Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. What can companies learn from others’ failed efforts to integrate startups into large companies? The answer - there are two types of integration strategies, and they depend on where the startup is in its lifecycle. The Innovation Portfolio.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

In my role as an angel investor to startups, I’m struck by the broad variety of advisor strategies I see in investor presentations and business plans that cross my desk. If your startup team is highly technical, an advisory board member with a strong financial and business background clearly adds value.

Advisory Board 308

Advisory Board Angel Investor Startup Later Stage 308

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

pexels You need to have enough resources by having a seed-stage investor who will financially support your company in the long run. These investments are a tremendous help to your startup because they will serve as a stepping stone to reach your target eventually. With startup funding, these companies can get through this phase.

Seed Stage 127

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 127

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Incubator 398

Incubator Silicon Valley North America Startup 398

Up and Running

MARCH 31, 2021

The standard Seed round was once around $75,000 to $150,000 startup. This is because Angels make their money by investing in startups. With over one-half of small businesses closing their doors this year or last year, there is now far less competition for startups to gain an investor’s attention. It is now up to $300,000.

Small Business 116

Small Business Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 116

YoungUpstarts

JULY 30, 2019

Startups and SCRUM. Why SCRUM for startups? Each sprint is reviewed to minimize the errors so that the confusions during the later stages are avoided. Employing SCRUM for startups. There is also a stand-up meeting for a maximum of 15 minutes where we have a sprint review. And here comes the role of scrum master.

SCRUM 113

SCRUM Software Review Hiring Agile 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

The number of startups rose in 2015 for the first time in five years, with the largest year-over-year increase in two decades. Who would not want to joint the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Successful startup teams today have a mix of remote employees, freelancers, and contractors.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

David Teten

DECEMBER 15, 2018

Consider approaching one of the small number of funds which acquire tech startups, e.g., Constellation Software , Think3; Vista Equity Partners. Here are a few articles I suggest reviewing: How to gracefully wind down a failing startup. How to close up shop on a failing startup. Is your startup failing?

Startup 60

Startup Later Stage Technical Review Software Review 60

View from Seed

JULY 8, 2020

Today I’m excited to announce the relaunch of our most popular resource ever: board meeting deck templates for seed-stage startups, now in conjunction with an investor update email template. We first released a version of the board meeting deck template template back in 2014 and then a revised version a couple of years later.

Email 331

Email Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 331

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

With the Covid-19 virus a worldwide pandemic, if you’re leading any startup or small business, you have to be asking yourself, “What’s Plan B? If you’re running a startup or small business, your first priority (after your family) is keeping your employees and customers safe. “Winter is coming.”. And what’s in my lifeboat?”.

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

In the old days, every entrepreneur planned on taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is finally up from the dead zone of the last two decades, and is now double the rate back in 1999. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 245

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 245

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still less than half the rate of 15 years ago. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 120

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still half the rate of 15 years ago. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 218

IPO SEC Prospectus Technical Review 218

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

And normally the rest of the team are young & inexperienced because that’s all the startup could afford to bring on. The “team beneath the team&# was as talented as any top team that pitches me startups. Who are the key hires we need to make?&# Management, SVP North American Sales and SVP European Publishing.

Later Stage 310

Later Stage South America Mobile Silicon Valley 310

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

You know the adage that 90% of startups fail in their first 3 years of existence? According to a startup genome report from 2019 , that figure is actually a bit higher, 11 out of 12 startups fail (which is 91.6%). In raw numbers, 87 startups that had raised at least $10 million ended up closing down.

Valuation 103

Valuation Startup Angel Investor Dilution 103

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. That’s the deal you get when you’re raising in a good market for startup financing.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Last month we covered the basics of intellectual property (IP) for startups, including a simple taxonomy, some common issues and related documents for entrepreneurs to use when forming a new startup. The amount of investment in IP in any direct sense is generally small for early stage startups.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2016

I realize sports analogies for startups can feel trite, but as you think about the different phases of team-building in a startup, this one is actually pretty spot on. At the beginning, a startup team is typically just a couple of co-founders. Basketball or football? Below, I take a look at each. Below, I take a look at each.

Founder 120

Founder Cofounder Startup Early Stage 120

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Want to tap in to the best startup advice from entrepreneurs who are out there doing it? Welcome to ‘500 Founders’ where we ask innovators from around New Zealand for their top insights for first time startup founders. Startup founders should connect with other founders at similar stages to them, and ones who are a few steps ahead.”.

Founder 101

Founder Cofounder New Zealand B2C 101

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 14, 2014

———————————– If you ask most VCs what they look for in a startup they will say great team, great product and great market. The post below first appeared as a guest post by me on the Web Summit Blog. Marc Andreessen wrote about this once.

Early Stage 123

Early Stage Institutional Investors Venture Capital Startup 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Incubator 231

Incubator Silicon Valley North America Small Business Administration 231

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Every town has firms that focus on startups – find them.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

Crosscutting will ensure it is impossible for prying eyes to glue the pieces back together at a later stage. The post 5 Crucial Security Features for Your Home Office appeared first on The Startup Magazine. Household cameras are an absolute must for any home, especially one with a home office.

Security 122

Security Technical Review Later Stage Mobile 122

NZ Entrepreneur

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Building a tech startup? While capital to large tech companies is increasing, smaller rounds for early-stage companies is drying up. This decline has also become evident in startup accelerator programs shifting their focus on later-stage scale-ups that provide higher returns.

Developer 68

Developer Early Stage Later Stage Acquisition 68

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 22, 2020

Startups require nurturing, monitoring, and sustained investments to get off the ground. How will your startup benefit from well-crafted and valuable content? Good content offers the ability to generate leads, warm them, and transit them into the later stages of the sales journey. Can Great Content Help Startups?

Affiliate 230

Affiliate Startup Later Stage Search 230

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 15, 2015

He may have been named by Silicon Valley thought leader Paul Graham as one of the five most interesting startup founders since 1979, but Sam’s curious penchant for wearing t-shirts over long-sleeve shirts suggests that he’s definitely too young for me. What I fell in love with was Sam’s How To Start A Startup class at Stanford.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Delaware Startup Technical Review 100

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

There is a thin line between success and failure for startups, and that is usually determined by capital. The more capital a startup has, the easier it is to get off the ground and ramp up growth. In turn, this leads to the development of a thriving startup ecosystem which paves the way for technology and innovation.

Venture Capital 196

Venture Capital Asia Artificial Inteligence Later Stage 196

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 19, 2015

In the words of an alum from the 2006 cohort: Companies are joining YC at a much later stage. Today, there are six YC companies worth over a billion dollars, and as a result new startups aim much higher. That marks a shift in the YC investment strategy which used to focus on younger businesses.

Later Stage 60

Later Stage Private Equity Venture Capital Valuation 60

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

There’s been a lot of digital ink spilled around the various types of capital available to startups today. As a startup grows, venture debt becomes a viable option to continue that growth. Glen is an active contributor to the local tech ecosystem and well-versed in how and when startups can use venture debt to their advantage.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Thomas Clayton has started and run numerous high-tech startups in Silicon Valley. He is currently CEO of Bubbly , a social media startup backed by Sequoia Capital, SingTel Innov8, and JAFCO. The company is one of the largest VC–backed startups in Southeast Asia, having raised over $60M in funding. Sequoia , Accel , NEA , etc.).

Asia 132

Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Part 2: Early-stage Regional Venture Funds. Success depends on finding startups that have identified acute customer pains in large markets where conditions are ripe for a new entrant. as a distribution channel have vastly reduced the amount of capital a startup needs at the early stage when the risk is greatest.

Early Stage 286

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 286

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Most new teams are geographically dispersed these days anyway, so paying rent for an office should be differed to later stages when revenue is plentiful. Adding free users or customers to increase valuation makes sense for a venture-backed startup looking to go public, but will kill bootstrapping.

Equity 349

Equity Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity 349

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

For all the things he’s likely known for, he probably hasn’t yet built a strong relationship as an early stage venture investor (he invests often in later-stage deals where he is very respected). Startup Advice' He wanted to know what I thought of his technology deal. My email back to him was a version of.

Silicon Valley 333

Silicon Valley Early Stage Later Stage Technical Review 333

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

While there is much discussion about VCs starting to pull back on their investments into startups, the LPs we surveyed don’t expect to slow the pace of investment into VC funds themselves – at least for the foreseeable future. That’s money that fuels our startup ecosystems.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2022

Micro-management at a later stage only increases stress and slows progress. Primarily for these reasons, I always recommend that new entrepreneurs and startups assemble a qualified Advisory Board or Board of Directors early in their lifecycle.

Leadership 345

Leadership Advisory Board Developer Silicon Valley 345

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

Or the Cliff Note’s version: Open Source & Cloud Computing (led by Amazon) drove down tech startup costs by 90%. The result was a massive increase in startups & a whole group of new funding sources: both angels & “micro VCs&#. Some are going later stage to not miss out on hot deals.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Angel Investor 289