Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2016

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In his tenure as CEO of DataSift we have never missed a monthly revenue figure. He has grown our US operations from 1 employee (him) to a global organization of 75 employees that will finish the year with 8-digit revenues (90+% recurring) and more than 350% year-over-year growth. Startup Advice' More information comes out.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Typical incentives give percentages of quarterly revenues and contribution as rewards for success. An even better alternative could be stock options, linked to the long-term success of the company. Provide bonuses for volumes, not milestones. Always promote from within rather than seek fresh blood.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

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crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 10, 2014

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! The ROI of Blogging: What the Groove Blog is Worth to Our Startup – crowdspring.co/YUXa2r. The Ultimate Startup Marketing Strategy | by Venture Harbour – [link] crowdspring.co/1xxV8lb.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

With the current volatile economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

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Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

There are many reasons to found a startup. There are many reasons to work at a startup. To most founders a startup is not a job, but a calling. But startups require money upfront for product development and later to scale. Traditional lenders (banks) think that startups are too risky for a traditional bank loan.

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VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

A new flock of startups has launched to support content creators to craft (videos, art, newsletters, music, games, courses, etc), find an audience, generate income (subscriptions, tipping, ecommerce, NFTs, etc) and engage their communities. This is where new startups can help. The creator economy market map, Singalfire.

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The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins. That includes us.

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crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

We like to talk about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and various random stuff! 10 Psychological Triggers To Boost Revenues – crowdspring.co/1rXsiql. Small Business and Startups: Customer Service Marketing Manifesto – crowdspring.co/1wYokDi.

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Social Media Small Business Design Media 99

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

In September 2017, I spent 2 weeks in Austin, Texas to understand what makes this vibrant startup ecosystem tick. It follows up on my posts discussing why early stage startups should — or should not — move to Silicon Valley. Should Early Stage Startups Move to Austin because of Capital? Money is like gasoline during a road trip.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

Typical incentives give percentages of quarterly revenues and contribution as rewards for success. An even better alternative could be stock options, linked to the long-term success of the company. Provide bonuses for volumes, not milestones. Always promote from within rather than seek fresh blood.

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Stock Options Incubator Framework Stock 141

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

Mike Stern (wasn’t sure which one so leave a comment if it’s you): Q: “is it possible to sell your startup without venture investment if the company has big traction and a large user base?&# I talked about the need to have a restricted stock plan for your earliest employees. This is minutes 8-11.

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YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 26, 2018

When a small business startup manages to secure external investment magical things happen. Amongst the benefits of attracting external investors to a startup is helping to preserve owner resources, allowing growth to continue, accelerating research and development and product rollout.

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The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

It’s unrelated to the startup world, but I can highly recommend to watch “ Being Liverpool ”. Starting a global tech business with international, well-educated and highly-skilled people, generating millions of revenue per month, is incredibly hard. But that’s the case for only tiny amount of startups. Startups fail.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

So as a startup CEO you constantly have to suspend disbelief. ” A startup CEO’s job is to absorb stress so the team doesn’t have to. Startups have to be optimists because no rational person would actually believe you could build Uber into the amazing company that it is today. We just need your $500,000!!”

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Lessons. I know that we haven’t brought in revenue as quickly as we had hoped. They haven’t hit their revenue targets. We do hand out stock options. Building companies is hard work. I know that we’ve made some mistakes. But here is the problem.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Think of it as similar to an employee stock option.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

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Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 11, 2015

But it’s an important consideration, especially for companies that plan to offer alternative compensation such as employee stock options, which will usually require a 409A valuation. Startup companies are often cash poor and have little in the form of current monetary compensation to offer their employees.

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Scalable Startup

OCTOBER 26, 2014

How is it that so many people associated with startups reap the financial benefits, yet others just as close get no financial upside This is a source of frustration among many people in the startup sphere. If the startup actually makes it to an IPO, there is actually something you can do. The rewards are pretty amazing.

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The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2021

The question for many entrepreneurs is, how do you start a business the right way with the right startup business structure? . Without them, you cannot earn any revenue. You have to have a clear and powerful value proposition in order to attract and keep customers and your startup business structure needs to reflect that.

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Scalable Startup

OCTOBER 26, 2014

How is it that so many people associated with startups reap the financial benefits, yet others just as close get no financial upside This is a source of frustration among many people in the startup sphere. If the startup actually makes it to an IPO, there is actually something you can do. The rewards are pretty amazing.

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Silicon Valley Hawaii Angel Investor IPO 20

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. They’ve grown from nothing to >$2B in revenue in 30 months time, making the company among the fastest growing businesses in the histroy of the world. How They Make Money: Groupon keeps a share of the coupon value (typically 40-50%) as its net revenue (1). June 5, 2011.

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Scott Edward Walker

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

I’ve been a corporate lawyer for 17+ years, and there are certain fundamental legal mistakes that I’ve seen startups repeatedly make. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful to provide a simple checklist for startups , which includes links to prior posts for a more detailed discussion.

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Accredited Investor Stock Options Delaware Silicon Valley 111

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

I get approached often by tech startups looking for their first outside funding. This article is based on my experiences and the typical mistakes I see every week in startup land. High growth startup companies need seed money to get things going. Without funding most tech startups will die. high growth. Capital = Growth.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. at a startup that has already raised $5 million the chances of you making your retirement money on that company is EXTREMELY small. Now … these are stock options and not restricted stock so you’ll likely be taxed at a long-term capital gains rate. It was 1999.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Revenue multiple? Less than you’ll probably grant your most junior employees in stock options? Stock Option plans. Startup Lessons' How will you price the next round? Your A round? Him: On metrics. We’ll have some proof points by then. What proof points? How will the lead determine a value?

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2015

With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

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Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 120

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. 3]   However, if they are built bottom up, they demonstrate and make explicit a range of business model assumptions the entrepreneur is using to think about his business and its revenue model.   Pre-bubble Siliicon Valley deals were popularly valued at multiples of revenue.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2011

It has been at least a decade since going public via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been considered a credible exit strategy for startups. Draper III, in his new book titled “ The Startup Game.” Of course, you’re going to have to perform well to make that stock useful in the acquisitions process.

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Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 27, 2015

I get calls and questions all the time about our Startup Package and, accordingly, I put together a brief clip from the podcast “ This Week in Startups ” which should be helpful. Indeed, we have done more than 300 Startup Packages and the appeal is obvious: no billable hours. Legal Checklist for Startups. v=N1A44ShZfWo.

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