Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2019, from 280 out of 100,000 to 310 out of 100,000 of the adult population. 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.

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Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

For early-stage startups, the goodwill component can easily exceed the size of all the financial elements together, or can just as easily mark a company with good financials as not investable. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company.

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Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

conversation literally every week with startups. How much you raise determines valuation I know it sounds crazy but at the earliest stages of a company your valuation often is determined by how much money you raise. A $15–20 million valuation sounds better than an $8 million valuation, doesn’t it? Justin is right.

Pre-Money Valuation 292

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Early Stage Startup 292

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. The best entrepreneurs manage cash flow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. They understand startup realities.

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Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

And for some strange reason entrepreneurs didn’t share this information. Other founders, “as a privately held company we don’t disclose our valuation.&# Me, “dude, I’m not a journalist. I just want to figure out what a fair valuation is.&# I figured all the VC’s talked so we should.

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Valuation Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 405

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a cofounder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader.

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Technical Cofounder Equity Distribution Cofounder 247

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. It’s the antithesis of the Lean Startup.

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The Equity Kicker

JUNE 20, 2014

That’s true, but in the startup industry we have to do it every day. Both as investors and entrepreneurs. When companies attract high valuations their investors are predicting the future too – either that the business will trade in M&A at a ‘strategic multiple’ or that they will generate big cash flows.

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Valuation Metrics Software Review Technical Review 123

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. The best entrepreneurs manage cash flow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. They understand startup realities.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. ” I highly recommend reading it.

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Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

Gust

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. It is one of the useful methods for establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup ventures. Post-money Valuation = $ 2.125 million.

Venture Capital 161

Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation 161

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Cashflow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. The best entrepreneurs manage cashflow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. They understand startup realities.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 14, 2022

India has always been renowned as the land of entrepreneurs. And with the technology available these days, it is convenient to invest in emerging startups. Are you wondering how to invest in startups in India? The digital startup craze. Sectors witnessing a startup boom. The startup investment space.

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Technical Review Due Diligence India Startup 145

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

I think I’ve read Paul Graham’s post on “ Startup = Growth ” three or four times now. “The growth of a successful startup usually has three phases: There’s an initial period of slow or no growth while the startup tries to figure out what it’s doing. I talked about some of that here.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. The best entrepreneurs manage cash flow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. They understand startup realities.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Social Media 310

SiliconHills

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Startups’ Valuations are down, and entrepreneurs must do more with less money and focus on their core business to become profitable.

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Valuation Demand Startup Revenue 127

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

These investments are a tremendous help to your startup because they will serve as a stepping stone to reach your target eventually. Some return value must be offered to the investors for startup seed funding to be considered acceptable. When considered, “seed funding” describes the initial sums of funds a startup raises.

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Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

Every early-stage startup should explore this new funding alternative. Venture capital dispensed quarterly to startups actually declined again in the first quarter of 2013 to $6.3 VCs are finding that they don’t need the “large” funds of $100M to $500M to support a portfolio, if they focus on early-stage startups.

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Angel Investor Entrepreneur Early Stage Silicon Valley 231

Gust

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. This calculator uses 25 questions to size up the progress of the new venture and calculate a pre-money valuation for investment purposes.

Valuation 87

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Venture Capital Technical Review 87

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. milestones entrepreneur startup funding business' Marty Zwilling.

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Intellectual Property Sweat Equity Entrepreneur CTO Hire 281

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Future unproven projections don’t set today’s valuation.

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Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

As the seed-stage startup fundraise process has received more transparency in recent years, ranging from published advice on how to raise seed capital to increased availability through AngelList, Funders Club, and various accelerator programs, I’ve noticed another trend emerging. Lower-Than-Market Value. Above-Market Value.

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Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. With the success of Facebook and Twitter, I still see new social media startups almost every day, with most destined to fail. Startups can go down many times faster than they go up. Relying on an old formula for success.

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Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Viral 314

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

Some nonprofit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy. A nonprofit is still a business, maybe even tougher than for-profit to run successfully, so the best angel is a great entrepreneur at the helm for fund-raising, as well as operations.

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Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” As an entrepreneur it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

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Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

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

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

by Alejandro Cremades , cofounder of Panthera Advisors and author of “ The Art of Startup Fundraising: Pitching Investors, Negotiating the Deal, and Everything Else Entrepreneurs Need to Know “ Why should entrepreneurs intentionally be generous when negotiating with investors? Generosity is nowhere on their radar.

Technical Cofounder 118

Technical Cofounder Entrepreneur Cofounder Post-Money Valuation 118

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 22, 2023

We asked entrepreneurs and business owners about the 2023 trends they see in their industry and here are the responses. #1- For example, a startup SaaS company can use a specialized app to create a good product management process and keep track of the project's progress. Thanks to Sean Stevens, Immerse Education ! #5-

Artificial Inteligence 122

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Social Media 122

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2013

One of the challenges for investing in startups has always been the lack of an established way for founders and investors to actually measure and decide on the valuation of the startup concerned. ” Ideaspotting investment pre-money valuation valuation Worthworm'

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Web Technical Review Angel Investor 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Some nonprofit entrepreneurs think they can skip the whole plan, rather than just the sections on valuation, equity offered, and exit strategy. A nonprofit is still a business, maybe even tougher than for-profit to run successfully, so the best angel is a great entrepreneur at the helm for fund-raising, as well as operations.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

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.

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Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 270

ReadWriteStart

JULY 12, 2019

For context, consider the London-based VC firm MMC who found that about 40% of European AI startups don’t use AI in any tangible way. Meaning that the company or startup “talks” about AI, but they are unwilling or unable to put in the resources to deploy the process, store the data, or make any meaningful use of the information.

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Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Startup 132

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

This is a guest post by my Startup Owner’s Manual co-author Bob Dorf. While statistics are weak on startup success rates, the worst one I’ve seen suggests that 2 in 1000 venture backed startups will ever achieve $100-million or more in valuation. ——————-. Does anybody care?

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Startup Cofounder Customer Development Viral 332

The Startup Magazine

JULY 25, 2021

In fact, the announcement of the share issue led to a decline in Galactic share prices and overall market valuation. You should focus on making your startup irresistible to investors without opting for a dilutive capital raise. Below are tips on how you can boost growth and increase your business’s market valuation.

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Valuation Artificial Inteligence Dilution Marketing 162

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. I believe the Maker Movement and hardware startups with limited resources are made for each other.

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Startup Cofounder Incubator Early Stage 397

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Whether you are talking to peers, competitors or investors, you as an active entrepreneur will be judged on your familiarity with today’s startup and funding jargon. In that context, I offer you my latest collection of popular investor-to-entrepreneur terms and concepts. Could your startup be the next one? Sweat equity.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 29, 2019

Startup funding is undeniably an essential part of any new business launch, which is typically a hard nut to crack. However, here, we have attempted to shortlist a few easier ways for funding a startup. Usually, banks are the first go-to place for entrepreneurs when looking for a loan. Photo by Caleb Lucas on Unsplash.

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Startup Government Valuation Technical Review 96