Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. The legends of Silicon Valley?—?two

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

I’m a mom, a full-time sales manager, and recruiter. I don’t have an MBA and I don’t live in Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs need to find a way to get traction (sales) without funding. It’s because pitching is making a sale and all sales are made emotionally and followed up with logic. What does that mean?

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

“And if you have a valuation cap; a higher cap is always better than a lower cap.” Startups bear the costs of their financing, from the first seed investment to the sale of Series A stock. The primary terms for these types of transactions are the valuation cap and the conversion discount. If high U.S. Patent Trolls.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

I was once thinking about writing a blog post called “Is Reid Hoffman the Kevin Bacon of Silicon Valley&# because it seemed that every angel / seed investor I knew looking at deals was shopping their deal to Reid and everybody wanted Reid’s opinion before committing.

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

That’s because obtaining a pre-money valuation for a concept level technology company in excess of $1 million is difficult, particularly for a startup founder without a proven track record. By contrast, obtaining a pre-money valuation of $5 million for a business with a new viable product and even very minimal sales is somewhat reasonable.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Looking past the cheesy theatre of the guys pitch, this company was the one most likely to actually pitch a real Silicon Valley VC, given its technology angle. It is very positive that the founder had generated some sales and interest from retailers. At some point the fad passes and sales will crash. Horrible idea!”

Silicon Valley 167

Silicon Valley Salary Dilution Indiana 167

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

For a Series A round you want to prove you have built a repeatable and scalable sales/revenue model and understand all parts of the business model. The goal of the product at this stage is not a sale, but to test hypotheses about customer product/market fit. Series B is about proving your net revenue model (can you be profitable?).

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Professional angels / former entrepreneurs / seed funds – In Silicon Valley there are people like Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Mike Maples and many more. There are more sales oriented tools like JigSaw that tech savvy people hate but sales savvy people love. If you raise $250k at a $750k valuation the same goes.

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

Just like catching a bug in development is cheaper than fixing it once it has been released, confirming lack of customer demand prior to ramping up a sales engine is cheaper than finding out once you have a paid sales team. Not just because we can command a 3-4x step up in valuation if we find product/market fit pre [.]

Venture Capital 209

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 209

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

But he left to work on what he told me he came to do - crack the innovation code of Silicon Valley and share it with the rest of the world. more likely to successfully scale with sales driven startups than with product centric startups. (He was part of the Sandbox network - a group of incredibly smart under 30 year olds.).

Technical Cofounder 333

Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 333

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Keen Home appeared on the TV show, Shark Tank , in 2012, landing one of the highest valuations in the show’s history. But it’s sales that really drive your progress with those three groups of people. Every time I go to Silicon Valley I’m like, “Oh, this place is great.” Will : Absolutely.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Ohio Columbus Entrepreneur 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This post describes how companies using the Customer Development model can increase their credibility, valuation and probability of getting a first round of funding by presenting their results in a “Lesson Learned&# venture pitch. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Order Here. Now In Print!

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

I’ve been writing up reviews of this season’s Shark Tank pitches from a silicon valley VCs perspective. The company has done $400k in sales in less than two years and had an early test deal with a local supermarket chain that they were massively overperforming on. He did $5M in 2011 sales and is projected $7.2m

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

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. As CRO, Lester is responsible for sales, client success and marketing at WARP.

Early Stage 112

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 112

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

billion for a company with less than $50 million in sales. Underwriters realized that as long as the public was happy snapping up shares, they could make huge profits on the inflated valuations (regardless of whether or not the company should have ever been public.) Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice.

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2011

A tech bubble is the rapid inflation in the valuation of public and private technology companies that exceeds their fundamental value by a large margin. Today, the signs of the new bubble are the Linked-In initial public offering (IPO), Facebook’s stratospheric valuation and the rapid rise of early-stage startup valuation.

Silicon Valley 327

Silicon Valley Stealth Valuation Mississippi 327

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

… Checking In on Foursquare’s Valuation – [link]. In Silicon Valley, Technology Talent Gap Threatens G.O.P. Special Report: Silicon Valley’s dirty secret – age bias | Reuters – [link]. In Silicon Valley, Technology Talent Gap Threatens G.O.P.

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

The Next Web

JUNE 15, 2012

From Silicon Valley to Peoria, Illinois, cash-strapped startups look for inventive way to finance their business – often handing out equity to employees, consultants, vendors, and other service providers. It’s a logical solution. Plan upfront.

Equity 116

Equity Stock Options Vesting Stock 116

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

The “private sale” market phenomenon was started in France by Vente-Privee (literally means “private sale”) and was replicated in Germany by BrandsforFriends. Gilt Group is currently the largest private sale web site in US. To be fair to Ben Horowitz – I think he thinks this as well. Time will tell.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

For example, one of the first home grocery delivery companies, Webvan, was so enamored with early traction in Silicon Valley, it raised and spent nearly a billion dollars and went public, before filing for bankruptcy three years later. You can’t afford to close every sale, or handle every customer complaint.

Silicon Valley 215

Silicon Valley Bankruptcy Metrics Valuation 215

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 24, 2011

Additional work in figuring out the precise go-to-market consumer, academic institution, or enterprise - each is a different business), and consequent business model and pricing model will help enhance the company's valuation. Campus sales reps is a good strategy that Chris is experimenting with, as well as marketing to camp directors.

Illinois 114

Illinois Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Chicago 114

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. valuation in 2017 round).

IPO 120

IPO Valuation San Francisco Silicon Valley 120

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

Valuation: $1M – $3M. VCs investing abroad or in binational companies, typically with technology based in a 2nd or 3rd tier market, and sales/marketing in a 1st tier market. J-Angels “is a community and a VC fund of top American investors (Jewish-American & Israeli-born) in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.”.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

by Kim Burmester, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for ATLAS Workbase. Whenever you’d hear the word “startup” nowadays, you’d immediately think of a tech or software venture in Silicon Valley – the breeding ground of startups, both failures and successes. Here’s a good cheat sheet on how startup valuation works.

Small Business 176

Small Business Silicon Valley Valuation Seattle 176

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 15, 2017

Will his digital presence measurably affect sales of his newest book What Unites Us ? What seems to be the best way to create customers and revenue may result in a business model that is out of vogue with the investment world and shortchanges you on enterprise valuation. What happens to his digital property when he passes?

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Nevada Silicon Valley 48

www.businessinsider.com

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Silicon Valley 100. This Chart Shows Why VCs Are Willing To Give Hyped Startups Absurd Valuations. Notes like this are part of Grahams ongoing process of steering them through the thickets of Silicon Valley startup life. But the convertible cap has increasingly been used as a guide for valuation. Enterprise.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup Valuation Venture Capital 54

crowdSPRING Blog

APRIL 26, 2013

Don’t Use Social to Generate Sales; Make Selling Social | Advertising Age – [link]. Don’t Use Social to Generate Sales; Make Selling Social | Advertising Age – [link]. Don’t let Silicon Valley fool you—millenials are the least entrepreneurial generation | Quartz – [link].

Social Media 90

Social Media Small Business Design Media 90

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

There is nothing on sales. Can you add useful resource for generating sales for start-ups. Reply Martin Henk , on June 8, 2011 at 6:13 am said: Impressive list, but missing a key ingredient: Sales management tools. Reply jade , on February 27, 2011 at 2:25 pm said: Great compilation. removed from the list. Yep, C’est moi.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

pandodaily.com

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

Multiply that by literally a couple thousand, and that’s what 2013 is going to look like in Silicon Valley, and to a lesser degree some other startup ecosystems. “There are so many companies in Silicon Valley that have raised $30 million and done absolutely nothing with it.” Source: Businessweek ]. -

Technical Review 93

Technical Review Silicon Valley Incubator Syria 93

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

Below, we talk to Glen Mello , Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank’s accelerator team in Boston. As a startup grows, venture debt becomes a viable option to continue that growth. It can be lower cost and can either buy more time or accelerate growth. Reason being, there’s more of a defined strategy for the company.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

Why not go further, develop more valuation, customer experience, and really, deeply validate the business? Kristen is doing about $70,000 year-to-date, and expects to hit $200,000 for the 2010 fiscal year based on her holiday sales projections. Sramana Mitra is a technology entrepreneur and strategy consultant in Silicon Valley.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

There’s a line of thinking in Silicon Valley that you should build product businesses rather than services businesses. It’s how things are done across the country outside of Silicon Valley. I could go on-and-on with all of the sales-blocking messages you will hear when you try to charge for a product.

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Of all your hires, if you have commissioned sales people, those will give you the most problems if they’re not all given an equal chance to make their quotas and achieve their personal earnings goals. Keep the valuations consistent with company progress. That will keep the Silicon Valley wags buzzing for some time to come.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Hippoland

AUGUST 31, 2018

So, I thought it might make sense to take a step back and talk about all the stages of early stage fundraising here in the Silicon Valley. In early stage investing, at least in Silicon Valley, there are basically 4 stages: pre-seed, seed, post-seed (or pre-A), and series A. And/or getting your first set of customers.

Pre-Money Valuation 90

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Early Stage 90

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

About Bessemer Venture Partners: Bessemer Venture Partners is a global investment group with offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, Mumbai, and Tel Aviv. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. sales and marketing. (10). Building Your SaaS Sales Compensation Plan.

Software Review 48

Software Review Partner United States Venture Capital 48

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

Last week I gave a Silicon Valley VC’s take on the company pitches on Shark Tank as the new season four started, and it was well received. post money valuation. Mark Cuban offered $300k for 33% of the company, implying a $900k post money valuation. implying a $600k post money valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 163

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 163

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 16, 2019

They’d offer services like recruiting, sales and BD help, and marketing to their startups, building out an agency-like model and employing well over 100 team members. Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz. ” Funding rounds, press headlines, even recruiting pitches, all sought to declare “XYZ is a unicorn.”

Silicon Valley 70

Silicon Valley Early Stage Valuation Cofounder 70