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.” They don’t want you experimenting for many years on their capital?—?they’d Yes, I see plans this pedestrian.

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

Thirty-four VC firms in OpenVC call themselves “early-stage” Yet, 30% of those don’t actually invest in pre-revenue startups. of venture capital deals. Those companies have garnered only about 2% of all capital invested. Chris Janz from Point Nine Capital wrote on Twitter: .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Uber , Zenefits , Tanium , Lending Club CEOs of companies with billion dollar market caps have been in the news – and not in a good way. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

I’ve seen the Valley grow from Sunnyvale to Santa Clara to today where it stretches from San Jose to South of Market in San Francisco. But in the 20 th century, dominated by hardware, software, and life sciences, technology swings inside an existing market happened slowly — taking years, not months. or Euro-centric phenomenon.

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

VC Cafe

APRIL 29, 2020

According to the Covid-19 impact report by research firm Beauhurst: 5,070 UK companies are at a ‘severe’ or ‘critical’ risk 615K startup and scaleup jobs are at risk Later stage startups are at the most risk Across the board, tech sectors and verticals are the most likely to experience a positive or low impact.

SBA 124

SBA Technical Review Startup 124

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. Some have done earlier-stage deals and done well. Others have chased earlier-stage but lack the skills or relationships to do this effectively.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Software LP Early Stage 296

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

buy out an entire company for its revenue and profits. 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. The founding team is testing for the right combination of product, market, revenue, costs, etc.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

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.". The tablet market has absolutely exploded. How can you measure it?

Venture Capital 114

Venture Capital Marketing Term Sheet Software Review 114

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . In liquid markets, most of the calories expended on technology and analytics are focused on trade selection, or “ origination ”. 2) Market .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Ben's Blog

MAY 24, 2021

House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets (Committee on Financial Services) hearing on “Going Public: SPACs, Direct Listings, Public Offerings, and the Need for Investor Protections” May 2021. IPO market.

SEC 36

SEC Accredited Investor IPO Technical Review 36

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

Next, take a look at your actual revenue each month – not forecast, but real revenue coming in each month. If you’re an early stage company, that number may be zero. Subtract your monthly gross burn rate from your monthly revenue to get your net burn rate. This math works in a normal market…. Laying off people?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

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. Or so it seems.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

VC Cafe

JANUARY 2, 2023

Israeli public tech companies saw market cap decline of 65% in 2022. As a result, I expect to see slower pace of investing across stages. Lower valuations , especially in later stage. Down rounds, especially for growth stage companies, and bridge rounds galore. ” Fred Wilson. ” Fred Wilson.

Valuation 158

Valuation Down Round Venture Capital 158

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 19, 2015

If you read this Techrunch post profiling 50 of the current YC companies you will notice that many of them are up and running with customers and revenues. In the words of an alum from the 2006 cohort: Companies are joining YC at a much later stage.

Later Stage 60

Later Stage Private Equity Venture Capital Valuation 60

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

Each quarter Cooley does a VC market update. This quarter they interviewed me as part of it on Quarterly VC Update: Brad Feld on the State of Venture Capital Investing. Based on Cooley data for the quarter, how does your experience in the market compare? This is mostly impacting the later stages.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital Private Equity Early Stage Valuation 70

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

Sigh… What I should have been hearing is the search for the business model, specifically the progress on product/market fit, but I hear the fund raising story first at least 90% of the time. The test is: If you add one more sales person or spend more marketing dollars, does your sales revenue go up by more than your expenses?

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 333

Up and Running

AUGUST 19, 2014

what’s behind your financials, your go-to-market strategy, your current traction in the marketplace, your competition and why you’re better, your intellectual property or “secret sauce,” your exit strategy, etc.). Depending on the venture capitalists, they may want to own the majority of your company (i.e. 51 percent). Tweet This Tip.

Angel Investor 161

Angel Investor Technical Review Due Diligence Startup 161

Growthink Blog

JANUARY 24, 2012

As some of you may know, I started my career with The NPD Group, which is one of the world's largest market research firms. That's not to say market researchers purposefully falsify their research. But sometimes market research is as clear as daylight. However, when I dug deeper, I found some deeply disturbing news.

Angel Investor 98

Angel Investor Venture Capital Equity Later Stage 98

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management.

Burn Rate 212

Burn Rate Startup .Net Venture Capital 212

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. I can’t control the market. Private markets for stocks are the opposite.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

Sigh… What I should have been hearing is the search for the business model, specifically the progress on product/market fit, but I hear the fund raising story first at least 90% of the time. The test is: If you add one more sales person or spend more marketing dollars, does your sales revenue go up by more than your expenses?

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 225

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

The Venture Capital industry as a whole does a terrible job of giving things the right name and so we end up keeping the same name, but changing the meaning out from under it. I still wanted K9 to be the first institutional money in a company and work with “frighteningly early-stage” companies. Scaling venture capital breaks it.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

The venture capital landscape in Asia is varied and complex, as most of the active firms on the continent are concentrated in just a few areas. The region’s other strong VC presence resides in Japan, which has the typical Japanese model of a few large firms dominating the market. Golden Gate Ventures , Jungle Ventures , etc.),

Asia 132

Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

Hunter Walker

JULY 18, 2022

Multiples dropped in public and private markets, growth expectations were cut, and business models with high spend for promise of future ROI became quite unfavorable. Your runway is impacted by the absence of projected revenue. Note: I don’t want to hear seed companies complain about “the market.”

Valuation 116

Valuation Cap Table Startup Later Stage 116

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

Or that venture capital is a meritocracy? This doesn’t take into consideration, however, that venture capital is a financial product—a product that works for some people and doesn’t work for others. We know what the racial and gender wealth disparity looks like: This is a lesson taught to be by Jewel from Collab Capital.

Venture Capital 162

Venture Capital Cofounder Deal Flow Later Stage 162

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Funding sources specialize in certain growth stages. Angel investors typically provide early-stage funding, while venture capital firms typically come in at later stages. Funding or rollout stage.

Investment Bankers 241

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 241

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

I’ve written on the expert network industry a fair amount in the past: see How to Earn More Consulting Revenue from Expert Networks and How Executives Can Work with Private Equity and Venture Capital Portfolio Companies. We’re not mainly for B2B companies or later stage companies or anything like that.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2012

These people are highly focused on investment areas they know, which have a large opportunity for growth, revenue projection of $20M or more in five years, and a high return that can be realized via an exit within five years. Even in today’s market, there is capital available from financial institutions at a lower cost for these purposes.

Angel Groups 237

Angel Groups Angel Investor Early Stage Startup 237

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

It’s like trying to sell a home still being built at next year’s dream market price. First priority is real revenue, customers and contracts. Thus, $100,000 of gross revenue in the last 12 months might be extrapolated to $500,000 to $1 million in valuation. Future revenue projections are not relevant at the pre-revenue stage.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Funding sources specialize in certain growth stages. Angel investors typically provide early-stage funding, while venture capital firms typically come in at later stages. Funding or rollout stage.

Investment Bankers 231

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 231

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2011

In the stealth phase , prescient angel investors and Venture Capitalists (VCs) start investing in an industry or market segment that others have not yet found. Long before others, they saw that these applications could have hundreds of millions of users with “off the chart&# revenue and profits.

Silicon Valley 327

Silicon Valley Stealth Valuation Mississippi 327

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2010

Certain VC’s like the new class of Super-Angels and small VC funds specialize in the early stage of a startup where you are searching for a business model. And some larger funds that specialize in later stage deals may have a partner or two who likes to invest at this stage.

Founder 231

Founder Vesting Later Stage Early Stage 231

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Funding sources specialize in certain growth stages. Angel investors typically provide early-stage funding, while venture capital firms typically come in at later stages. Funding or rollout stage.

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital Investment Bankers Angel Investor Initial Public Offering 171

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2011

These people are highly focused on investment areas they know, which have a large opportunity for growth, revenue projection of $20M or more in five years, and a high return that can be realized via an exit within five years. Even in today’s market, there is capital available from financial institutions at a lower cost for these purposes.

Angel Investor 217

Angel Investor Angel Groups Early Stage Startup 217

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Researchers polled experts in lending, mezzanine capital, private equity, venture capital and private businesses themselves. Not a big shock, but things don’t look pretty, especially in the venture capital world. 41% of them feel that they qualify for venture capital funding. Add to this that 72.7%

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

While the journey of JuiceBox Hero is coming to a close, we know that our small but mighty team’s commitment to innovation for women, families, and under-represented markets is far from over. The Skinny: Two years ago I embarked on a mission to bring to market a modern way for parents to find daycares and preschools. We did that?—?and

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

Gust

JULY 1, 2012

These people are highly focused on investment areas they know, which have a large opportunity for growth, revenue projection of $20M or more in five years, and a high return that can be realized via an exit within five years. Even in today’s market, there is capital available from financial institutions at a lower cost for these purposes.

Angel Groups 143

Angel Groups Angel Investor Early Stage Startup 143