Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This is the most concrete valuation element, usually called the asset approach.

Valuation 270

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 270

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This is the most concrete valuation element, usually called the asset approach.

Valuation 234

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Startup 234

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This is the most concrete valuation element, usually called the asset approach.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations. The Valuation Question. When companies seeking their first round of serious funding are good enough to receive a term-sheet from an investor, the first issue that always arises is valuation. Let’s start at the end.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

They might have some seed money and are thinking or raising a Series A based on success of an early release (MVP). Because of this, I've always tried to stay up-to-speed on how early-stage investors look at valuation of companies. Bill Payne is an expert on how early-stage investors should look at valuation. is a requirement.

Valuation 198

Valuation Revenue Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 198

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. The post Don’t get hung up on early stage valuation.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 62

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 29, 2012

The company sought to raise $125,000 for 25% of the comapny, implying a $375,000 pre money valuation. It had done about $30,000 in sales in a little over a year, and had emerged from a natural trade show with interest but no orders. Unsurprisingly, all the sharks passed, based on market size and valuation expectations.

Pre-Money Valuation 97

Pre-Money Valuation Offshore Valuation Cofounder 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

In addition to FOMO it is partly driven by massive increase in valuations for earlier-stage companies who raised money at bit seed prices but who still have product risk. 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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” How much is NewCo worth to investors at this point (pre-money valuation)? This is the most concrete valuation element, usually called the asset approach.

Pre-Money Valuation 246

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 246

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

The company has done $400k in sales in less than two years and had an early test deal with a local supermarket chain that they were massively overperforming on. He had been at it for 6 months and had no sales or distribution lined up yet. The entrepreneur launched Zomm in late 2010 and did $700k in sales that year.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

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. Equally bad is professing no valuation estimate at all, asking investors to “make me an offer.” Team strength and experience is value.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup 120

Austin Startup

JUNE 21, 2018

It will revolutionize produce sales globally. Our pre-money valuation for the seed round is 2 trillion dollars.” Now, if you’re a crypto entrepreneur, you still have to abide by the basic rules of good startups (link shamelessly inserted if you missed it before). By: Joe Merrill, Partner at Sputnik ATX.

Securities and Exchange Commission 61

Securities and Exchange Commission SEC Pre-Money Valuation Security 61

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 21, 2013

to fund the company at a $6M post money valuation from a number of investors including Selena Gomez. Despite having over 500k downloads and making $450k in revenue over the last 21 months, he had only $185k left in the bank, which meant that he would be out of business in 90 days if he didn’t raise more money.

Pre-Money Valuation 164

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Distribution 164

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5 Scorecard Valuation Methodology. Such comparisons can only be made for companies at the same stage of development, in this case, for pre-revenue startup ventures. million for pre-revenue companies.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. Valuation caps can come into play in settings other than seed-stage convertible note financing rounds. Read on for a fuller explanation. by February 2006).

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

A year ago I blogged about one of my most common mantras that applies to sales, biz dev & fund raising alike: “ Time is the Enemy of all Deals.&#. When times are really good for fund raising many teams delay to maximize their valuation. You’re offered a $9 million pre-money to raise $3 million (e.g.

Pre-Money Valuation 303

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation PR 303

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

Think of startups and early stage businesses whose entrepreneurs you know. 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.

Liquidity Event 96

Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 96

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

Investing in startups is a lot more than just buying “stock” in a company. For investors who have come to the table with a history investing in publicly listed companies or the property market, it’s easy to think that backing startups is largely a “set and forget” strategy. Ask yourself, where is your startup currently struggling?

Pre-Money Valuation 187

Pre-Money Valuation Seed Stage IP Deal Flow 187

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 1, 2012

The company did $1M in sales last year, 90% from wholesale, and had a 10% profit margin. They wanted to get to $10M in sales and then get bought by a big food company. pre money valuation). Cuban has interest in a gluten free diet, and claimed that he liked the company, but his only concern was valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 155

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Participating Preferred Preferred Stock 155

Lightspeed Venture Partners

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

They talked about a referral program, as well as direct sales. The company did $250,000 in sales last year and is profitable. Interestingly, this new deal actually lowered the pre money valuation for the company. 75,000 for 10% implies a $675,000 pre money valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 163

Pre-Money Valuation Alabama Valuation Churn Rate 163

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. A combination of competition for top talent and an effort to bring employees back to the office drove startups in Israel to throw extravagant parties and all-inclusive retreats abroad.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 22, 2012

This implies a pre money valuation of $1.045M. See my breakdown of week 2 for more on how to calculate pre money valuation.). The sharks greeted this with skepticism, and rightfully so, especially given the short time the company has been in business and the relatively low sales volume.

Pre-Money Valuation 101

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Differentiation 101

Gust

OCTOBER 21, 2011

For convertible notes, the only liquidity event we need be concerned with is an acquisition of the startup in the near future, before the maturity date; otherwise, the notes will convert to equity of one kind or another, and the eventual sale of that equity (in a public offering, acquisition, or private sale) is a different subject for another day.

Finance 79

Finance Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet Liquidity Event 79

K9 Ventures

MARCH 23, 2011

Since the financing would likely happen in short order, there was no need to have a valuation cap in the note. The founders’ interest is to maximize the valuation of the company at the time of a follow-on financing, thereby minimizing founder dilution.

Pre-Money Valuation 132

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Equity Liquidation Preference 132

The Startup Lawyer

JANUARY 10, 2012

A liquidation preference is the amount that must be paid to a preferred stock holder before any sale proceeds may be paid to the holders of common stock (i.e., In most equity financing rounds, an investor will ask for (and get) a term called a liquidation preference. founders, option holders, etc.).

Liquidation Preference 73

Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Participating Preferred Preferred Stock 73

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

When convertible debt first started being introduced as a “faster, cheaper way to get startups funded” they didn’t have pricing built into them. What the entrepreneurs were really saying is, “I don’t want to take a lower valuation now, while I don’t have customers or a full team.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 23, 2015

They''re at a similar stage to my investments now out of Brooklyn Bridge backing Tinybop pre-launch, Canary before their Indiegogo pre-sale, and VIXXENN with just an alpha site and a few stylists. If their entry valuation is that much lower because more dollars are in the Series A, they will still be able to make their return.

Post-Money Valuation 60

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

Scott Edward Walker

APRIL 9, 2012

Venture capital funds, seed funds, super angels, angel groups, incubators, and “friends and family” are all playing the seed financing game and investing early in startups in an attempt to land the next Facebook. Why Can’t a Startup Issue Shares of Common Stock to Investors? Introduction We are in the golden age of seed financing.

Preferred Stock 87

Preferred Stock Finance Common Stock Liquidation Preference 87

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Want to start a startup? 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. Few startups get it quite right. Once you take money from the generalpublic youre more restricted in what you can do. [

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Want to start a startup? You need three things to create a successful startup: to start withgood people, to make something customers actually want, and to spendas little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it becausethey fail at one of these. Most startups that fail do it becausethey fail at one of these.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

ithacaVC

DECEMBER 14, 2011

One final background point, a “liquidation event” is a sale of the company and typically NOT an IPO. With respect to the Series C round, let’s assume that the pre-money valuation is $12 million and that the VC investing is going to put in $4mm (and to keep things simple, let’s have only 1 Series C investor).

Liquidation Preference 49

Liquidation Preference LP Preferred Stock Liquidity Event 49

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. Morgan Stanley had proposed a higher valuation to let them in. VC, sales, biz dev, M&A or otherwise. Goldman said NFW.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

crowdSPRING Blog

APRIL 26, 2013

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Don’t Use Social to Generate Sales; Make Selling Social | Advertising Age – [link]. Activity Based Pricing: When Is It The Right Choice for Your Startup?

Social Media 90

Social Media Small Business Design Media 90

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2011

” Everybody knows that when you raise money at a startup your ownership percentage of the company goes down. The goal is to have the value of the startup go up by enough that you own a smaller percentage of a much larger business and therefore your total personal value goes up. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch.

Dilution 394

Dilution Pre-Money Valuation Startup Valuation 394

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

I recently wrote about my views that startups rounds should be priced. I’m not sure why people don’t see that. ” If you remember the three rules of sales : it’s. Here is what I recommend very often – privately – to startup entrepreneurs for angel funding. million pre-money.

Pre-Money Valuation 294

Pre-Money Valuation Finance Liquidation Preference Warrant 294

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

He has done incredibly well financially on his past two startups, and he’s now building his 3rd company. The outcomes of both companies, are of course, unknowable, but that is essentially what goes through the minds of investors who are looking at lots of companies with different valuations. This was surprising to me.

Pre-Money Valuation 90

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 90

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

He has done incredibly well financially on his past two startups, and he’s now building his 3rd company. The outcomes of both companies, are of course, unknowable, but that is essentially what goes through the minds of investors who are looking at lots of companies with different valuations. This was surprising to me.

Pre-Money Valuation 48

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 48