Gust

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. It is one of the useful methods for establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup ventures. OK…let’s split the difference.

Venture Capital 161

Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation 161

Gust

AUGUST 17, 2014

One of the most common failures I see in startups is lack of focus. Investors hear this as trying to do too many things with limited resources, meaning the startup will not shine at anything, and will not survive the competition. Invested Interests entrepreneur focus startup' Segment the opportunity.

Entrepreneur 182

Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor China 182

Gust

DECEMBER 6, 2011

Idea, pre-seed, startup. Pre-seed, startup. Most for startups and growth stages. Startup and growth stages. Most for startups and growth stages. The figure below shows the number of investors by investment size for startup ventures. GEM Studies. Government Grants. $3 US Government. Angel Investors. $20

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Venture Capital Valuation Software Engineering 179

Gust

JUNE 17, 2012

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. A large percentage of startups never apply to either. You need to explore more common and more productive approaches for getting your startup moving forward. Self-funding is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you can do it.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 164

Gust

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. It is very easy for optimistic users to quickly arrive at unreasonable pre-money valuations for startup ventures.

Valuation 87

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Venture Capital Technical Review 87

Gust

JUNE 23, 2014

With the estimated 510 million live websites at last year-end, and 280,000 new ones being added every day, the biggest challenge for an entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc.

Startup 174

Startup Cofounder Social Media SEO 174

Gust

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

The Risk Factor Summation Method the fifth methodology for estimating the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies we have described in recent posts. The Risk Factor Summation Method, described by the Ohio TechAngels, considers a much broader set of factors in determining the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies.

Valuation 102

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Ohio Early Stage 102

Gust

OCTOBER 26, 2014

When someone asks me for the best way to fund a startup, I always say bootstrap it, meaning fund it yourself and grow organically. Despite all the focus you hear on external investors, over 90% of startups today are self-funded. Most startup founders already do this, rather than take a salary, to improve their offering.

Bootstrapping 176

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 176

Gust

JANUARY 15, 2013

December update and insights about new startups: India became second last month as the country with the highest count of new Startups, right below the United States. New startups creation stages remained steady and in line with the rest of the year, with 13.1% in Revenue Stage. in Concept Stage, 43.2% respectively).

India 171

India United States Startup Restful 171

Gust

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Statistics show that the failure rate for new startups within the first 5 years is higher than 50 percent. Inexperienced team.

Intellectual Property 183

Intellectual Property Startup Viral Early Stage 183

Gust

AUGUST 7, 2023

When your startup is very small, it’s fairly easy to gauge its health. From your vantage point as the company’s leader—and perhaps its only employee—you can readily track the arrival and departure of customers, the growth or decline of revenues, and changes in profitability as costs rise or fall.

Analytics 91

Analytics Metrics Revenue Employee 91

Gust

OCTOBER 18, 2011

This is the first of a six part series on different methods used by angel investors to arrive at pre-money startup valuations. It is one of the most useful methods for establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup ventures. He has invested in more than 70 startup ventures. The Dave Berkus Method.

Valuation 174

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Southern California Post-Money Valuation 174

Gust

JULY 6, 2014

I will assert that each of these has a comparable relevance for those of you contemplating leaving a company employee role to create or join an entrepreneurial startup as follows: Not reality checking your dream. Test your “dream” startup plans on some experienced entrepreneurs to get a reality check before you leave your current job.

Startup 183

Startup Salary Employee Entrepreneur 183

Gust

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Gust Startup Map & Trends Analysis – August 2012. Attention startup enthusiasts! Gust is thrilled to have nearly 7,000 new entrepreneurs creating startup profiles each month. The map showcases new entrepreneur sign ups that chose to publish their startup profiles between August 1 st and August 31 st.

Brazil 134

Brazil India Startup Florida 134

Gust

DECEMBER 7, 2014

In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to an authoritative survey of new startups. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 191

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 191

Gust

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. He has invested in more than 70 startup ventures. The Dave Berkus method is useful as one such method.

Valuation 79

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Southern California 79

Gust

JUNE 3, 2012

Many entrepreneurs I know feel guilty about not quitting their day job when initiating their startup, worrying about not giving their all to an employer, juggling the multiple roles, or even a legal conflict of interest. Then there are the more pragmatic questions of how to make concurrent startup efforts productive.

Entrepreneur 152

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor Salary 152

Gust

JUNE 22, 2014

With the estimated 510 million live websites at last year-end, and 280,000 new ones being added every day, the biggest challenge for an entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc.

Startup 125

Startup Cofounder Social Media SEO 125

Gust

JANUARY 15, 2013

Is the bloom off of the startups rose? I had a conversation over the weekend, before either of us had seen the NYTimes story, about startups going down, even giving back investors’ money. They could punt on revenue indefinitely because their investment dollars were their revenue. million. “It What do you think?

Due Diligence 119

Due Diligence Startup Angel Investor Early Stage 119

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Here are the components and “rules of thumb” that I recommend to every startup: Place a fair market value on all physical assets (asset approach). Back in the “heyday of the dot.com startups,” it was not uncommon to see a valuation incremented by $1M or every paid full-time professional programmer, engineer, or designer.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Gust

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. The most common failures are solutions looking for a problem, lack of a defined market, or an inadequate revenue model.

Business Model 91

Business Model Green Revenue Operations 91

Gust

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Fortune 1000 CEOs usually don’t make good startup CEOs, and vice versa. The startup road is guaranteed to be long and hard. What if you can’t convince Jim Clark (Silicon Graphics, Netscape, WebMD, MyCFO, Juniper Networks) to run your startup? The size of the race is also important. Bundles of energy, money, and talent.

Startup 147

Startup Bootstrapping Social Network Internet 147

Gust

JULY 31, 2012

Amidst all the talk of failures and exits, we forget there are actually three possible outcomes for angel-backed startups. Typically, angel-funded companies that are going sideways have 1-10 employees and sufficient revenues and earnings to be sustainable, but are not attractive acquisition candidates to larger companies.

Exit Strategy 135

Exit Strategy Angel Investor Capital Gains Startup 135

Gust

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Drive your startup to profitability. More importantly, profitability can drive you to find hidden assets, zag to interim revenue sources, and force you to pace yourself in getting to that final destination. Use your values as the foundation.

Elevator Pitch 163

Elevator Pitch Startup Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 163

Gust

JULY 16, 2014

Your $900,000, however, is made up of your ownership in a brand new company that likely doesn’t have revenue yet, let alone profits. And that, in a very simplified way, is an explanation as to why there are different classes of ownership in startup companies. original post can be found on Quora @ [link] *. Invested Interests'

Stock 167

Stock Startup Matching Revenue 167

Gust

OCTOBER 11, 2011

An “ elevator pitch ” is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. How do you expect them to get excited, if your startup sounds like a dull subject to you?

Elevator Pitch 174

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 174

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

Even for low-tech startups, the scope of information available on the Internet, and its global reach, has had a similar financial impact on the many other challenges facing every startup founder. Founders now routinely use their home to operate their startup until they are well into the revenue phase.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

Gust

AUGUST 10, 2014

However, making no projections, or non-credible projections will get your startup marked as unfundable. The rules are obviously not absolute, but you must be prepared to explain to potential investors why your startup is the exception to these guidelines: Five-year financial projections are the norm. Gross margins greater than 50%.

Liquidity Event 176

Liquidity Event Equity Venture Capital Merger 176

Gust

JULY 5, 2012

Now, massage tables and game rooms and unlimited gourmet food might be appropriate for a company with a few billion in revenue, but your Series Seed investors would likely be a tad upset if 95% of their initial seed investment went to pay for a corporate jet.

Warrant 127

Warrant Startup New York Cost 127

Gust

NOVEMBER 15, 2012

And there are others that people think are teeny little wannabes with a dozen or so employees…that have $25 million in highly profitable revenues with hockey stick growth and zero debt!

Seed Stage 131

Seed Stage Hockey Stick Cap Table Liquidation Preference 131

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

, answer all the standard questions (carefully, completely, thoughtfully and in good written English), provide all the financial figures (past investment, current burn, projected revenues, cash needed, etc.), Invested Interests Power Pitches angel investor business David Rose entrepreneur meeting pitch startup'

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups. Early-stage startup. Every startup is early-stage to someone. Super Angels.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177

Gust

JULY 29, 2012

Other examples are recurring revenue streams, like subscription fees, or referral fees, or subcontracting where you take a percentage. E-commerce on the Internet is a good example of this. There you can sell your products and services 24 hours per day, seven days a week, on a global basis. Minimize inventory, or let the manufacturer carry it.

Bandwidth 155

Bandwidth Bootstrapping Equity Startup 155

Gust

OCTOBER 16, 2012

This summer I conducted our third annual survey of the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies recently funded by angel groups in North America. For the first time, we asked for data from specific business sectors, as follows: All pre-revenue deals. Pre-revenue life Science, biotech and medical device deals. million).

Angel Groups 169

Angel Groups Valuation Pre-Money Valuation North Dakota 169

Gust

JANUARY 5, 2014

This rather crude expression weighs heavily on the mind of all good startup founders, no matter how confident they appear. This whole process is particularly worrisome to many startup founders, since their expertise and background more likely technology than sales. Your revenue model has to make sense.

Business Model 171

Business Model Sales Customer Distribution 171

Gust

FEBRUARY 2, 2014

The company now has more than 160,000 employees and revenues of $44 billion. As an entrepreneur, she grew EBay from 30 employees and $4 million in annual revenue to more than 15,000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue, before moving on to HP. Invested Interests business entrepreneur MBA startup' Postal Service.

Entrepreneur 175

Entrepreneur Salary .Net Revenue 175

Gust

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Execution is making things happen, and for startups it usually means making change happen, which is even more difficult. I found a book on this subject, “ The 4 Disciplines of Execution ,” by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling, which seems to talk well to startups as well as the corporate world it was written for.

Entrepreneur 189

Entrepreneur Founder Revenue Startup 189