Steve Blank

APRIL 26, 2022

At the turn of the century after the dotcom crash, startup valuations plummeted, burn rates were unsustainable, and startups were quickly running out of cash. Some even insisted that all prior preferred stock had to be converted to common stock. This article previously appeared in TechCrunch. They’re Back.

Cram Down 404

Cram Down Founder Venture Capital Recapitalization 404

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2020

by Rizwan Virk, author of “ Startup Myths and Models: What You Won’t Learn in Business School “. If you are building a startup, you’ll find no shortage of people who are willing to give you advice, particularly when it comes to raising financing. Myth #3: Take the Highest Valuation You Can Get. Well not, wrong exactly.

Finance 205

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 205

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. The best thing to get is a “right sized&# valuation. A: It’s not best.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

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

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. How They Make Money: Majority of Kayak’s revenue actually comes from advertising on their site (55%), not lead generation or referral fees to travel suppliers as you might think (more on this below). Financial Snapshot: 2010 Revenue: $170 million. How To Think About The Future.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Since almost all startups do not possess traditional debt lenders, the list usually consists of data of the shareholders and the percentage they own. Furthermore, there are various forms of equity, such as preferred stock, common stock, and convertible notes, which influence the present and potential future investors.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

Week three’s breakdown covered topics like how hard momentum is to turn around, and how participating preferred stock works. They won a design award at a trade show, but have no revenue and no orders. That’s why most entrepreneurs do not make a specific ask on valuation, but wait to hear offers from investors.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

abovethecrowd.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

As a result, a “late-stage” financing is no longer reserved for high-revenue, pre-profitability companies getting ready for an IPO; it is simply any large round of financing done at a high price. An unprecedented 80 private companies have raised financings at valuations over $1B in the last few years.

IPO 40

IPO Liquidation Preference Valuation Technical Review 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Future unproven projections don’t set today’s valuation.

Due Diligence 120

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 120

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. 1 ] A startups life will be more complicated, legally, if any of theinvestors arent accredited.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Over the summer, based on feedback from our portfolio and the broader startup community, NextView created pre-formatted board deck templates for seed-stage startups — part of our Growth Guides series. A seed-stage mobile startup’s housekeeping section might look something like this: Section 3: Core Metrics.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2015

They know from forums such as Shark Tank on TV that asking for either too much or too little will derail credibility in the eyes of the investor, and leave the entrepreneur with no money and a struggling startup. This is all about setting a credible current value on your startup -- not future value.

Preferred Stock 120

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

In straight preferences the investors only get this money in a “downside&# scenario as protection that they get their money back if your company isn’t successful. Take liquidation preferences head on. Talk openly about valuation and what they’ll accept so you know what you’re dealing with. Brain damage.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 1, 2012

pre money valuation). Cuban has interest in a gluten free diet, and claimed that he liked the company, but his only concern was valuation. Since an early exit caps the upside potential, getting in at the right, low valuation is necessary to be able to make a high multiple on your investment. This would never happen in real life.

Pre-Money Valuation 158

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Participating Preferred Preferred Stock 158

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

If you run a startup and are currently raising money, you probably planned for a somewhat different fundraising environment than the one you find yourself in today. You probably thought that valuations would be roughly the same as they were the last time you raised money. You can plan a pretty picnic. But you can’t predict the weather.

Down Round 78

Down Round Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation 78

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

If you run a startup and are currently raising money, you probably planned for a somewhat different fundraising environment than the one you find yourself in today. You probably thought that valuations would be roughly the same as they were the last time you raised money. Outkast, Ms. But they most certainly are not. How could this be?

Marketing 46

Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation Down Round 46