Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2023

Should they focus on increasing revenues and profitability, or entice more and more users with “free” services, to increase their valuation. The concept of free goods and services to get you hooked, financed by deep pockets, or advertising, seems marginally ethical to many. Traditionally, it was simple.

Valuation 235

Valuation Revenue Viral Retention 235

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

Funding is not an indicator of success, irrespective of the impression that you might get from the news and media. Participating and winning Startup competitions can also help you to accumulate some funds along with gaining some credentials and as well as getting some media mentions. Funding is just a stepping stone. Inception stage.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

ReadWriteStart

JULY 2, 2022

trillion globally, and social media has become the backbone of many businesses looking to build brand awareness. Conforming with Torchbankz, the dropshipping industry is expected to reach a market valuation of $557.9 This option of earning money is more resistant to crises and outbreaks of pandemics. billion before 2025.

Cost 140

Cost Software Review Technical Review Cloud 140

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The valuations were too high! This is only true when: 1) there is funding available to finance short-term losses and 2) when there is a lucrative positive unit-economics business when you become the winner. Act III was the “I told you so” comeuppance of anybody who we sure that the electric scooter market would fail.

South America 250

South America Global New York City Software Review 250

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Should they focus on increasing revenues and profitability, or entice more and more users with “free” services, to increase their valuation. The concept of free goods and services to get you hooked, financed by deep pockets, or advertising, seems marginally ethical to many. Traditionally, it was simple.

Revenue 434

Revenue Valuation Viral Retention 434

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2021

In finance, a bubble is too much money chasing assets, greater asset production and a herd mentality. In finance, “this time is different” is the beginning of a new bubble. High valuation, low profit. Social media darling Twitter is an example of these bubbles. Overconfidence.

Demand 362

Demand Government Venture Capital Valuation 362

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

Until I read the classic book “ The Business of Sharing, ” by Alex Stephany, who founded JustPark (current valuation estimated at £80M), I too had no idea of the scope of opportunities, and the 300 or more players already out there. Assets need to move in a community of engaged users. Community means more than supply and demand. Restaurants.

Cuba 316

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 316

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

The sheer number of relationships I’ve built through being public, transparent and being willing to engage in comments and through social media has enabled me to get to know entrepreneurs even before they launch their next company. I have always advised startup companies against letting valuations get massively ahead of market norms.

Deal Flow 347

Deal Flow Early Stage Investment Bankers Technical Review 347

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

You thought media twitter was bad… You thought tech twitter was bad… — Hunter Walk (@hunterwalk) August 24, 2015. So why invest in that period of uncertainty unless it’s early-stage and thus valuation matters less. This could have an impact on later-stage valuations. It was a nerve racking morning.

Stock 150

Stock Finance Marketing Valuation 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. In today’s world of information overload, everyone relies on marketing and social media to find solutions to match their needs. Most technologists have little interest in the mechanics of starting and building a business.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

ithacaVC

NOVEMBER 28, 2012

On October 17th I posted on seed and early stage startup valuations. This morning I read a post by Marty Zwilling on startup valuations. His post on startup valuations lists the following rules of thumb (i.e., Find “comparables” who have received financing (market approach). The better the team, the better the valuation.

Valuation 69

Valuation Intellectual Property Startup Early Stage 69

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. So if you’re casually reading and don’t really care about angel financing – abort now! At what value?

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

The sheer number of relationships I’ve built through being public, transparent and being willing to engage in comments and through social media has enabled me to get to know entrepreneurs even before they launch their next company. I would gladly work with you on a $50 million late-stage, complex financing.

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

In the Ad Tech world PS revenue often means providing “media services” as a value-add to using your product. It also is a great way to finance your business without facing dilution before you actually raise venture capital and when the valuation you might get from angels is less than you’d want. configuration.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

We’ve received numerous constructive comments, both privately and on social media, from attorneys, VCs, and CEOs who are well aware of the problem (including several who are experiencing it in real time). This is a fundamental issue that does, indeed, boil down to understanding the post-money valuation of a company.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 31, 2013

Look for VC portfolios that have a lot of “like” companies (B2B, B2C, media, tech, etc.). The financing is the line of demarcation between you and the VC courting each other, and the VC joining your board and effectively becoming your boss. Similarly, I’d always sacrifice valuation for a clean security.

Valuation 133

Valuation Term Sheet B2C Security 133

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Part of the magic of revenue-based financing is how historical performance and strong, achievable financial projections are ultimately the backbone of how RBI/RBF investment decisions are made.” Flexible VC: Compensation-based.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Entrepreneur Homepage Startups Starting a Business Home How-To Guides Startup Basics Business Ideas Business Planning Startup Financing Success Stories Home-Based Business Starting a Business Play Video How to Take a New Product from Just an Idea to a Business (Video). Financing Some Jobs Act Proposals Make Headway.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

The survey looks at the valuations and the terms of financing for over 100 technology companies in Silicon Valley that reported raising capital in the third quarter of this year. And not surprisingly, perhaps, the survey found that valuations are up. The full survey can be downloaded here.

Silicon Valley 115

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Valuation Down Round 115

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

It’s worth noting that everything from the Internet, to electric cars, genomic sequencing, mobile apps, and social media — were pioneered by startups, not existing companies. Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter. The stock market clearly values companies that can deliver disruptive innovation.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

As a testament to the growing power of “the creator economy,” visual content creation app development startup Lightricks has secured an impressive $130 million investment round, at a valuation of $1.8 New investors Migdal Insurance, Altshuler Shaham, and Shavit Capital also participated in the round, closing off the action.

Private Equity 142

Private Equity Developer Venture Capital Merger 142

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. Popular Media: the key to viral marketing. Yahoo Finance. Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. Wednesday, February 23, 2011. SaaS Multiples: Recovery or Bubble?

Software Review 101

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Europe 101

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Since 2015, her company, Barney, has guided over 150 media, marketing & tech companies through acquisitions. All those things go into, you know, setting what that, that valuation is outside of just the financials. John Jantsch (14:01): Well, that happened 10 years ago, social media, only agents. John Jantsch (06:33): Okay.

Entrepreneur 79

Entrepreneur Technical Review Cofounder Valuation 79

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

Until I read the classic book “ The Business of Sharing, ” by Alex Stephany, who founded JustPark (current valuation estimated at £33M), I too had no idea of the scope of opportunities, and the 350 or more players already out there. Assets need to move in a community of engaged users. Community means more than supply and demand. Restaurants.

Cuba 246

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 246

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. Valuation caps can come into play in settings other than seed-stage convertible note financing rounds. Intermix and its advisors weren’t fools.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Growthink Blog

APRIL 15, 2015

Now given that the company has yet to even come close to breaking even, this can be viewed as either a great validation of Domo''s business model, or as more evidence of the “Bubble Mania” of the current technology financing landscape and a screaming signal to get out while you still can.

Valuation 48

Valuation Venture Capital Finance Acquisition 48

Up and Running

AUGUST 29, 2014

Many people who want to start a business believe they will be able to get grants or loans to help them finance the venture. Listen with an open mind to employees, suppliers, customers, the media and members of the community. What is being said about the company in public, on social media and in the hallways of the business?

Small Business 87

Small Business CPA Government North America 87

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 24, 2011

Jobseekers, therefore, need help cleaning up their social media profiles so that objectionable material does not find its way to these background check scenarios, disrupting their chances of getting hired. The discussion today was around Social Media financing and go-to-market strategy.

Illinois 114

Illinois Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Chicago 114

Cracking the Code

MARCH 23, 2007

Popular Media: the key to viral marketing. Popular Media is a hosted, web-based technology platform that enables customers to quickly create, optimize, and scale viral marketing programs - and it seems to work pretty well. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. Yahoo Finance.

Software Review 48

Software Review Viral Media Marketing 48

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2019

All three have different business models… SaaS, media/ad, and consumer transactional. In the last decade or so, high profile consumer IPOs have often gotten lofty valuations. In just the last month or so we’ve seen Lyft go public ( my analysis of the company’s S-1 here ) and more recently, Zoom and Pinterest.

IPO 180

IPO B2B B2C Institutional Investors 180

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2016

Should they focus on increasing revenues and profitability, or entice more and more users with “free” services, to increase their valuation. It’s only been in the last ten years that social media companies, like Facebook and Twitter, have achieved market valuations in billions of dollars, while clearly sacrificing revenue to gain users.

Revenue 145

Revenue Valuation Startup Viral 145

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Consider convertible debt Before diving into a seed round, you may want to consider convertible debt over equity financing.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 16, 2012

Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. Popular Media: the key to viral marketing. Yahoo Finance. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. Note: high CAC ratio means high productiviy (see blog post for definition). My Investments. CornerstoneOnDemand. anecdotes. (13).

Software Review 95

Software Review Europe Technical Review Spain 95

Pascal's View

AUGUST 21, 2011

Welcome to the latest passionate debate over the ‘valuation bubble or not?’ This time, the debate centers on the “favored few” Social Media venture backed companies that have brought tremendous windfalls to a select group of venture funds and management teams, both pre- and post-IPO. question in venture capital. It is intentional.

Valuation 50

Valuation Social Media Media IPO 50

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Should they focus on increasing revenues and profitability, or entice more and more users with free services to increase their valuation. The concept of free goods and services to get you hooked, financed by deep pockets or advertising, seems marginally ethical to many. Traditionally, it was simple.

Revenue 246

Revenue Entrepreneur Valuation Viral 246

Cracking the Code

AUGUST 3, 2011

Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. Popular Media: the key to viral marketing. Yahoo Finance. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. Note: high CAC ratio means high productiviy (see blog post for definition). My Investments. CornerstoneOnDemand. anecdotes. (13).

Software Review 67

Software Review Europe Technical Review Search 67

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Finance | Tuesdays. Financing a Small Business. Financing A Small Business. Personal Finance. Last spring, Dave Graham , founder of software consulting firm Arizona Bay, learned that a major client, Jumpstart Automotive Media, had been acquired for more than $80 million. Start-up | Mondays. Technology | Thursdays.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40