, and staff are as robust as they can be – helping entrepreneurs “ do more faster ” day in and day out. Seven months in, there is a beta product.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

David Teten

JUNE 25, 2012

I have a great idea for a product. I’m looking for an entrepreneur to start a company to provide this product, or a development shop which wants to bid on this project. I envision a software tool which makes your underlying software irrelevant, by standardizing the UI across all different products.

Developer 114

Developer Venture Capital Startup Valuation 114

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Of all your hires, if you have commissioned sales people, those will give you the most problems if they’re not all given an equal chance to make their quotas and achieve their personal earnings goals. Keep the valuations consistent with company progress. If you shoot from the hip, you’ll be shooting your own foot most of the time.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

They can also help you develop your product and sales channels. This allows you to skip the complicated valuation calculations. This is done by evaluating the product’s potential market, the sales process, and the company’s team. They may also provide a mentorship network.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

A year ago I blogged about one of my most common mantras that applies to sales, biz dev & fund raising alike: “ Time is the Enemy of all Deals.&#. When times are really good for fund raising many teams delay to maximize their valuation. 5 million raised at a $9 million pre-money valuation or 35.7%

Pre-Money Valuation 303

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation PR 303

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2016

Good entrepreneurs are all about managing change, but too many forget that they have to change themselves as their dream evolves from a startup to a scalable business. Many entrepreneurs gave grown to prefer the relative quiet and isolation of their garage, and their ability to set their own schedule.

Social Network 120

Social Network Demand Valuation Acquisition 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2012

New product development process. Longer-term, enhanced product value begets superior company valuation through your organization’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Based on ROI, incentives should be developed for all participants.

Intellectual Property 247

Intellectual Property IP Valuation .Net 247

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2010

You can also use this space to keep track of innovators (R&D personnel) and rainmakers (sales & marketing personnel). Products: You obviously can’t create value without a viable product (or service) to sell. You should inventory your best accounts and prospects, as well as the status of any pending major sales.

Intellectual Property 223

Intellectual Property .Net Valuation Distribution 223

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2011

New product development process. Longer-term, enhanced product value begets superior company valuation through your organization’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Based on ROI, incentives should be developed for all participants.

Intellectual Property 234

Intellectual Property IP Valuation .Net 234

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

This partnership speaks to a core philosophy of the program where we encourage entrepreneurs to get as much customer validation as possible before raising too much money, use other people's channels if you can get to them, don't burn too much cash, and all that good fiscal conservative stuff. LetsGiftIt.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Small Business Force

AUGUST 31, 2013

Just like people that tend to jump into marriages, entrepreneurs tend to get starry-eyed and join forces without thinking through the long-term implications of having a partner. I came to find that they had differing ideas about timing, valuation, to whom they should sell and how long or whether they would stay with the company.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Partner Technical Review Founder 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2010

New product development process. Longer-term, enhanced product value begets superior company valuation through your organization’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Based on ROI, incentives should be developed for all participants.

Intellectual Property 122

Intellectual Property IP Valuation .Net 122

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 10, 2013

The most important principle of startup fundraising that every entrepreneur needs to know is: raise enough capital to achieve a set of milestones that will allow the company to attract the next round of investment. Product Development. The Milestones Angel Investors Care About.

Angel Investor 55

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Seed Capital Advisory Board 55

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

The most important principle of startup fundraising that every entrepreneur needs to know is: raise enough capital to achieve a set of milestones that will allow the company to attract the next round of investment. A fair amount of your FFF funding will likely go towards product development.

Intellectual Property 55

Intellectual Property Advisory Board Startup Seed Capital 55

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.” Can it scale?”

Customer Development 264

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 264

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

By definition, the capital investment needs to be relatively low such that the investors and the entrepreneurs all make a healthy return on investment. Well, my advice for Chak is to focus steadily on a worldwide list of greeting card distributors using Telewebsales and Sales 2.0 process in detail. Chaks budget is very low.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

By definition, the capital investment needs to be relatively low such that the investors and the entrepreneurs all make a healthy return on investment. Well, my advice for Chak is to focus steadily on a worldwide list of greeting card distributors using Telewebsales and Sales 2.0 process in detail. Chaks budget is very low.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

Up and Running

DECEMBER 22, 2015

Combine a wild guess on future growth for several years, add in a wilder guess about future valuation prices and exit opportunities, and then pretend that the combination means something. Angel investors are not impressed by projections of 30-40-50% or more profits on sales. 5 Shark Tank Lessons for Entrepreneurs.

Angel Investor 60

Angel Investor IRR Software Review Startup 60

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 3, 2012

Facebook and Google would be obvious choices for this, but so much has been written about each of them and they represent such special business models, I worried that it would be both hard for entrepreneurs to relate and hard for me to develop new insights. The first one I’ll focus on is Akamai. Akamai: The Present.

Distribution 49

Distribution Lean Massachusetts Cofounder 49

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

It has been awesome, flattering, and humbling to see that post went viral and has been seen by so many thousands of people — mainly aspiring entrepreneurs — and has been translated into many languages. million registered users, 7500 supplier partners, 600 team members, and a run-rate of more than $150M in sales in just 15 months.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

Tim Keane

APRIL 24, 2006

« Questions for Entrepreneurs | Main. | The product development cycle was excellent. However, the distribution channel we had planned to use lacked the sophistication ultimately required by the product design, and the manufacturers adoption cycle was insufficient. The product development cycle was excellent.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Venture Capital 60

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

It seems like a common trend with first-time tech entrepreneurs—and even some more experienced entrepreneurs—to think of fundraising as a required step in the process of starting a technology company. Product development. It’s estimated that for experienced entrepreneurs, it can take up to three months of full-time work.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Startup Forecast Channel 60

Software By Rob

AUGUST 18, 2010

Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed. Not too long ago it seemed like every product I knew was offering some sort of free plan. The strategy was brilliant: get loads of people using your product and eventually turn them into paying customers. Do they ever make sense? Subscribe via RSS On Twitter?

Software Review 78

Software Review Software Revenue Cofounder 78

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

The second thing that’s changed is that we’re now Compressing the Product Development Cycle. In the 20 th century startups I was part of, the time to build a first product release was measured in years as we turned out the founder’s vision of what customers wanted. Finally the board would fire the VP of sales.

Restful 227

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 227

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

AgileZen – project management visually see and interact with your work Kanbanery – Simple online team or personal kanban board LeanKit Kanban – Great for visualizing work of product development Kanban Pad – “Nice and lean” and free online Kanban tool Banana Scrum – A tool simple as Scrum itself.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

Find Questions, Topics and People Add Question Add Question Team Configuration 500 Startups Guerilla Marketing Organizations Entrepreneurship Startup Founders & Entrepreneurs Startups Startup Incubators and Seed Programs Seedcamp Y Combinator TechStars Lean Startups What is the perfect startup team?

Technical Review 51

Technical Review Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 51

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

A group of Seedcamp entrepreneurs started a startup tools wiki for that purpose, and we thought it would be well suited here. turn customer feedback into sales and relationships. Great for visualizing work of product development. List of Angel/SuperAngel Investors for entrepreneurs. Seed Stage Valuation Guide.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53