Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. Sloan kept the corporate staff small and focused on policymaking, corporate finance, and planning. A version of this article appeared in the Harvard Business Review.

Michigan 268

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 268

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2021

Dozens of outreach programs across the military now offer quick revenue to early-stage companies. Historically, more than 80% of new entrants exit the defense market before they have a chance to see recurring revenue. Is the company prepared to endure revenue gaps? billion in early funding. Recently public enterprise-AI firm C3.ai

Artificial Inteligence 326

Artificial Inteligence Marketing Startup Silicon Valley 326

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Andreas Rothe, CFO, Fragomen , observed, “One of the reasons for a budget is to align the various resources of the firm to projected revenues from clients and company objectives. Peter Nesbitt, VP of Finance at Teampay , said, “Forecasting is exceptionally challenging in practice, especially as end users drive an era of distributed spending.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

The Equity Kicker

MAY 9, 2016

It’s a great romp through the history of entrepreneurial ventures and how they were financed – starting with loan deals brokered in coffee shops and ending with the PC boom which established venture capital as an asset class in 1970s and 1980s. We focus on ecommerce and marketplaces.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Venture Capital eCommerce Startup 60

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Although young companies rarely measure profitability this repeatedly, more mature companies usually can bring from five to ten percent of revenues to the bottom line in the form of net profit. Why did the company abandon a profitable market, even if it could not generate $100 million a year in revenues?”.

Silicon Valley 97

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 97

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The best and most consistent funds in Silicon Valley (e.g. But my conversations in the private corridors on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley is that many fund sizes will be smaller going forward. Revenue must come from a primary source (as opposed to advertising or other third party sources). Others will, too.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Five Quarters of Profitability During the 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s startups going public had to do something that most companies today never heard of – they had to show a track record of increasing revenue and consistent profitability. There was now a public market for companies with no revenue, no profit and big claims.

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

It follows up on my posts discussing why early stage startups should — or should not — move to Silicon Valley. In terms of access to capital, Austin is not Silicon Valley or New York — but it is Austin. If you’ve just exited or realised stock options from a Silicon Valley success story, moving out of state is worthwhile.

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Texas 48

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M.

Early Stage 253

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 253

ReadWriteStart

MAY 5, 2011

Meanwhile, financing the company will be quite challenging, and I advised Satya to manufacture parts based only on signed contracts and advances against orders, to avoid getting into an inventory-rich, working capital-poor situation. These resellers buy devices from the U.S.

Costa Rica 115

Costa Rica Incubator Silicon Valley India 115

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. million post-money valuation with no revenue. I acknowledged this in the article.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

billion to work across 738 financing deals with U.S. Your friends and family are really the only answer until you have a significant revenue stream. Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active. I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice.

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Transformify

APRIL 21, 2017

Developers, designers, and finance experts from around the world go through a rigorous process that includes live screening and weeks-long test projects before being invited to join Toptal’s network. Why did you prioritize finance over another capability? And we’ll be expanding into more business verticals soon.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Cofounder 40

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

That is debt financing that converts into equity at the Series A valuation once the price for that is set. (I Our discussion today was largely around her financing strategy, and one of the key milestones that I probed her on was: What does it take to get a validated customer? Sub-$2 million pre-money, it is better to bootstrap.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 2, 2010

Well, 1M/1M is focused on helping businesses generate $1M in annual revenue, whatever be the nature of the business. But our goal is to make sure that these businesses are sustainable, have customers, revenues, and profits. million financing round for. My recommendation to Hardika is to study the FDBI project.

India 116

India Green Silicon Valley Massachusetts 116

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. I call it drip-financing. Most entrepreneurs have no choice but to avail of this sort of financing along with the mentoring and the contacts that could come with it (doesn't always come along, though). Kir Devries.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

And somebody who isn’t thinking necessarily thinking about how to maximize their ownership in your next round of financing. when to build out our offices in Silicon Valley, New York & Los Angeles. Experience. Relationships. Founder’s perspective. In the Growth Years. how to build an initial sales organization.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

For a more elaborate explanation of the deal, please read my blog post 1M/1M: Alternative Financing For Startups Using A Sales Channel Partner. I have discussed at length why revenue sharing channel deals may serve as perfectly fine alternatives to raising equity (or even complements) because of their non-dilutive nature.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

As I’ve highlighted I believe we’re in a unique period similar to 2005-08 where the biggest tech firms of Silicon Valley (and some media companies) are scooping up small software companies as “talent acquisitions&# versus accretive revenue / profit generators.

Cap Table 283

Cap Table Angel Investor Liquidation Preference Deal Flow 283

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

In How To Defend Your Dream Against All Odds , Alex and I explore the company's journey to $200 Million in revenue, while their VCs wrote them off. Zoho is already over $100 million in revenue and is seeing tremendous traction. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant. Statisco Economic Analytics.

North Carolina 116

North Carolina San Diego Entrepreneur Balance Sheet 116

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177

Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

The implications for entrepreneurs is that each of these (market risk versus invention risk,) require radically different financing models, a different type of venture investor, different timing for hiring sales and marketing, etc. These two numbers have direct impact on revenue and financial health. Order Here. Now In Print!

Vertical 144

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 144

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins. That includes us.

Early Stage 111

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 111

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

First up was Brad Barrett presenting GrillGrate , a grill accessory with which Brad has built a year-to-date revenue of $400,000. I will work with him on his inventory financing strategy. Sramana Mitra is a technology entrepreneur and strategy consultant in Silicon Valley. GrillGrate. JCLABoutique.com.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. This question gets to the heart of what bank financing is and isn''t supposed to accomplish. Management with a strong track record.

Silicon Valley 187

Silicon Valley Equity Entrepreneur Finance 187

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 15, 2015

Many of our portfolio companies are those types of cloud services and the ecosystems that AppDirect powers can help them get to market faster, reach more users, and drive more revenue. AppDirect is growing like crazy and they plan to open more offices, in Silicon Valley and around the world, in the coming months.

Finance 70

Finance San Francisco Hiring Silicon Valley 70

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

Zendesk is heavily financed by Benchmark and Charles River and has 10,000 customers. In fact, they generated $100k in revenues over the last year, since they first pitched at one of our roundtables. The value proposition is definitely interesting and the company has already validated with customers.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 24, 2011

The discussion today was around Social Media financing and go-to-market strategy. Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, an educational, business development and incubation program that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond.

Illinois 114

Illinois Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Chicago 114

Early Growth Financial Services

OCTOBER 27, 2014

Outsourced financial services firm ranked in top 50 of fastest growing private companies in Silicon Valley. As Silicon Valley Business Journal notes, in Silicon Valley, “it takes explosive growth to get noticed.” billion in revenue for 2013, and company growth for 2012 to 2013 came in at 62.69%.

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Valuation Finance 35

A Crowded Space

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Notice the distinct absence of little things like revenue, customers, engagement metrics, or gross margin. This can lead to lots of hype among investors and very rapid financings where VCs are forced to “act quickly” and provide term sheets in less than 48 hours. They can create temporary growth in vanity metrics like downloads.

San Diego 60

San Diego Software Review San Francisco Silicon Valley 60

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

The horseless carriage is how early people saw the automobile because all they knew was horse-drawn carriages and today, the financial industry sees the disruptions as “financial” instead of realizing a primitive shift to transactional that goes deeper than the existing concept of finance.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Technology Artificial Inteligence Software Review 54

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

There’s a line of thinking in Silicon Valley that you should build product businesses rather than services businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. It’s how things are done across the country outside of Silicon Valley. You’re a small fish.

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

C-Corp largely because (i) VCs have historically favored C-Corps for nuanced tax and other reasons, and (ii) virtually all of the standardized legal infrastructure around startup finance and equity compensation assumes a C-Corp. However, times are changing. But not all VCs think that way. It requires real financial, tax, legal, etc.

Delaware 48

Delaware LLC Startup Silicon Valley 48

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Helped merge company with Seedling – on track to do $20 million combined revenue in 2015 – will now become Chairman). Kara has worked in finance in Boston, NYC and Silicon Valley. Startup CEO experience (Founded P.S. XO along with my good friend Soleil Moon Frye.

Partner 408

Partner Las Vegas Los Angeles Baltimore 408

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

Prior to founding Carely , Michael Eidsaune earned his MBA in finance and spent several years in investment management, eventually earning his level 1 CFA certification. Our revenue model was wrong. Entrepreneurship stretches from Main Street to Silicon Valley, from startups to big companies. We thought we figured it out.

Cofounder 142

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 142

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Sequoia has financed them. Its mission is to help a million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond, build $1 trillion in sustainable global GDP, and create 10 million jobs. Sramana Mitra is a technology entrepreneur and strategy consultant in Silicon Valley.

Cloud 117

Cloud Fractional CTO Entrepreneur Bandwidth 117