Altgate

DECEMBER 17, 2009

pre-revenue and maybe even pre-product), I recommend a discretionary plan, particularly when you're dealing with annual plans. And finally, once the business has achieved greater scale and size (50+ people, $10MM+ revenue, etc.) then you can start to think about a balanced scorecard approach to your pay plan.

Venture Capital 47

Venture Capital Metrics Startup Software Review 47

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

But did you know that founder Markus Frind has just 3 employees for his $10MM+ revenue business? For example, you can barter for a service or you can negotiate payment terms or even equity for service. Unfortunately they will be very expensive (30-50% or more of gross revenue). He basically outsources everything. PR/Marketing.

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65

Up and Running

AUGUST 1, 2017

Venture capitalists essentially buy equity in your brand, which means they now have a say in how you operate. In 2005, Claus Moseholm co-founded GoViral, a Danish company which specializes in harnessing the internet to promote advertisers’ videos and make them go viral. You give up some control of your company.

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Cofounder Finance Security 113

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

In brief, a cap acts to place a limit on the conversion price of a convertible note such that investors are guaranteed a minimum number of shares for their bridge loans if the startup does a priced equity round at a high pre-money valuation – “high” meaning above the cap, which is often a heavily negotiated term. (The

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

Many companies that are raising B or C venture capital rounds right now raised their initial money in 2005-2008. If you want to raise venture capital more easily the advice could be quite practical and counter-intuitive. It is 2010. That means that they likely raised money at a particularly high price relative to 2010 prices. Time suck.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

Software By Rob

JANUARY 8, 2019

. “YCombinator for Non-Unicorns” In 2005 YCombinator pioneered the concept of a startup accelerator, running their first batch of 8 companies through a 3-month mentorship program and providing them with $6,000n in funding (where n = the number of founders). And in exchange for this $6k-$18k and mentorship, YC asked for 7% equity.

Early Stage 46

Early Stage Valuation Seed Capital Revenue 46

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 19, 2012

We see our LPs relatively infrequently; they each look after interests in a large number of venture capital and private equity funds, and they occasionally shift responsibility for looking after our fund to new people, so we always begin by reminding them of who we are, why we are special, and our investment strategy. Manager update.

LP 97

LP Europe Portfolio Private Equity 97

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

He’s been at it since 2005. We should end the year with a few million in fully recurring revenue and we’re projected to double next year. But more spend = more viral opps = more revenue down the road. >50% of our revenue in now viral. I founded it in 2005 at the age of 37.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Altgate

NOVEMBER 30, 2009

Below is another interesting chart on founder equity for tech companies. Basically it says that “all founders are not created equal.&# If you’re the CEO and a founder, then you median equity holding is 21%, whereas if you’re CTO that number drops to 9%. I’ve always found this chart amazing to me.

Startup 28

Startup Venture Capital Equity California 28

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

There are two reasons to raise money: You have a killer idea that is only partially validated, that you think can get to $50M+ of revenue in 5 years with 80%+ gross margins (if margins are lower, you need a lot more revenue)and you need money to get to product-market fit, or. Not all startups need outside investment to grow.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

When I saw what BuddyTV is working on and how long they’ve been the market (since 2005) I realized that this has huge potential to help disrupt the television market. I re-connected with Andy Liu the founder & CEO of BuddyTV – the largest destination for social TV enthusiasts on the web. No Dave S. = We know it can be done.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 25, 2020

And then from there, I was running a fitness company on the west coast by the name of 24 Hour Fitness, which was private equity backed and quite a bit of debt. I think about this in customers and protecting your employees and customers, always protect your P&L, your revenue. So, how are you investing in being even better?

Technical Review 148

Technical Review Balance Sheet Texas Austin 148

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

But of course, the model had us requiring only $10M equity to breakeven and to achieve $185M in revenues in 2008 (the magic Year 5 in all business plans). In looking back at the old financials, at the end of Q2 2005, our cash balance was a whopping $546. Before the $52M Series D , the $23M Series C , the $15.5M

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

Altgate

DECEMBER 22, 2008

You know how when you’re benchmarking public equities the data sets always leave out performance from the 1929 crash and most of the following decade?

Europe 28

Europe Washington Venture Capital Equity 28

Bryce Dot VC

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

What that meant is that six companies a year could achieve a hundred million in revenue or a billion in valuation. Back in 2005 we started a venture firm called OATV, O’Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures, myself, my partner Tim O’Reilly, and my partner Mark Jacobson. And, that those six companies drove 95% of the returns for our industry.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Valuation Los Angeles Chicago 40

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 20, 2013

I co-founded LinkedIn in 2003, and by 2005, after asking myself the key questions about my passion, focus, and commitment, I knew I wanted to bring in a CEO. Dan went on to continue being a very successful company builder, becoming the CEO of Rocket Lawyer and, among other successes, quadrupling its revenues.).

Founder 78

Founder Hiring Cofounder Hawaii 78

Altgate

DECEMBER 11, 2008

He is apparently the sole equity owner of this 250 attorney firm and reportedly spent $40 million on artwork hanging on the law office walls. Founder of New York law firm Dreier LLC bilked hedge fund investors out of nearly $400 million by selling bogus securities while impersonating other people. Come again? Rod Blagojevich. Paul Johnston.

SEC 28

SEC Boston Nashville Illinois 28

Altgate

MARCH 8, 2009

Growth stage investors are usually the Series B or C investors who come in when the product is in the market but there is little or no revenue and the team is probably in the 20-something range with the goal to ramp it up to 40-50 employees with the new money, build out a sales team, etc. trillion as late as last month.

Later Stage 34

Later Stage Early Stage Venture Capital Portfolio 34

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2010

of startup businesses as far back as 2005. How can you beat finding someone who has been there and done that, able to mentor Gen-Y, has lots of connections to people in your industry, and is often willing to work for equity alone? News & World Report , people over 40 were key players in 86.6% Angel Investor. Customer Service.

Advisory Board 189

Advisory Board Angel Investor Equity Salary 189

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

Spark Capital is relatively new to VC (founded in 2005) yet has become one of the hottest new VCs having invested in Twitter, Tumblr, AdMeld, Boxee, KickApps and many more companies. RockYou (US) was founded in Redwood City in November 2005 by Lance Tokuda and Jia Shen. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Los Angeles Oakland Asia 217

www.singlefounder.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Go ahead and laugh, but over 95% of Moon River Software’s revenue this year has been from consulting services. The software I sell has made up less than 5% of total revenue in the past 12 months. Let’s turn the tables and think about an off the wall question: Do you even need a product? However, it could be more complete.

Software Review 40

Software Review Software Startup Massachusetts 40

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

November 2005 Venture funding works like gears. There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. It costs you a little more equity, but being able to play the two firms off each other (as well as ask one if the other is being out of line) is invaluable. Want to start a startup? Apply for funding by March 3.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

the meebo that launched in 2005 was a group effort – the idea primarily came from sandy being a huge IMer and having trouble getting on IM when we were working on earlier ideas in elaine’s apartment! Hopefully your idea of business model isn’t “ad revenue based”. get to know each other first, etc.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

www.currentlyobsessed.com

MAY 28, 2010

The net effect was more money raised, higher valuation and the same percentage of equity sold. Snapvine was my first experience being in the driver’s seat of the fund-raising process, and in the 3 years prior to our acquisition we raised over $10mm in venture capital. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s not.

Valuation 42

Valuation Channel Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 42

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Companies with less than $2 million in revenue were asking for $50-60 million valuations and getting them. Companies raised too much money in 2005-08 and had high burn rates. And the equity in their house isn’t rising. When I first got into the industry it was 2007. was still a term being bandied about. tl;dr summary.

Stock 305

Stock Technical Review Marketing Greece 305

Altgate

MARCH 4, 2009

The questions focus on cash and equity compensation for executives (about 20 titles covered) and board members and then it looks at a bunch of attributes of the executives and the company. For example, founder vs non-founder status (big difference in comp), geographic location, headcount, funding, revenue, etc. Bookmark the permalink.

United Kingdom 33

United Kingdom China India 33

Occam's Razor

OCTOBER 19, 2010

I do not have financial or equity or any other stake in any company mentioned in this blog post (except Google). First presented at an eMetrics summit in 2005 the 10/90 rule was borne out of my observations of why most companies fail miserably at web analytics. it is good to know what is out there and 2. Fourth Bit Of Context.

Analytics 135

Analytics Web Non-Compete Campaign 135

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Shamir Optical reported revenues of $142 million in 2009, generated mainly in Europe and the United States, and has about 1,400 employees. In 2008, the company, which employs about 30,000 worldwide, reported revenues of $28.8 In 2009 it boasted revenue of $4.49 KOREA’S POSCO SIGNS AGREEMENT SEEKING ISRAELI R&D.

Bandwidth 80

Bandwidth Framework Forecast 80

David Teten

JUNE 7, 2011

Redistribution of resources and services through social platforms is creating new business and new revenue streams by monetizing previously underutilized assets. Mr. Berk graduated from Emory University and began his career trading equities (not tools or electronics). Come and meet some of those on the front line.

Darfur 122

Darfur Sudan Cofounder United Kingdom 122