Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Just because your technology is exciting and potentially disruptive doesn’t mean you are ready to build a business. Justify funding requirements, use of funds and specify a current valuation estimate. What are your forecasts for revenue, expenses and cash flow? What is the business problem you are solving?

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

There’s no doubt (at least anecdotally) that the pace of VC investments in early-stage technology companies has picked up in the past few months. IPOs and M&A have returned – and with them the investment bankers have staged a rebound. – IPO-able in any normal market. but I’ll save that for post 3/3).

IPO 255

IPO Investment Bankers Venture Capital Marketing 255

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Include a current valuation estimate. Financial forecast and metrics. Going public” (IPO) is another alternative, but not common. See where your cashflow bottoms out.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

abovethecrowd.com

JULY 10, 2014

Financial models, especially valuation models, are interesting in that they can be particularly precise. While it may seem like a tough question to answer, I would argue that most practitioners of valuation analysis would state “not very high.” It is not my aim to specifically convince anyone that Uber is worth any specific valuation.

San Francisco 111

San Francisco San Jose Marketing Technical Review 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Include a current valuation estimate. Financial forecast and metrics. Going public” (IPO) is another alternative, but not common. See where your cashflow bottoms out.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Ben's Blog

AUGUST 17, 2020

When speaking with founders and private growth investors, we hear countless references to “multiples paid” on current or near-term revenue; both obsess over this because a higher multiple translates to a higher valuation. How valuation multiples work Why did multiples become a shortcut-heuristic for estimating valuations in the first place?

Valuation 36

Valuation Balance Sheet Cofounder Forecast 36

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan » March 09, 2011. Example four: substantial milestone-based progress that does not generate cash but will attract an acquirer or facilitate an IPO. Example four: substantial milestone-based progress that does not generate cash but will attract an acquirer or facilitate an IPO.

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Include a current valuation estimate. Financial forecast and metrics. Going public” (IPO) is another alternative, but not common. See where your cashflow bottoms out.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Include a current valuation estimate. Financial forecast and metrics. IPO as an exit strategy is not recommended these days. See where your cashflow bottoms out.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2020

For example, every investor I know can tell you about meeting a passionate entrepreneur who is pitching a great technology innovation, but has not done the financial homework on making it a good business. Your challenge is that investors recognize a good business, and they judge your idea by how you translate it into financials.

Liquidity Event 308

Liquidity Event Forecast Exit Strategy Bootstrapping 308

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

Many had started IPO’ing and we started to think about our future. If you want to see what was on my mind – I started foreshadowing change publicly in October 2015 with a forecast of what I expected in 2016 VC funding markets at a presentation I gave at the annual Cendana VC/LP conference hosted by Michael Kim.

Balance Sheet 150

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Forecast 150

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 13, 2020

This summer saw two record transactions within a month, as UiPath became the first European Cloud decacorn in July and Visma, a Norwegian company, became the world’s largest ever software buyout with a $12B+ valuation. On the IPO front, the one word that comes to mind is “supersize”. Big milestones for the old continent! million today.

Europe 71

Europe Cloud Silicon Valley 71

Cracking the Code

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

The Deutsche Bank report has a very interesting chart on the topic presenting the Free Cash Flow margins vs. the revenue growth four years post IPO for select software leaders: As you can see, with 20% Free Cash Flow margin and a 50% growth rate, Salesforce is well positioned in the pack! SaaS 13 Index Valuation. for Lawson?

Software Review 48

Software Review Software Technical Review Cloud 48

Ben's Blog

MAY 24, 2021

IPO market. There are a number of trends concerning IPOs and capital formation to note: First, the raw number of IPOs has declined significantly: From 1980-2000, the US averaged roughly 300 IPOs per year; from 2001-2016, the average fell to 108 per year. In the first quarter of 2021 alone, SPACs raised $87.9

SEC 36

SEC Accredited Investor IPO Technical Review 36

VC Cafe

JULY 20, 2010

38% of venture capitalists believe that their focus should be on updating the technological incubators program. Nearly half of respondents (45%) forecast the Gaza conflict to have negative affects on venture capital fund raising. Only 14% believe that the Treasury should encourage mature Israeli companies to acquire Israeli startups.

Mezzanine 92

Mezzanine Venture Capital IPO 92