Version One Ventures

JULY 20, 2015

I often get asked about how to determine the valuation for a marketplace startup that is starting to scale. Our assumptions for this valuation: Scale: > $1b GMV. Bessemer offers a good overview of current valuations for different business models: SaaS, marketplaces, consumer, and ecommerce. YoY growth of at least 30%.

Valuation 60

Valuation Early Stage IPO eCommerce 60

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, maturity and growth are a continuum, so the rules are never absolute.

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 7, 2014

As soon as your business stops growing, your valuation multiples come crashing down and you can be in serious trouble. News Hubspot Initial public offering IPO Moz Software as a service Unbounce' The right strategy all depends on the comfort level of the founder team and where they want to play on the risk/reward scale.

Initial Public Offering 148

Initial Public Offering IPO SEC Valuation 148

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2011

A tech bubble is the rapid inflation in the valuation of public and private technology companies that exceeds their fundamental value by a large margin. Today, the signs of the new bubble are the Linked-In initial public offering (IPO), Facebook’s stratospheric valuation and the rapid rise of early-stage startup valuation.

Silicon Valley 328

Silicon Valley Stealth Valuation Mississippi 328

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, maturity and growth are a continuum, so the rules are never absolute.

Angel Investor 232

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2015

The visibility of Google, Facebook and a few others continues to propagate the myth that the ultimate objective of every entrepreneur should be to take their startups public via an initial public offering at the earliest opportunity. Even perceived weaknesses can dramatically impact company valuations.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering Entrepreneur Private Equity 120

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

Second rounds, if needed, often drive the founder(s) into a minority position, unless the company has grown significantly by that time and can command a higher pre-money valuation, giving less stock for the same amount of investment. Reward for early risk.

Liquidity Event 96

Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 96

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2018

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to stay low, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. Concerns over valuations being reset to a new normal, and a soft exit market, are seen as key drivers.

Exit Strategy 128

Exit Strategy IPO Initial Public Offering SEC 128

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 7, 2014

As soon as your business stops growing, your valuation multiples come crashing down and you can be in serious trouble. News Hubspot Initial public offering IPO Moz Software as a service Unbounce' The right strategy all depends on the comfort level of the founder team and where they want to play on the risk/reward scale.

Initial Public Offering 78

Initial Public Offering IPO SEC Valuation 78

Berkonomics

JUNE 15, 2017

From the moment such an investor looks seriously at your company, the investor or VC partner is thinking of the end game, the ultimate sale of the company or even of an eventual initial public offering. There is no middle ground. Taking money from these sources involves resetting priorities over time.

Liquidity Event 97

Liquidity Event Initial Public Offering Dividend Valuation 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

The new investors you need at this stage are investment bankers, private equity, or competitors, to buy you out via merger or acquisition (M&A), or to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Obviously, maturity and growth are a continuum, so the rules are never absolute.

Matching 120

Matching Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2019

There is additional encouraging news for aspiring entrepreneurs on many fronts, just in case you are thinking about joining the existing ranks: Valuations of successful startups have hit an all-time high. Initial Public Offerings (IPO) are back as an exit strategy. The median deal size is back over $100 million.

North America 320

North America Incubator Initial Public Offering Exit Strategy 320

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2016

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to decrease, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. Concerns over valuations being reset to a new normal, and a soft exit market, are seen as key drivers.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering SEC Stock Options 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

For instance, if your company is only a few weeks old and you have zero customers and your product offering is still in design, don’t expect someone to hand over $10 million to fund your efforts. You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding.

Investment Bankers 241

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 241

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

Think about the valuation implications and equity you are willing to give up for each investment amount. This means an acquisition or initial public offering that will generate at least five times your fifth-year revenues, at a commensurate equity ownership. Explicitly include funding expectations as a line item.

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Startup Initial Public Offering Equity 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. The reward for doing so was a liquidity event via an Initial Public Offering. Carpe Diem. We’re now in the second Internet bubble.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

For instance, if your company is only a few weeks old and you have zero customers and your product offering is still in design, don’t expect someone to hand over $10 million to fund your efforts. You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding.

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital Investment Bankers Angel Investor Initial Public Offering 171

Version One Ventures

JUNE 29, 2017

What I missed in most of this commentary was the fact that Matt Salzberg and his team had created a company with over $800m in revenues and a $2b valuation in a short 5 (!) As one can imagine, the media commentary was not pretty, calling the IPO a disappointment , the stock stale out of the box , and lamenting that the stock forgot to pop.

IPO 143

IPO Stock Valuation Business Model 143

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

For instance, if your company is only a few weeks old and you have zero customers and your product offering is still in design, don’t expect someone to hand over $10 million to fund your efforts. You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding.

Investment Bankers 231

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 231

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 14, 2012

IPO stands for Initial Public Offering, and is the first sale of a private stock to the public. Several on- and offline resources serve as references and reminders of this important framework; a simple search can help you fall into the GAAP. What You Thought It Meant: Giant Awesome Animatronic Porcupine.

Non-disclosure Agreement 202

Non-disclosure Agreement NDA IPO Covenant 202

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2018

There is additional encouraging news for aspiring entrepreneurs on many fronts, just in case you are thinking about joining the existing ranks: Valuations of successful startups have hit an all-time high. Initial Public Offerings (IPO) are back as an exit strategy. The average amount raised also increased to $175 million.

Entrepreneur 166

Entrepreneur Valuation Incubator Initial Public Offering 166

Berkonomics

JUNE 12, 2014

Second rounds, if needed, often drive the founder(s) into a minority position, unless the company has grown significantly by that time and can command a higher pre-money valuation, giving less stock for the same amount of investment. All three deserve recognition for the risk, time and effort in driving the company to its ultimate value.

Liquidity Event 85

Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 85

Growthink Blog

APRIL 2, 2014

Well, if you don’t, try on these IPO, M&A, and financing stats from 1st Quarter 2014: Initial Public Offerings: 72 companies went public in the U.S. Don’t you just love these booming markets? in the 1st quarter - the largest number of new issuers since 2000 -raising a total of 11.1

Private Equity 69

Private Equity Merger IPO Initial Public Offering 69

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

20th Century Tech Liquidity = Initial Public Offering. In the 20th century tech companies and their investors made money through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). As long as the CEO’s behavior affects their employees not their customers or valuation, VCs often turn a blind eye.

Founder 252

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 252

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

Constituents look for a long-term strategy of continuing return, normally including an initial public offering (IPO) or merger/acquisition, to on-going value or option to cash out. A huge user base may also be a source of profitability, if it results in a multi-billion dollar valuation.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Initial Public Offering Merger Acquisition 48

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 12, 2009

Most venture and institutional investors favor C corps because they may have separate classes of stock, allowing for the creation of various levels of preferences, protections, and share valuations. A C corp is also the easiest type of entity to take public in an initial public offering.

LLC 61

LLC Stock Options Preferred Stock Stock 61

Berkonomics

JANUARY 27, 2010

From the moment such an investor looks seriously at your company, the investor or VC partner is thinking of the end game, the ultimate sale of the company or even of an eventual initial public offering. There is no middle ground. Taking money from these sources involves resetting priorities over time.

Liquidity Event 67

Liquidity Event Initial Public Offering Dividend Valuation 67

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2013

There is additional encouraging news for aspiring entrepreneurs on many fronts, just in case you are thinking about joining the existing ranks: Valuations of successful startups have hit an all-time high. Initial Public Offerings (IPO) are back as an exit strategy. A year from now that’s projected to go as high as 100.

IPO 273

IPO Entrepreneur Social Media Startup 273

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

For years, the most desirable exit strategy for startup companies was to go public through an initial public offering. by Christopher Wallace, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amsterdam Printing. A volatile stock market and economic recession have since changed much of this thinking.

IPO 162

IPO Exit Strategy San Francisco Startup 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2015

There is additional encouraging news for aspiring entrepreneurs on many fronts, just in case you are thinking about joining the existing ranks: Valuations of successful startups have hit an all-time high. Initial Public Offerings (IPO) are back as an exit strategy.

IPO 120

IPO Angel Investor Startup Incubator 120

VC Cafe

JANUARY 15, 2024

A billion dollar valuation, the Unicorn status was once the holy grail for many VCs and founders. At zero interest rates with a seemingly never ending flow of capital to fuel growth, Unicorn creation rate hit a peak in 2021, but fast forward 3 years and justifying a billion dollar valuation seems more like a liability.

IPO 88

IPO Valuation Private Equity 88

Pascal's View

AUGUST 22, 2009

The collateral effect of this market reality is that the vast majority of emerging VC-backed companies are effectively barred from going public. per share and requiring that equity research be paid for by commissions ) which have effectively gutted both the after-market trading and research support that emerging company IPO’s need.

IPO 40

IPO Merger Institutional Investors Venture Capital 40

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

startups with billion-dollar valuations) in recent years. Qualtrics, a company purchased for $8 billion by SAP in late 2018 just days before a planned initial public offering, grew rapidly for a decade before taking in VC funding and is only the latest example of a company that found most of its success without VC firms behind the scenes.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley Technical Review Venture Capital San Francisco 48

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

"Square, the payment technology company founded and led by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, this evening raised $243 million by pricing its initial public offering at $9 per share, which would imply an market value of around $2.9 Rowe Price and Fidelity funds who bid the company up to ridiculous valuations in their pre-IPO rounds.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Initial Public Offering Valuation IPO 60

VC Cafe

JANUARY 20, 2014

New data from research firm Pitchbook makes it official: valuations are at an all-time high. 222 firms held initial public offerings last year, raising $55 Billion, the most since 406 companies went public for $97 million in 2000. Some of the frenzy is driven by Wall Street. Seed-stage deals now require $5.1

Venture Capital 155

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation IPO 155

Pascal's View

MARCH 9, 2010

There has been a multi-year move among auditors, driven by demand for greater transparency in understanding the process behind the book valuation of private, illiquid investments, to bring more of a “mark to market” approach in the way the general partners of private equity partnerships value their portfolios. Share and Enjoy:

Government 31

Government Private Equity Institutional Investors Venture Capital 31

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

For most startups, it’s no secret that a significant part of their long-term plans is to go public and become the next market darling for investors. If you use history as a guide, I’m afraid you’ll find no real consensus on the matter of when to go public with your startup. Then, the market had its say.

IPO 147

IPO Startup Stock Initial Public Offering 147