Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This one doesn’t help NewCo just yet.

Valuation 270

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 270

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. Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! million pre-money valuation is now raising $1 million at a $12 million valuation the next investor has nowhere to go but up (or sit out the investment).

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

If you have a co-founder, see if you can bring him/her along with you; I like to meet the key players. and upload both your presentation (the version that doesn’t need you to come along with it), and a short (very short), elevator pitch video.

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 21, 2013

Josh Brooks, who ran marketing for MySpace for three years, is the founder of a company that lets users take photos form their phones, and then use those photos to send postcards in the real world to their friends and family. pre money valuation and planned to use the money to market the app. pre money valuation).

Pre-Money Valuation 167

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Distribution 167

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This one doesn’t help NewCo just yet.

Pre-Money Valuation 246

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 246

Berkonomics

JANUARY 28, 2021

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up pre-money valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Lessons founders learned. Here’s the “what.”.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 62

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

The founders were very sympathetic; a man, laid off from his job, and his very pregnant wife, who sold their house and investing $150k into the business and are working hard to make a go of it. The two founders invested $40k in the business, and plan to license it rather than manufacture it because manufacturing seems too hard.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Also, it’s harder to pay a $30 million pre-money value on an unproved company when you see public companies with $100 million in sales trading for less than $20 million. Huge downturns have a real impact on the revenue line of start-ups and therefore the pressure on valuations. I argued for literally a year to slash burn.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

Most of those industries are fee-based and are competing on revenue growth. Four years ago people paid $66m median pre-money valuation and are now paying $155m. I don’t totally agree with that view. Venture is a returns based and I believe has different characteristics.

Valuation 309

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Later Stage Non-Compete 309

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This one doesn’t help NewCo just yet.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This one doesn’t help NewCo just yet.

Valuation 234

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Startup 234

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. First priority is real revenue, customers and contracts. Future revenue projections are not relevant at the pre-revenue stage.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). Yes… he was a very successful PayPal exec and previously co-founder & VP Product of SocialNet. But keep in mind at this point Reid’s a first-time CEO. It was a $4.7M

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

The earlier the round, the less capital you need and the more reasonable your valuation the less time that is needed generally to raise capital. In other words, raising $2 million at a $6 million pre-money valuation has always been easier & quicker than raising $20 million at any valuation.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Valuation Software Review 150

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

The past year was a wild ride for startups and founders, giving a whole new meaning to the ”rollercoaster” aspect of being an entrepreneur. Patrick Collison , self-made billionaire founder of Stripe. Bill Gates , founder of Microsoft. ValuatIon should be a function of value, not ego. Our goals, their goals.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 22, 2012

The company has gotten off to a fast start, $150k in revenue in the first two months, with all the marketing coming from social media. The founders have more demand than they know what to do with, and want to raise $55k for 5% equity in the company to buy a second truck. This implies a pre money valuation of $1.045M.

Pre-Money Valuation 101

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Differentiation 101

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

3]   However, if they are built bottom up, they demonstrate and make explicit a range of business model assumptions the entrepreneur is using to think about his business and its revenue model. An average of these ranges results in a pre-money valuation of about $4MM. stake in the company. The Consideration of Risk.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Tempted by large sums of money and the perceived validation that comes along with being funded, founders turn to venture capitalists to accelerate their company’s growth. Founders don’t have that luxury — for founders like me, the consequences of failure are more dire. This approach is not possible when venture funded.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 1, 2012

pre money valuation). Cuban has interest in a gluten free diet, and claimed that he liked the company, but his only concern was valuation. Since an early exit caps the upside potential, getting in at the right, low valuation is necessary to be able to make a high multiple on your investment.

Pre-Money Valuation 158

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Participating Preferred Preferred Stock 158

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5 This method compares the target company to typical angel-funded startup ventures and adjusts the average valuation of recently funded companies in the region to establish a pre-money valuation of the target.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

In brief, a cap acts to place a limit on the conversion price of a convertible note such that investors are guaranteed a minimum number of shares for their bridge loans if the startup does a priced equity round at a high pre-money valuation – “high” meaning above the cap, which is often a heavily negotiated term. (The

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

David Teten

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

I would hope that a competent founder could easily educate herself about what information an investor wants with some basic research. The cover note should include: name, website, location, revenues (if any), detailed financing history (if any), and precise terms on which you are seeking to raise capital. Financial Overview.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation Prospectus Early Stage 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

Liquidation preference is the amount of money that an investor gets paid before the common stock (e.g. management, founders, angel investors) get any money. Usually some combination of 1-4 means that you get polite “passes&# from most VC’s you see. But pass they will. Brain damage. Reputation.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 23, 2015

So whereas seed rounds five years ago may have been less than a million dollars on a pre-money valuation of three or four million, today''s seed is up and over a million and usually closer to two million, with post money valuations nearing $10 million. First, we''re not going from $1.5mm to $2.5mm.

Post-Money Valuation 60

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Seed Money 60

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

It’s worth mentioning two key attributes of convertible note venture deals here: The debt is almost always unsecured , meaning there are no underlying assets to be seized as collateral in the event of default (unlike, say, a mortgage or car loan), and is not personally guaranteed by founders or shareholders.

Finance 107

Finance Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 107

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

For instance, the cap table will help you with various possibilities while running business activities like available options and pre-money valuations faster. The data presents a historical insight on a cap table that can affect the valuation of your startup when it comes time for a new round of fundraising.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

million at a $15 million pre-money valuation. We had people hearing through the grapevine that we were about to raise money and new investors started calling us to get in on the deal. My co-founder and other management team members wanted us to hold off and see whether we could get the deal done at a higher price.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

dondodge.typepad.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

So they will give you a pre-money valuation somewhere around the amount you raise. Sounds strange, but it usually works out that if you are raising $2M the VCs will value your company at $2M pre-money, and $4M post money so they end up with 50% of the stock. How much money should I take?

Equity 40

Equity Employee Dilution Valuation 40

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

And since a startup thatsucceeds ordinarily makes its founders rich, that implies gettingrich is doable too. A lot ofwould-be startup founders think the key to the whole process is theinitial idea, and from that point all you have to do is execute.Venture capitalists know better. Ideally you want between two and four founders.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. I think it would help founders to understand funding better—notjust the mechanics of it, but what investors are thinking. Few startups get it quite right.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 19, 2013

Revenue projections: What will happen to the company if the revenues and earnings projected on a worst case basis are not achieved as predicted? When will the company run out of money if the development of the enterprise is at a slower rate than expected? How much skin do you and your fellow founders have in the game ?

Pre-Money Valuation 105

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidity Event Cofounder Valuation 105

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

Another consideration here is that in the minds of pre-seed investors (who are very often small funds and will be allocating most of their capital in the first round or two), valuation matters a lot more to them than a larger fund who might invest in you at this stage as an option for later. This is typically a $6-10m round.

Pre-Money Valuation 90

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 90

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

Another consideration here is that in the minds of pre-seed investors (who are very often small funds and will be allocating most of their capital in the first round or two), valuation matters a lot more to them than a larger fund who might invest in you at this stage as an option for later. This is typically a $6-10m round.

Pre-Money Valuation 48

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 48

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 26, 2013

Raising funds from business angels may be difficult, time consuming and even frustrating but for the right founder with the right project it may be the preferred option. This process may include the provision of various scenarios on revenues and costs as the investors validate forecasts initially presented. Pre-money valuation.

Angel Investor 51

Angel Investor Due Diligence Pre-Money Valuation Angel Groups 51

www.currentlyobsessed.com

MAY 28, 2010

Instead of “We are worth about $5m because we have done XYZ and we need to raise $1m, so let’s sell 20%&# it’s better to think about valuation as an output variable, like “Let’s raise $2mm and sell 33%, our (pre-money) valuation is therefore $4mm.&# For example, liquidation prefs.

Valuation 42

Valuation Channel Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 42