A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

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How to think about cash vs. equity compensation

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

It’s among the most-asked questions on startup forums, and an issue we’re dealing with right now at WPEngine as we bring on new employees: How do you decide how much equity (shares) to give a new employee or partner? The question is further complicated when the new hire is getting a salary. What about $Y/mo?&#

Equity 276
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WP Engine passes $100M in revenue and secures $250M investment from Silver Lake

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

This week we closed $250M in financing from Silver Lake , the premier technology private equity firm. Every day, 5% of the entire online world visits a customer running on the WP Engine Digital Experience Platform. The majority of the funds pay back our early investors who believed in us enough to trust us with their money.

Engineer 152
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No wait, of course THAT is the single most important SaaS metric

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

The single most important SaaS metric is retention , because cancellations indicate lack of product/market fit, no matter the cause (price, features, severity of need, duration of need). It’s also by far the greatest determinant of equity value, because it maximizes both revenue and the revenue multiple. Once you’re scaling (i.e.

Metrics 270
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More money if you do, more money if you don’t

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

It’s not a ruse devised by greedy vulture capitalists vying for extra points of equity. Marketing is over-spending to compensate. “Always raise more money than you think you need.” ” – people asking you to take their money Actually, they’re right. You do need more money than you think.

Revenue 270
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Visualizing the Interactions Between CAC, Churn and LTV

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

If you like this, go see his Shockwave Innovations blog ) Anyone that has taken an accounting class or learned basic business financials knows the interaction between key elements of a P&L (revenue, cost, expense) and a balance sheet (assets, liabilities, equity). The nuance comes in deciding what to include in sales and marketing costs.

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The rise of the “successful” unsustainable company

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OneBox.com — On $60m invested, sold for $850m 18 months after launch to J2 just before market crash — score! After all, before the house of cards inevitably tumbles, private equity investors get a tidy return. Support.com — On 2.5m invested, IPO’ed in 2000 for $32/share — stock price now $2.

IPO 240
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Why large companies acquire small companies

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

Rather, buyer behavior is rooted in their strategy — a combination of product thesis, their theory of their market’s evolution, how they need to position for customers and against competitors, their long-term brand development, geographic expansion plans, and so on. ” “How can we become #1 or #2 in a new market?”