ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

As a thumb rule, try to get enough validation so that you can get to at least a $2 million pre-money valuation before raising equity capital. That is debt financing that converts into equity at the Series A valuation once the price for that is set. (I Sub-$2 million pre-money, it is better to bootstrap.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 16, 2020

Business valuation is defined as a way to determine the overall economic value of a company , and is a necessary component of a sound business plan and strategy. Any of these situations will demand a valuation to determine current and future projected value. . Three Methods of Valuation. Also referred to as Book Value .

Valuation 162

Valuation CPA Software Review Revenue 162

K9 Ventures

MARCH 20, 2017

Of all the advice I have given founders over the years, one of the most important ones is to make sure they do reference checks on their prospective investors. You could either go with the highest offer on valuation that gives you the lowest dilution, or you can choose the partner who you’re going to be working with.

Founder 99

Founder Dilution Partner Curation 99

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.] The Valuation Question.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

VC Cafe

AUGUST 2, 2022

billion valuation) to invest in the Metaverse and build the future of digital entertainment Epic owns Fortnite, one of the most popular multiplayer games, enabling users to interact with each other online in an immersive way to play, socialise, attend to virtual concerts. In April 2022, the company announced it has raised $2 billion (at $31.5

IP 206

IP Cofounder Valuation Acquisition 206

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 13, 2020

Basically these sayings are referring to people who talk a big game but then can’t back it up with action. If things are going great, you still may get a lower valuation or smaller round. You’ve heard the expression “All sizzle, no steak?” Or the Texan equivalent of “All hat, no cattle?” Sparkly but no quality behind it.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Startup Matching 144

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Lean product development strategy or MVP (Minimum Viable Product) refers to creating a product with core features and offering it to a specific audience to get feedback. They were able to take their market valuation to $1.0 The ones you identify as unimportant can be dropped from your list or rescheduled for a later development phase.

Cost 158

Cost Developer Azure Cloud 158

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

This term is currently applied to recent startups who profess a current valuation which exceeds $1 billion. Frothy startup valuations. This term refers to an initial venture-capital investment, often wrongly sought to seed early product development. Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat. Seed-round investment.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

So even if my own mother asked me to meet with you, and you were pitching me a biotech opportunity for a $10 million investment at a $90 million valuation, I might take the meeting, but it wouldn’t be particularly useful for either of us. This might work because I often feel guilty if I don’t respond to a legitimate referral.

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 29, 2020

estimates in their recent report that medical products will have a very high global market valuation, crossing 30 billion US dollars by 2026. Category design refers to an innovative business strategy that can help your company dominate a new product category. Assistive Devices : Global Market Insights, Inc.

Demand 173

Demand Product Artificial Inteligence Software Review 173

Austin Startup

MARCH 22, 2021

In recent years we’ve seen mega-rounds of investment and sky-high valuations. billion Series D round giving the company a valuation of about $14 billion!* References: * [link] ** [link] [link] Originally published on Marketplace Design Blog by Fiona MacDougall Why do marketplaces make great businesses? They raised a whopping $2.4

Software Review 100

Software Review San Francisco Valuation Stock 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

I’ve watched VCs help with valuation support (spreadsheets, comps) on next round financing, participate in M&A meetings, interview senior job candidates – even help terminate tricky senior hires. If I were looking at which VCs to choose I would reference strongly for which ones are supportive in good times and bad.

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Sales Incubator 364

Feld Thoughts

JULY 9, 2019

This was before the IPO Summer of 2019 when all conventional valuation metrics have entered the land of “suspension of disbelief” which is short-term good and long-term well-we-will-see-…-eventually. We ended up talking about using Gross Profit, instead of Revenue, to do valuation analysis. Isn’t accounting fun?

Revenue 179

Revenue Valuation .Net IPO 179

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

Offering debt is better than offering direct equity, especially in early stages when you have no valuation for setting equity percentages. Many use a convertible loan note that may be converted into equity upon the closing of the first formal angel or VC round of financing, with a more realistic valuation.

Management 308

Management Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 308

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 22, 2023

Thanks to Aktug Dogun, Refer Mate ! #21- 29- Continued use of online market valuation tools Photo Credit: DJ Parker I have seen the use of apps and online market valuation tools intensify over the last few years and I think that will continue in 2023. Thanks to Paige Arnof-Fenn, Mavens & Moguls ! #29-

Artificial Inteligence 124

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Social Media 124

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

What Are Your Valuation Expectations? But mainly we did it because these corporate VCs were among the only groups willing to invest at PayPal’s somewhat inflated post-money valuation, during the middle of the dot-com crash when traditional VCs pulled back sharply and other sources of funding were constrained.” ” (Rob Go).

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

During the summer of 2010, I developed a workshop, A New ACEF Valuation Workshop for Angels and Entrepreneurs. To provide some reference points, I surveyed thirteen angels groups in North American to determine their recent experience in negotiating the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies. Current Average. up slightly.

Angel Groups 125

Angel Groups Valuation Pre-Money Valuation St. Louis 125

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

So, if you reference Software as a Service, you might want to add, “A piece of software you access through the internet and is paid for on a subscription basis, like Salesforce.com.” Make your invitations open so people who are not angels can still refer and bring friends. Customer References. Personal References.

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

Gust

DECEMBER 6, 2011

Milestones are accomplishments that demonstrate the viability of the business; hence, they increase the valuation of the company. There are several important sources of capital for entrepreneurs starting their businesses, depending on the stage of development of the company. The following table shows these sources: CAPITAL SOURCES.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Venture Capital Valuation Software Engineering 179

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

Despite the sustained climate of uncertainty, valuations continued to climb and VC exit values reached their second highest total ever in Q3. VCs are conducting more diligence and employing more founder references. Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos saw a once $9 billion valuation dissolve into 12 felony fraud charges.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Only 7% of the search queries are performed by users referred by search engines, meaning Kayak’s brand is very strong and they continue to build it ($39M spent in 2010 on brand advertising, nearly $92M in total marketing spend). Post-money valuation probably no higher than $12M (2). Pre-money valuation was approx.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

ithacaVC

OCTOBER 16, 2012

I hosted a guest lecturer today named Doug Rowan at Johnson (for those of you not in the Cornell ecosystem, “Johnson” is how the marketing department likes us to refer to Cornell’s business school). Doug’s lecture was on startup company valuations. Period, the end. Yeah, it is that simple.

Valuation 58

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Startup Equity 58

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 31, 2013

Check references carefully. But – and this is an important but – you should expect to “pay” for quality in the form of slightly weaker terms (whether valuation or type of security). Similarly, I’d always sacrifice valuation for a clean security.

Valuation 133

Valuation Term Sheet B2C Security 133

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

This includes calling current and prospective customers, understanding technology and manufacturing, doing reference calls on the founders and key executives, verifying financial and legal information and often other items specific to the company. Doing the research to form your own view of a company’s prospects is called due diligence.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 2, 2023

2004 was the beginning of what I now refer to as “the grind,” which ended for me around 2007. But it still sucked. 2003 was hard. Nothing is going to magically and suddenly change for the better.

Valuation 172

Valuation Revenue Portfolio Leadership 172

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

And chances are you’re in big need of a killer customer reference. It also is a great way to finance your business without facing dilution before you actually raise venture capital and when the valuation you might get from angels is less than you’d want.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

LinkedIn is the obvious starting point not only because it maps out so many relationships but also because you can tell a lot about work history, references, etc. If you’re three s -hot kids from Stanford, Caltech or MIT you might be able to push valuation higher. If you raise $250k at a $750k valuation the same goes.

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 15, 2022

The first step in creating a business plan to sell your startup to an acquirer is to create a valuation of your company. The valuation should include a business optimization plan that outlines strategies and tactics for growing transferable value, attracting potential buyers, and driving deal value.

Merger 130

Merger Acquisition Due Diligence Valuation 130

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2020

Even if you don’t have previous businesses to reference, relate examples of your problem solving ability and determination in other contexts. Before looking for an investor, you or a partner need to demonstrate an understanding of the implications of startup valuation, revenue projections, break-even, and ROI.

Entrepreneur 312

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Valuation Leadership 312

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Many Asian entrepreneurs tell me that they want to raise funds from Silicon Valley firms because they perceive the valuations to be higher. Valuations are based more on typical later-stage type of metrics. Finally, don’t over-optimize on valuation. Third, investors are generally much more conservative in Asia.

Asia 132

Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

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. This method compares the target company to typical angel-funded startup ventures and adjusts the average valuation of recently funded companies in the region to establish a pre-money valuation of the target.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Almost two years ago, in a private/closed meeting with K9 Ventures’ LPs only, I claimed that: What was being referred to in the press as the “Series A Crunch” was not because fewer Series A deals were being done, but because there were too many Seed deals being done. The risk here is what I refer to as the curse of over-capitalization.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Have you reference them? At what valuation? So if two investors even go so far as to agree to fix prices, which is issue 1, the company should say no thanks to that valuation and keep shopping for other lenders, of which there are many, to get a better price. Typical questions: What do you think of management? Cap or warrants?

Entrepreneur 292

Entrepreneur Technical Review Stealth Valuation 292

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

It’s almost exactly 5 years since Aileen Lee first coined the term “unicorn” in reference to startups with $1 billion+ valuations. A few of these had previously raised private rounds at $1B+ valuations like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but a good majority of them only reached unicorn status upon exit. Realized Unicorns.

IPO 120

IPO Valuation San Francisco Silicon Valley 120

David Teten

MAY 1, 2013

Third, as Tom Treanor explains , “[C]hanging your marketing materials, email addresses, and online and offline references, and links to your old site is a long, painful, and costly process.” 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

The Equity Kicker

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

If the product is great customer numbers will be increasing, per customer usage (often termed engagement) will generally be increasing, customers will be expressing their love for the company on blogs and in reference calls, analysts will be saying good things, and the price point will often by higher than for competing products.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Product Venture Capital Valuation 123

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

Asset valuation. The concept of asset valuation may seem counterintuitive, but it is an important idea. Most financial valuation formulas value an asset by discounting the asset using the cost of capital (interest rate) to the present day. Compared to Accounting, Finance is ruthlessly forward looking.

Founder 118

Founder Valuation Dividend Startup 118