Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Hire a professional marketing and public relations agency once you have a good revenue stream but you don’t need them to start a free blog, establish Facebook and Twitter accounts with initial content and complete the basics of search engine optimization. Cash flow can be drastically reduced by working out of your garage.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

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 IPO Analytics 177

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Technical Review Los Angeles 256

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Often, SaaS company founders are not aware of steps, tools, and checkpoints they should follow while building their product. They were able to take their market valuation to $1.0 A major mistake many SaaS company founders make is not focusing enough time on the UI/UX of the product. If possible, hire a third-party tester.

Cost 158

Cost Developer Azure Cloud 158

Steve Blank

JULY 11, 2017

Before the rapid rise of Unicorns, (startups with a valuation over a billion dollars), when boards were still in control, they “encouraged” the hiring of “adult supervision” of the founders after they found product/market fit. These new CEOs would also act as a brake to temper the founder’s excesses. The founders.

Part-Time VPE 317

Part-Time VPE Liquidity Event Stock Engineer 317

View from Seed

APRIL 5, 2016

Founders’ stories can be truly heroic, but inspiring stories don’t start and end with them. Likewise, true grit is defined by so much more than company growth and valuations. The post True Grit: It’s Not Just Founders We Should Celebrate appeared first on NextView Ventures.

Founder 120

Founder Web Development Web Community 120

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

EBITDA is the most important profitability metric to consider as many valuations are based on a multiple of this metric. That being said, it makes sense that when business is booming, your valuation will be higher. Finally, hiring the right M&A Advisor to guide you through the process can help in achieving a maximum profit.

Exit Strategy 246

Exit Strategy Intellectual Property Valuation Metrics 246

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Jeff Katzenberg has a great track record – head of the studio at Paramount, chairman of Disney Studios, co-founder of DreamWorks and now chairman of NewTV. He just hired Meg Whitman. Startups wrote business plans, generated expansive 5-year forecasts and executed (hired, spent and built) to the plan. The result?

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

Many are reporting that they’re seeing a more diverse pool of applicants than traditional equity VCs… even though virtually none have a particular focus on women or underrepresented founders. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A new option for founders who care about control.

Revenue 60

Revenue Cofounder Founder Venture Capital 60

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. As the idea went from innovating on software & systems to launching a company to rolling it out in the field brought on Rahul Gandhi as his co-founder to physically launch the company. As an early-stage VC I love this phase.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

This post originally appeared in TechCrunch back in 2015, written by our co-founder and managing partner Erik Rannala. These lost startups land higher valuations, have larger teams, outsource more product development and spend more money on customer acquisition than their peers. Hire the wrong people. Honestly, we don’t know.”?

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Hire a professional marketing and public relations agency once you have a good revenue stream but you don’t need them to start a free blog, establish Facebook and Twitter accounts with initial content and complete the basics of search engine optimization. Cash flow can be drastically reduced by working out of your garage.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

VC Cafe

AUGUST 2, 2022

Tim Sweeney, the founder and CEO of Epic is a long term visionary of our online future and the Metaverse. Tim Sweeney, Epic Games’ founder and CEO. In March 2022, Yuga Labs , the company behind BAYC, raised a $450M seed round at $4 billion valuation led by A16Z with the aim: create a better Metaverse.

IP 206

IP Cofounder Valuation Acquisition 206

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I recently spoke at the Founder Showcase at the request of Adeo Ressi. I said that at the Founder Showcase, too. 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. This post originally ran on TechCrunch.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

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. I’ve decided to take all of my private conversations and subjective points-of-view on the topic and make them public in a keynote speech at the Founder Showcase in San Francisco on June 15th. That’s stupid.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. two founders in a garage?—?(HP

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

In a new book, “ The Leadership Capital Index ,” Dave Ulrich, a best-selling author, business consultant, and business school professor, provides some real insights and metrics on what makes up the elements of goodwill in the minds of top valuation experts. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company.

Leadership 120

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation 120

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

When I hear the realism that comes from founders with setback it elicits an understanding of what it takes to be successful at a startup that frankly can’t exist unless you’ve walked in those shoes before. In London when founders failed they were ostracized in the press and culturally I believe it became harder to raise capital.

South Korea 261

South Korea Silicon Valley Los Angeles Japan 261

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

“Why do founders want to take the VCs’ money? Founders will continue to take the “growth at all options” path that leads to privacy & trust creep at places like Quora. After all, growth equals high valuations and loads of venture capital! Growth, again. Grow or die.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

In response, venture capital firms like Sequoia and Andreessen/Horowitz are hiring new partners just to work with their portfolio companies and match them to corporations. VCs like acquisitions as much as IPOs because the acquiring companies often can rationalize paying large multiples over the current valuation of the startup.

Acquisition 333

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 333

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Hire a professional marketing and public relations agency once you have a good revenue stream but you don’t need them to start a free blog, establish Facebook and Twitter accounts with initial content and complete the basics of search engine optimization. Cashflow can be drastically reduced by working out of your garage.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 13, 2020

If things are going great, you still may get a lower valuation or smaller round. A hire or two that you should have been able to close won’t join. Are you a founder who trained themselves to become a better salesperson? You may end up decreasing the quality of outcomes by a standard deviation or more. How does this harm occur?

Technical Cofounder 145

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Startup Matching 145

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. That’s because obtaining a pre-money valuation for a concept level technology company in excess of $1 million is difficult, particularly for a startup founder without a proven track record.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

For example, a web-based startup should be able to operate for a year if they raise $500,000 from the founders or angels. This will equate to 2 working founders (taking no salary), hiring a 5-person development team for a year. That will position the startup to raise a venture round at a favorable valuation.

Burn Rate 232

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 232

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

This term is currently applied to recent startups who profess a current valuation which exceeds $1 billion. Frothy startup valuations. Ron Conway , of SV Angels, and Reid Hoffman , LinkedIn's founder, are names often mentioned in this category. Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat. Could your startup be the next one?

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 17, 2017

by Anand Srinivasan, founder of LeadJoint.com . This is fine as long as you do not hire people or choose not to outsource any component of your business to a third party agency. You can also hire virtual assistants who can perform operational tasks like reading up feedback email from customers and answering them.

Customer 100

Customer Technical Support Valuation Lead Generation 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2021

Here are five of the most common examples: Failure to document a Founder agreement at the beginning. This oversight can lead to the so-called “forgotten Founder” problem. Trouble with the IRS over Founders stock value. Founders ignore non-compete clauses from former employers.

Cost 363

Cost Non-Compete Accredited Investor Cofounder 363

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2011

For example, a web-based startup should be able to operate for a year if they raise $500,000 from the founders or angels. This will equate to 2 working founders (taking no salary), hiring a 5-person development team for a year. That will position the startup to raise a venture round at a favorable valuation.

Burn Rate 231

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 231

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 20, 2023

#4- Find the right relationships Photo Credit: Mike Pio Roda “Never leave money on the table” might seem tempting, but it's not always the wisest path for founders and business owners. 5- Hire the experts Photo Credit: Rachel Eigen “You can do it all starting small” — B.S.

Entrepreneur 81

Entrepreneur Cap Table Dividend Cofounder 81

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

“And if you have a valuation cap; a higher cap is always better than a lower cap.” The primary terms for these types of transactions are the valuation cap and the conversion discount. Incorporation also protects the founders from a liability standpoint. ” The Cost of Financing. Board and Stockholder Votes. .”

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 9, 2016

During a transaction, company owners and founders are often bombarded with countless questions and requests for information under a strict timeframe. Here are four areas to look at in your assessment that can help you to determine if a particular advisor is right for your deal: Valuations Expertise.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Due Diligence San Francisco Merger 100

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 15, 2022

Many founders stay on for several years to earn the bulk of their compensation, and the M&A advisor can provide guidance in this regard. The first step in creating a business plan to sell your startup to an acquirer is to create a valuation of your company. Hiring a Mergers and Acquisitions advisor.

Merger 158

Merger Acquisition Due Diligence Valuation 158

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Hire a professional marketing and public relations agency once you have a good revenue stream but you don’t need them to start a free blog, establish Facebook and Twitter accounts with initial content and complete the basics of search engine optimization. Cash flow can be drastically reduced by working out of your garage.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

VC Cafe

MAY 29, 2022

Sequoia’s “Adapting to Endure” Sequoia presented this deck to a group of portfolio founders and it quickly spread online to founders worldwide. Layoffs and hiring freezes have started. Big tech (Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple) have implemented a temporary hiring freeze.

Venture Capital 184

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Startup 184

OnlyOnce

DECEMBER 8, 2021

I just did a podcast recording the other day for someone who asked me the biggest mistakes founders make and what to do about them. I divided my response into “early stage” and “later stage” founders. Here’s a summary of what I said about early stage founders. Try different ones on for size.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Founder Later Stage B2C 62

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 29, 2021

billion company and has built up this valuation outside the Silicon Valley scene. This year, Duolingo went public and has earned a $7 billion valuation. They understand that with the emergence of remote work, they can compete globally for talent, rather than restricting their hiring to their operational geography. .

Silicon Valley 190

Silicon Valley Kansas City Chicago Denver 190

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? ” As far as “terms” go I’m 100% aligned to have the most vanilla, founder-friendly terms I can. And I listen to the reasons their co-founders quit their well-payed job to join them.

Deal Flow 347

Deal Flow Early Stage Investment Bankers Technical Review 347