Gust

MAY 11, 2014

In the US, many entrepreneurs see grants as “free money,” since they are not loans and don’t have to be repaid. Typically they can be used to fund product development and commercialization that would otherwise require outside investors. Professional help costs money. Pursue grants and investors in parallel.

Seed Money 164

Seed Money SBIR Dilution Government 164

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2011

You see, investors invest in people, before they invest in ideas or products. Since they don’t know you (yet), their first integrity check on you as a person is whether your friends and family believe in you strongly enough to give you seed money for your new idea. If they won’t do it, they why would I as stranger invest in you?

Early Stage 247

Early Stage Technical Review Elevator Pitch Due Diligence 247

Steve Blank

JANUARY 28, 2013

In 2006, as a new employee of the Fortune 100 provider of wireless technology and services, San Diego’s Qualcomm , I volunteered to salvage a fledging idea management system (fancy term for an online suggestion box) by turning into a comprehensive corporate entrepreneurship program. ———-. The origin.

Programming 291

Programming Design Lean Seed Money 291

Up and Running

APRIL 18, 2014

David sold his recording equipment for $50,000 and they borrowed the rest of their seed money from a bank. Beth developed her own intensive curriculum and, with the help of seed money from a student, founded YogaFit® in 1994 to fill the niche. David’s advice. Rob’s advice. Stacy’s advice. Walk before you run. Crowdsource.

Detroit 156

Detroit Technical Review Cofounder North America 156

Steve Blank

JANUARY 28, 2013

In 2006, as a new employee of the Fortune 100 provider of wireless technology and services, San Diego’s Qualcomm , I volunteered to salvage a fledging idea management system (fancy term for an online suggestion box) by turning into a comprehensive corporate entrepreneurship program. ———-. The origin.

Programming 283

Programming Design Lean Seed Money 283

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

Craig Schmitz, a partner in the Technology Companies Group at law firm Godwin Proctor LLP who works on corporate, governance, board and fundraising issues, and Erika Fisher, an associate in the firm’s Business Law Department who deals with IP, fielded questions about the legal issues startups face. Board and Stockholder Votes.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

You see, investors invest in people, before they invest in ideas or products. Since they don’t know you (yet), their first integrity check on you as a person is whether your friends and family believe in you strongly enough to give you seed money for your new idea. If they won’t do it, they why would I as stranger invest in you?

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Angel Investor 233

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 14, 2016

At the same time, seed money is still abundant due to the proliferation of micro VC over the past few years. If we look beyond the cyclical nature of computing platforms, we can see that technological innovation comes in waves – with a surge of technological development followed by quieter periods of adaptation.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Early Stage Portfolio Valuation 60

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

They have have raised $2-3 million, built a product that has some amount of market traction and got to annualized revenues of around $1 million. If you spent the 3 years perfecting some hugely differentiated technology IP that may also be different. Is it one product line or multiple? They both raised angel / seed money of $1.5

Startup 418

Startup Revenue Technical Review Flash 418

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

They often make great team members such as head of products, CTO, head of sales, CFO, etc. And we’re lucky because they deliver many of the great products, services and content that we consume in our lives every day. Your financial risks of starting most technology companies these days are so low.

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur CTO Hire South America Salary 293

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

It’s also important to say that while many successful technology companies have been venture-backed--Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook come to mind-- it’s not solely a funding method for technology companies. First, the introduction of seed money as an institutional form of capital. but globally.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Passionate – is the company/product/customers the most important thing in your life? And you’ll still need to have a resilient and agile personality, as new customer and product opportunities will appear and change your work. Will there be a lecture on getting seed money in a post crisis world? Thanks Steve!

Cofounder 219

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 219

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

High growth startup companies need seed money to get things going. They need the money to rent offices, hire staff, and establish their initial presence (website, incorporation, marketing). When launching your company there are 2 times to raise your outside seed funding, and one time window to avoid.

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

And they might give a premium if the team has been around a longer period of time, has built some hard-to-build proprietary technology or has some customer traction. Let’s assume $2 million in seed money. It says if you want to make “real” money - quit. Get some famous angel or seed money.

Liquidation Preference 357

Liquidation Preference Early Stage Retention Lock-up Period 357

Rob Go

NOVEMBER 15, 2016

Option 2 is to focus on product (and proof points more broadly). You probably are quicker to build technology vs throwing bodies at a problem. The product and proof strategy might also fail at the series A. But… I think the best way to build a great business is to focus on product and proof.

Product 28

Product Seed Stage Seed Money Metrics 28

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Its not what people learn in classes at MIT and Stanford that has made technology companiesspring up around them. In a technology startup, which most startups are, the foundersshould include technical people. The rulers of the technologybusiness tend to come from technology, not business. Its the same with technology.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

I thought his technology was was potentially a killer app. We thought we’d take our plan and go raise seed money. We can’t raise money knowing our plan is wrong.”. This includes how the product gets distributed to your customers and how money flows back into your company. Now he had my attention. Here’s why.

Business Model 328

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 328

www.reincubate.com

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Share this: net c# development django java language php software Were often asked by entrepreneurs which language their startups should adopt when developing their technology. Technology enthusiasts tend to get tangled up in enthusiasm for their chosen platforms, so wed like to provide an objective summary. PHP is insecure?

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO Technical Review CTO Hire 40

pandodaily.com

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

If you are raising a seed round now, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself. There are still the same debates on whether or not you should take seed money from VCs. She has been covering technology news for over 15 years, most recently as a senior editor for TechCrunch. Open Sesame! (A A little too late).

Technical Review 93

Technical Review Silicon Valley Incubator Syria 93

cdixon.org

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll gauge people’s excitement level for the product and for various features. You are building awareness around your product and, presumably, persuading others of its value. You’ll discover flaws and hopefully correct them.

Stealth 68

Stealth Startup NDA Cofounder 68

www.paulgraham.com

AUGUST 1, 2008

Startups are undergoing the same transformation that technology does when it becomes cheaper. Its a pattern we see over and over in technology. Standardization When technology makes something dramatically cheaper, standardization always follows. In essense, let the market design the product.

Web 54

Web Startup Silicon Valley Technical Review 54

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

I think the issue was mostly framed initially by Chris Dixon in his article The Problem with Taking Seed Money from Big VC s. The fact that I invest less just means the company is earlier stage and needed/wanted less or without a product/market fit we weren’t yet prepared to invest more heavily.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

So for this first post, here’s the best advice I can give you: join an awesome founding team and get your product out the door ASAP. But six months in, you’re gonna cry when you see someone else put out that same product you’re pitching me right now. Like I said, forget everything else and just get your product out the door.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

www.businessinsider.com

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Grahams startups go through a months-long process of coaching to help them build products and raise money. Google Ventures has made more than 100 seed investments, Maris said, including some past and present Y Combinator companies, and is making one to two new ones a week. More » Paul Graham. More » Y Combinator.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup Valuation Venture Capital 54

Austin Startup

APRIL 23, 2010

I’ve been one of the beta testers for the past six weeks or so, and the product has grown and changed significantly in that short period of time. The CEO, Hank Weghorst, is a veteran of several successful Austin technology startups including Question.com, Ventix, iChat, and Troux.

Intellectual Property 79

Intellectual Property Austin Early Stage Agile 79

readwrite.com

DECEMBER 3, 2012

Maybe the Valley will get back to what it once was all about — making actual technology products. Meanwhile our country is facing a crisis because we have a shortage of students in STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math. Previously, Dan was Technology Editor at Newsweek. Share on LinkedIn. Like on Facebook.

Silicon Valley 111

Silicon Valley Las Vegas Angel Investor Startup 111

crowdSPRING Blog

APRIL 23, 2018

Many successful products and services share the origin story of “I needed something like this, so I built it.”. A challenge that some entrepreneurs don’t consider is that innovative, never-before-seen products and services often stand alone. This means that products in this category need to launch with a robust marketing plan.

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Startup Seattle Social Media 69

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

For every example of a successful company that proves a myth wrong, there will always be one that will prove it right, especially in today’s world of rapidly expanding technology and connectivity. Myth #2: You need a lot of money to start. Startups are the epitome of unpredictability and extremes. So are the ants.

Washington 48

Washington Incubator Cofounder Angel Investor 48

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

I raised $500k in seed money to start the company. The company did well in 2006 as we delivered a phenomenal product that got much industry acclaim at conferences and with initial customers. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital. Tweet This Post Facebook.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Seeing Both Sides

MARCH 2, 2011

I had the pleasure of teaching a new case at HBS yesterday on foursquare that I co-authored with Professors Tom Eisenmann and Mikolaj Piskorski as part of Tom's new course "Launching Technology Ventures". Minimum viable product: they didn't wait years and years to perfect the product but instead got it out there to solicit user feedback.

API 44

API Valuation Lean Burn Rate 44

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

It wasnt because they werent accredited investors that I didntask my parents for seed money, though. When we were starting Viaweb,I didnt know about the concept of an accredited investor, anddidnt stop to think about the value of investors connections.The reason I didnt take money from my parents was that I didntwant them to lose it.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

Reality is that venture is a bunch of individual stories, individual assessments of teams, unique products, and a whole lot of stars lining up for particular companies for success to happen. I know, because those people all used to pitch me as an institutional LP back in the day.

Later Stage 99

Later Stage Down Round Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 99

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 6, 2014

A founder will raise one party round worth of seed money and they''ll go teach a class on how to raise venture capital. I ran a viral email campaign that signed up a person a minute for the week preceding launch, and then generated a firestorm of media coverage when the product opened for business. Growth hacking? What happened?

Startup 147

Startup Venture Capital IPO Viral 147