Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There are many things a VC is looking for in reviewing your business plan but beyond things the like the quality of revenue, margins, OPEX and CAPEX there’s a really simple rule I call, “Cash In, Cash Out, Milestones Achieved.” Every VC knows that the amount you raise is often a proxy for your valuation.

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. After all, growth equals high valuations and loads of venture capital! In revenue terms our first two years of sales were $2.1 Not Google.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. Revenue multiple? Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. We raised a seed round. About $1 million. Me: At what price?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5% raised from angels.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

Until recently it was headquartered 2 blocks from our offices in Santa Monica so we literally saw it emerge under our feet and we proudly invested in the last 3 rounds of financing. Today the company officially announced its most recent round of capital ?—?having Forget the valuation?—?I having raised $300 million?—?less

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Technical Review Los Angeles 256

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2020

If you are building a startup, you’ll find no shortage of people who are willing to give you advice, particularly when it comes to raising financing. To do that you have to show how your market is big enough (a multi-billion dollar market) to support that kind of valuation. Myth #3: Take the Highest Valuation You Can Get.

Finance 205

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 205

Steve Blank

APRIL 26, 2022

At the turn of the century after the dotcom crash, startup valuations plummeted, burn rates were unsustainable, and startups were quickly running out of cash. Except, that is, for the bottom feeders of the Venture Capital business – investors who “ cram down ” their companies. A cram down is different than a down round.

Cram Down 404

Cram Down Founder Venture Capital Recapitalization 404

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. 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.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue. Reasons for funding. ? Incubators and Accelerators. Government programs.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

I think it’s important for enterprise startups to layer in professional services into your revenue stream. deliver profitable revenue that while on gross margins of 50% vs. software at 85-95% it is still profits to help you cover fixed costs. Control Size of PS Revenue Relative to Software Business. rollout support.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! In addition to FOMO it is partly driven by massive increase in valuations for earlier-stage companies who raised money at bit seed prices but who still have product risk. And for some that means that despite waiting they may see worse valuations in the future than now.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

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. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating.

Cuba 316

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 316

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. The focus should always be on execution, revenue, and profits. Overconfidence. Marty Zwilling.

Demand 362

Demand Government Venture Capital Valuation 362

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. Looking ahead at the next decade I am excited by what I believe will be viewed as one of the best and most rational investment periods for venture capital due to seven discrete factors: 1. The Exit Problem.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

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. In SaaS (or any recurring revenue business) this is also a very difficult task.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

100M is a meaningful increase from our $50M third fund, though it’s still quite small in the grand scheme of venture, especially amid the recent wave of late stage financings and SPACs. Thirteen of these 15 companies were seeded pre-revenue, and many were at concept stage or had rudimentary early products.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

Do I think we are in a valuation bubble? I think that later stage valuations are frothy (for reasons I explain below) while earlier stage valuations are starting to stabilize from previous highs (with the exception of the superstar serial entrepreneur) - turns out scaling in a sea of competition (both startup and entrenched) is not so easy.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

How else can you explain this headline matching a story about a professional social network still trying to explore revenues raising $17mm on an $80mm valuation? venture capitalists are now asking tougher questions about start-ups' revenue and profits.". Perhaps I need to rethink that. But second, how do you back this up?

Venture Capital 114

Venture Capital Marketing Term Sheet Software Review 114

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. As the risks below get eliminated the higher the valuation investors are prepared to pay. So rounds tend to be “range bound&# where the top end of the valuation spectrum often being done in boom markets (i.e.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.]

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Over the same 30 years, Venture Capital firms have honed their skills and strategies to match Wall Streets needs to achieve liquidity for their portfolio companies. One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. What Do VC’s Do?

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup. For those of you who fit that description, nice work.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. It would have been easy to explain the difference by changes in the 2010/2011 revenue growth projections but unfortunately that is not the case. revenues while large caps are trading at 6.4x. SaaS 13 Index Valuation.

Software Review 101

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Europe 101

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 Hanaco Venture Capital is a fund located in New York and Tel Aviv that invests in developing and late-stage startups from across the world. “At

Private Equity 141

Private Equity Developer Venture Capital Merger 141

David Teten

AUGUST 7, 2019

LTV / CAC, revenue growth, etc.) than comparable companies in the same sector that raised at a higher valuation. Today, some Momentum-centric venture capital investors have high paper returns. The Momentum model depends in part on more and more venture capital being readily available. Why, yes, they are.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Valuation Stock NDA 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

If you want to raise venture capital more easily the advice could be quite practical and counter-intuitive. Many companies that are raising B or C venture capital rounds right now raised their initial money in 2005-2008. Talk openly about valuation and what they’ll accept so you know what you’re dealing with.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. Gio expects to get to about $500,000 by the end of this year and asked me for advice on venture funding. I call it drip-financing. In 1M/1M, our preferred financing strategy is customers. Kir Devries.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

This quarter they interviewed me as part of it on Quarterly VC Update: Brad Feld on the State of Venture Capital Investing. The existential freakout that occurred in January and February seemed like the distant past with the lingering hangover being a clearer focus on valuation and overall funding needs from new investors.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital Private Equity Early Stage Valuation 70

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. Usually these are revenue-generating e-commerce sites, or have the potential to be revenue-generating.

Cuba 246

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

Angels are actually serious investors who invest their own money, versus venture capitalists who invest institutional money, or regular people who invest in crowdfunding. Since they know that most startups fail, their target return is ten times investment, so be prepared to talk cost vs revenue and product life.

Angel Investor 322

Angel Investor Valuation Syndicate Syndication 322

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Low supply of companies with traction drove the valuations and deal sizes up. The risk here is what I refer to as the curse of over-capitalization. In that presentation, I said that Seed is not the first round of financing any more and that K9’s investments were mostly “pre-seed”. Valuations are rising to match.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Together, we mapped 89 companies, that collectively raised over £2 billion in venture capital across consumer experiences, enabling technologies and infrastructure. billion in revenue in 2022. Access to finance and skills remain the key barriers to industry growth. UK XR startups generated over $1.4

Startup 122

Startup Generative AI Venture Capital Valuation 122

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital. Companies horde cash and squeeze the most revenue and margin from the money they use. Instead of measuring success in dollars of profit, …firms focus on measuring capital efficiency.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

Gross burn is your cost base and net burn is the difference between your revenue and costs. If your revenue grows you can afford to increase your cost base. Sometimes it means spending less on marketing or not adding new bodies so that revenue can catch up with expenses and thus reduce burn through revenue growth.

Burn Rate 212

Burn Rate Startup .Net Venture Capital 212

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

One of the questions I get, more often than not, is what is the appropriate valuation of my business. This is typically in conjunction with an upcoming financing or pending takeover offer. multiple interested investors competing for the deal, and driving up your valuation in the process). The more scarce a supply (e.g.,

Valuation 167

Valuation Forecast Seed Stage .Net 167

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

It has historically been the case that VCs would rather fund the promise of 100x in a company with almost no revenue than the reality of a company growing at 50% but doing $20+ million in sales. Case in point, Procore just went public and is trading at an $11 billion valuation. This “overnight success” was first financed in 2004.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital LP Valuation Later Stage 363

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? While the answers are somewhat semantic, the pre-seed funding round is making a comeback in 2024 startup financing. A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”? Pre-seed tends to be about developing an MVP and generating early traction.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186