Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

In fact, an entrepreneur friend of mine, who made millions on her marketing expertise, asserted recently that most inventors fail in business because they refuse to believe that any business expertise or experience is worth more than 5 percent in partner equity. Marketing is a necessary evil to mask poor technology.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 31, 2013

Fred Wilson has been a venture investor and director in Return Path since 2000, first with Flatiron Partners and then with Union Square Ventures. Here are a few tips for ending up with the best long-term partner as an investor. Similarly, I’d always sacrifice valuation for a clean security. Selecting Your Investors.

Valuation 133

Valuation Term Sheet B2C Security 133

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

My experience with early valuations by founders for friends… I’ve arrived at a significant number of companies that were looking for additional growth capital after a “friends and family” round and had to “clean up” the cap table more than a few times over the years. It is most often a win-win for both you and the strategic partner.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Luckily, I teach with two great VCs, Mar Hershenson of Pear Ventures and Jeff Epstein of Bessemer Venture Partners who both put together presentations unraveling the mysteries of how and why startups raise money. On the other hand, in a SaaS business $1 in recurring annual revenue equals ~10x in valuation.).

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

Government grants and industry partners are you best bet here, but Angel investors might give you $250,000 to $1 million, if you have the right business case and credentials. Prior to the growth stage, your company valuation is limited to goodwill based on intellectual property and team experience, since you have no revenue.

Matching 120

Matching Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

In fact, their affiliate partners dissuaded them from doing so. They want to monetize the Twitter stream via contextual search matching. billion valuation. They only recently raised $30 million at around a $300 million valuation and THAT raised eyebrows. That said I worry that V1 of the strategy isn’t a home run.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Affiliate Valuation San Francisco 271

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2020

To do that you have to show how your market is big enough (a multi-billion dollar market) to support that kind of valuation. A few years ago, an entrepreneur was building an automated job matching site in Latin America. Myth #3: Take the Highest Valuation You Can Get. Valuation is a touchy subject for most entrepreneurs.

Finance 205

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 205

Steve Blank

APRIL 5, 2017

Create awareness for fundraising (VC, angels, corporate partners). Smart CEOs treat communications as a force multiplier for sales, a tool to dramatically increase valuation and the vehicle to get acquirers lined up at the door. Craft messages to match what your audience has already told you. Lessons Learned.

Marketing 312

Marketing Audience Technical Review PR 312

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Post-money valuation probably no higher than $12M (2). Pre-money valuation was initially set higher but was adjusted to match the Ser B valuation. Pre-money valuation was approx. Pre-money valuation was approx. Pre-money valuation was at least $250M (2). Series A-1 Preferred. Series B Preferred.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

David Teten

MAY 1, 2013

The name needs to match the business. Keyword rich domain names get a considerable boost in search rankings; an exact match is even better. Just purchasing an Exact Match Domain name is not enough.”. Still, deciding on the right price for a target domain name is almost entirely an exercise in negotiation, not valuation.

Naming 114

Naming Semantic Venture Capital Startup 114

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

Individual angel investors have been filling the gap, and now match VCs in total amount invested. They have too many highly paid partners, fat fees, an aging corporate infrastructure and difficulty raising money from institutions. Super Angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Startup Portfolio 260

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

For instance, to simulate an Uber-like experience, you could create a Facebook ride sharing page that matches riders with drivers on demand, by simply asking members to post their ride requests, then privately chatting with drivers. Those partners paid for a membership with Recycler Spotter. 60 percent of respondents chose premium!

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

The platform matches companies in need of cash with investors looking for solid returns, and in the middle is a securitization scheme with distributed ledger technology at its core. Our 12-month valuation of SYME is between £10.35 The best bit is they have done it without much fanfare, creating an unmissable opportunity for investors.

Balance Sheet 290

Balance Sheet Stock Europe IPO 290

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter. The companies that can show “startup-like” growth rates of 50% plus per year will get stratospheric market valuations. A company needs innovation policies, innovation processes and innovation incentives to match those it already has for execution.

Private Equity 326

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 326

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Your product and company vision needs to match your appetite for funding. He stressed that your product and company vision needs to match your appetite for funding: One thing that we learned very early on was, have a plan for fund-raising. … And know that just because a venture failed doesn’t mean that you’re a failure.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Ohio Columbus Entrepreneur 120

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 5, 2014

The Stage 1 partner escalates an opportunity to Stage 2 when we’ve been able to create a hypothesis as to why this might be a good investment. That partner also generates a set of questions for the other partner to push on in their discussions and data requests. Stage 2 : Here both of us are engaged.

Software Review 103

Software Review Balance Sheet Cofounder Technical Review 103

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 12, 2020

That leaves me out raising with two funds under my belt and no big exit and no unicorn valuations. One just got a seed term sheet for twice the valuation I put in at in the pre-seed and the other is doing $200k/month in revenue. There are others, but they’re still pretty young. I’m optimistic, but it doesn’t show super well on paper.

LP 136

LP Technical Review Software Review Valuation 136

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

This past week while I was in Tokyo for meetings with potential partners for Fab, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on startups. million registered users, 7500 supplier partners, 600 team members, and a run-rate of more than $150M in sales in just 15 months. The discussion quickly turned to those 57 things.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Low supply of companies with traction drove the valuations and deal sizes up. Valuations are rising to match. A typical seed round valuation may be $6M pre, raising $2M for an $8M post, or even as high as an $8M pre, raising $2M for a $10M post. Adding partners and staff, starts to give a false sense of scale.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Gust

DECEMBER 21, 2011

You are much more flexible than VCs or strategic partners – they prefer not to travel, a they have lots of local opportunities to invest their money. Don’t attempt to emulate Stanford and MIT when you can’t match their entrepreneurial landscape. Unfortunately, there are not many good examples.

Silicon Valley 107

Silicon Valley Southern California Tucson Seattle 107

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2018

The hard work begins then, in finding a match for your domain and solution readiness stage, as well as an investor that matches your vision, values, and needs. It’s also the place to meet future partners positively, and even competitors before they realize they should hate you.

Due Diligence 140

Due Diligence Equity Angel Investor Matching 140

Hunter Walker

MAY 4, 2014

My answers are actually bland, largely because I had a pretty good handle on what the initial 12 months would bring and a great partner in Satya Patel. Not every company is raising money at the valuation you modeled. Congrats, you’ve raised a venture fund by telling your investors about the plan you want to execute.

Software Review 100

Software Review Vertical Seed Stage Portfolio 100

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

In December, AngelList , a service that matches early-stage startups with investors, debuted the ability to allow accredited investors to actually invest in startups on the platform with as little as $1,000. AngelList also partnered with SecondMarket to create an investment vehicle for these investments. Wednesday, April 24th, 2013.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Over the same 30 years, Venture Capital firms have honed their skills and strategies to match Wall Streets needs to achieve liquidity for their portfolio companies. Each VC firm/partner has a different spin on what to weigh more.) I find the same still going on with a few firms and partners.&#

Silicon Valley 223

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 223

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

The internet is your new channel and Technology Enabled Service providers are among the few partners that actually care if you succeed (more.) Cloud accounting is all about matching revenue and costs to consumption…well, except for professional services! 2 comments: Peter Cohen Managing Partner, SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors.

Software Review 48

Software Review Cloud Technical Review Sales Cycle 48

www.businessinsider.com

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

This Chart Shows Why VCs Are Willing To Give Hyped Startups Absurd Valuations. Google Ventures managing partner Bill Maris strongly denied Grahams accusations, calling them "patently absurd.". " If the convertible debt has a " valuation cap " feature, the price at which the investors debt converts into shares has a maximum.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup Valuation Venture Capital 54

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2016

If there is no legal business entity, early vendor or partner failures will jeopardize existing personal assets and any future personal income streams. Tax status can be assigned separately to match your preferences. Liability for initial setbacks or lawsuits needs to business versus personal.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property LLC Limited Liability Company Nevada 120

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

It is most common to greatly overprice such a round of financing, valuing the enterprise well above what it may be worth at the moment for friends or related investors who do not have the sophistication or willingness to challenge the valuation. It is most often a win-win for both you and the strategic partner.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

Marketing, sales, and partners. Make sure your marketing budget matches the scope of your plan. What is the current valuation of the company? Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. Executive team. Financial projections.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This post describes how companies using the Customer Development model can increase their credibility, valuation and probability of getting a first round of funding by presenting their results in a “Lesson Learned&# venture pitch. Did the partner have a good or bad day, etc. Did the VC’s like your team ? Thanks, Steve.

Customer Development 264

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 264

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

Xfund, Patrick Chung is a managing general partner in a venture capital firm that supports lateral thinkers. This allows you to skip the complicated valuation calculations. Typically, venture capital firms will invest in companies that match their business profile and have the potential to generate profits. Pre-Seed Investments.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

post money valuation. Mark Cuban offered $300k for 33% of the company, implying a $900k post money valuation. implying a $600k post money valuation. The company ended up negotiating with Cuban and settled on $300k for 30% of the company, or a $1M post money valuation. post money valuation and a $1.35M pre money valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 155

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 155

www.currentlyobsessed.com

MAY 28, 2010

Valuation is an important aspect of VC deal terms, and a major determinant of your ultimate outcome. I unexpectedly found that it was more helpful to think about the company valuation as an output variable in the fund-raising equation. The net effect was more money raised, higher valuation and the same percentage of equity sold.

Valuation 42

Valuation Channel Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 42

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

Marketing, sales, and partners. Make sure your marketing budget matches the scope of your plan. What is the current valuation of the company? Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. Executive team. Financial projections.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

Up and Running

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Pricing : Design your pricing so that will cover your costs and match the market rate. A real estate company can consider partnering with an online listing site like Zillow , organizing neighborhood tours, or using an array of other marketing tactics. These partners can include lawyers, contractors, appraisers, and materials suppliers.

El Paso 61

El Paso Business Plan Technical Review Forecast 61

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

That’s where a good partner agreement comes into play. Not only do you want to allocate ownership, but you want to re-allocate ownership if either partner fails to deliver. How do you determine what the third partner’s equity share should be? . already some initial funding does the company already have a valuation?

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Marketing, sales, and partners. Make sure your marketing budget matches the scope of your plan. What is the current valuation of the company? Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. Executive team. Financial projections.

Elevator Pitch 235

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 235