View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

What Are Your Valuation Expectations? But mainly we did it because these corporate VCs were among the only groups willing to invest at PayPal’s somewhat inflated post-money valuation, during the middle of the dot-com crash when traditional VCs pulled back sharply and other sources of funding were constrained.” ” (Rob Go).

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring Analytics IPO 177

Hearpreneur

MAY 31, 2021

Bardya Ziaian: I knew that fintech represented the future of finance. I feel very lucky and I think this is an incredibly exciting time to be at the intersection of finance and technology. The leading fintech companies have seen their valuations triple or quadruple in just the last two years to tens of billions. You’ll find it.

Finance 62

Finance Early Stage Canada Agile 62

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

The key to being able to run a business that isn’t yet profitable (on operating margin) is availability of capital to finance losses and preferably at a cost that isn’t too punitive to the founders and employees. Sustaining short-term losses is all predicated on ability to finance the losses through venture capital or other means.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

They should heed the age old advice that raising slightly more money while you can is always better than trying to optimize future valuations. The rest of this post series deals with the reasons why VC froze up in the first place, why investments have heated up recently and why the future of VC funding at the current pace is not certain.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

You can read the rest of the posts in the series by clicking here *. To provide relevant perspective, listing past convertible note(s) and/or equity financing(s) including total round size and valuation (caps) is helpful. What not to include is directly stating valuation expectations.

Cap Table 211

Cap Table Seed Stage Valuation Dilution 211

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Bates: Good morning and welcome to our CEO panel, “How to Fine-Tune Your Small Business Finances From Funding to Growth” which I think is the direction that we would all like to be going. I’m here with some really phenomenal CEOs who are going to talk to us today about small business finances from funding to growth.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

Others are cutting their valuations. As part of these operating changes, make sure your heads of HR and finance recognize that they have entirely new jobs. Involve the board and the rest of the company. If you were expecting angel or venture funding get on the phone to your investor(s). Draw down all debt commitments.

South Korea 333

South Korea Salary Business Model China 333

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Often difficult to get, the first engineer sets the tone for the rest of the development team. As an aside for founders, there is an interesting approach on how to arrive at equity offers outlined by Fred Wilson that may be worth checking out once there is a sense of valuation. Converting percents to cents (and dollars).

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Btw, the definition of each startup financing stage has changed in the last decade. At the end of this post, we’ll discuss the valuation at each step (how much the investors value your company and therefore how much of it you need to give up to get this money) and how much revenue you should generate at each step.). Valuations.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

That’s why most entrepreneurs do not make a specific ask on valuation, but wait to hear offers from investors. As Cuban pointed out, this is a “down round” Zomm is seeking $2M for 10% of the company, implying an $18M pre money valuation today. The last company was a bit of a puzzler.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2018

According to Yahoo Finance , less than a third of crowdfunding campaigns currently reach their goals, and the rest have to return anything they do collect. It is this growth that concerns many investors: Startup valuations can’t be negotiated via crowdfunding. That exceeds the amounts contributed in the U.S.

Equity 180

Equity Due Diligence Angel Groups Liquidity Event 180

View from Seed

MAY 31, 2019

These founders can seemingly fly above the rest of us stuck on the ground. Some of the founders in our portfolio have an exceptional ability to raise additional capital (and at loftier valuations) remarkably ahead of where the underlying metrics of the business current would yield.

Valuation 149

Valuation Portfolio Metrics Founder 149

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

The rest of the purchase price was concocted from a brew of zero-coupon bonds (where the face value is many times the invested amount until the reduced cost bonds mature thirty years later), and borrowing using the target company’s accounts receivable and other assets as collateral for a loan to purchase the company.

Naming 62

Naming Warrant Private Equity Valuation 62

The Equity Kicker

MAY 14, 2012

Twice in the last week I found myself coaching founders on how to build a financing plan around value creation milestones so I thought I would share what I said here. Given that the valuation of a startup increases when milestones like these are hit it makes sense to build a financing plan based on when they are likely to come in.

Finance 118

Finance Valuation Venture Capital Dilution 118

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 5, 2020

Another pointer is to how much the industry is ready for disruption is the trend of recent HR and Recruitment startups such as Zenefits which reached up to a valuation of a billion dollars after a few years. Even talent management software has a 17% annual compound growth rate and still growing! Thanks to John Linden, MirrorCoop ! #19-

Technical Review 156

Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur China 156

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. Read on for a fuller explanation.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

In fact, 90% of the top grossing apps are subscription based across all categories: education, fitness, dating, music, wellness, personal finance, etc. The rest, like Disney+ and Spotify, might try to catch up by acquiring or launching their own bundles. Many startups are hoping to be the next name on that list.

B2C 187

B2C Cloud Valuation Acquisition 187

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

You can read the rest of the posts in the series by clicking here *. Something standard like a SaaS company where the exits scenarios and valuations are well-understood may not need a slide here, but the more non-traditional or unique the venture is, the more information which a Founder can fill in the blanks of “what could be” are helpful.

Seed Stage 166

Seed Stage Retention Restful Valuation 166

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2013

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. To the rest of us, new great things often start out looking like toys, and Gen-Y knows their toys. Overconfidence.

Demand 224

Demand Green Finance Government 224

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Keep the valuations consistent with company progress. Messy cap tables can come back to haunt you when you do a financing or sell the company. The bottom line is that the pedigree of your investors will have much to do with your ultimate valuation and with your enjoyment of the startup experience.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 29, 2015

Now that everyone is overly focused on unicorns, the headline number on the valuation (e.g. Company X raised Y at a valuation of Z from A, B, and C) has crept into the story on big rounds. No understanding of the human dynamics behind the financing. No underlying metrics that drive the financing. financing of Mattermark.

Atlanta 70

Atlanta Valuation Term Sheet Seattle 70

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

Babbling VC

AUGUST 10, 2011

OK, hands up, who's truly surprised by the drop in the stock markets or the postponed tech IPO's or even the upcoming slowdown in venture financing? For the rest of you, let's get back to business. It's about to get rough out there and I am not even alluding to valuations. No really, who is surprised? What is the reality now?

Germany 76

Germany Stock IPO Valuation 76

Cracking the Code

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As the company announces its $530 million Series F at a valuation of $8.5 The rest is history. What advice would you give when it comes to choosing an investor, and the timing of financing? I think ideas through by talking about them. The more I talked about this one, the more convinced I was that it was necessary.

Community 62

Community Cofounder Security Open Source 62

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 16, 2020

These financing options, which we know as car title loans, happen to be short term loan options. If you have got your car in a pretty good condition, then you can rest assured that you are seriously not going to get through any sort of stringent credit check. What is it all about? No credit check.

Valuation 136

Valuation Equity Restful Finance 136

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

What happened to the rest? Furthermore, as I was proving the viability of Recycler Spotter through the free version, I could have pre-sold the paid membership at a discount for another layer of validation that would have also helped finance product development. Guess what? Only three of them ended up buying the premium version.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2011

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. To the rest of us, new great things often start out looking like toys, and Gen-Y knows their toys. Overconfidence.

Startup 225

Startup Demand Government Green 225

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

To ensure you receive the rest, subscribe here. With that in mind, let’s look at an illustration of these trends below, which demonstrates what’s been happening to early-stage financing rounds over the last 15 years or so. The reasons for the shift are: Late-stage financing froth. Tweet this.).

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

Friendster’s valuation set the tone for the entire social networking space. You may happen to emphasize the right points that pique an investor’s interest, but you shouldn’t leave your financing up to chance. Second, understand the broader financing climate. However, show some maneuverability.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Viral Revenue Networking 111

Altgate

JUNE 25, 2012

We took the percentage of equity held by former employees and founders and multiplied it by the startup’s valuation during its most-recent round of financing. About three-quarters of this change in the value of dead equity is due to an increase in the percentage of dead equity; the rest is due to changes in company valuations.

Equity 44

Equity Vesting Cap Table Technical Review 44

Pascal's View

AUGUST 21, 2011

Welcome to the latest passionate debate over the ‘valuation bubble or not?’ … We have a stock market that works for one kind of buzzy (Demand Pull) stock but is a disaster for the rest of the economy. Specifically, too much money has gone into VC-backed Internet companies at too high a valuation. It is intentional.

Valuation 50

Valuation Social Media Media IPO 50

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

post money valuation. Mark Cuban offered $300k for 33% of the company, implying a $900k post money valuation. implying a $600k post money valuation. The company ended up negotiating with Cuban and settled on $300k for 30% of the company, or a $1M post money valuation. post money valuation and a $1.35M pre money valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 158

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 158

Babbling VC

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Facebook took one of the leaders off the market and made the rest of the market a nightmare for a while! Financing dried up for the segment and only the big boys remained. At the same time, every messaging app right now thinks it''s worth twice as much as it did last night. Super smart! See how they did it with Instagram.

Silicon Valley 110

Silicon Valley Retention Valuation Restful 110

OnlyOnce

JULY 26, 2018

Or you negotiate the highest possible valuation from a new lead investor, only to discover that new lead investor, now on your Board, expects you to triple it in four years and is way out of alignment with the rest of your cap table. On the other side, what’s an example of a “good” loss?

Cap Table 61

Cap Table Lead Investor Valuation Reputation 61

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

Her background includes senior roles in both the banking and tech sectors, and she has launched four data businesses—including her current firm, New Frontier Data , which boasts a $20 million valuation and has received $5 million in funding. Giadha Aguirre de Carcer via Her Agenda. Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake, via the Los Angeles Times.

Venture Capital 82

Venture Capital Lean Cofounder Technical Review 82