K9 Ventures

MAY 28, 2015

At K9 we invest in companies which have a clear/direct revenue model and typically don’t invest in companies that follow the Ubiquity first Revenue Later (URL) revenue model made famous by Eric Schmidt in 2007. I call this Revenue Development and have written about it before. >$0/month.

Revenue 48

Revenue Startup Burn Rate Cofounder 48

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

Rob Go

DECEMBER 28, 2011

61M in Q3 revenue, up 28% YoY. Wayfair: This is somewhere between an exit and and a growth round, but the largest independent ecommerce company focused on the huge home/furniture category raised a $165M round from a group of growth, private equity, and venture investors. Tripadvisor: An amazing entrepreneurial story. market cap.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Boston Software Review IPO 54

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. Invoca is now doing 10s of millions in recurring revenue and is growing > 75% year-over-year but it took the first 3 years to really build out the technology and acquire our initial enterprise clients. Over the past 2.5

IP 223

IP Intellectual Property IRR Cofounder 223

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I know that most people who are close to them tend to deny their existence, as we saw in the great housing bubble of 2002-2007 and the dot com bubble of 1997-2000. Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! I believe a bubble occurs when a market is willing to pay greater than intrinsic value for an asset class.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Cracking the Code

MARCH 12, 2010

Given the predictability of SaaS GAAP revenues on a quarterly basis, the fact that the 08/09 projections were unchanged is not a surprise. Given that the revenues are not growing very fast, this means that most of the companies have reduced their sales force and focused on productivity improvement. ► 2007. (10).

Software Review 63

Software Review Technical Review Cloud Forecast 63

dondodge.typepad.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Community is more powerful than money or technology » August 11, 2007 How much equity for investors and employees? How much equity should I give up? How much equity should I grant to early employees? No loss of equity, at least until they convert at Series A. How much equity should be given to employees?

Equity 40

Equity Employee Dilution Valuation 40

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Instead of hearing from your long lost third-cousin, you will be inundated with an avalanche of ‘congratulatory’ emails, calls and letters from people who want to relieve you of the burden of your hard-earned equity round. Many such ‘congratulations’ will come from consultants. Performance-based deals are healthy for all parties.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 7, 2007

But when done well it can really help get a company going fast, professionally and without the founders having to give up much (if any) equity - or bankrupting themselves. The founders may believe they are onto such a good idea that they don’t want to give up any equity. Posted by: Matt | September 10, 2007 4:46 AM Good read but.

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Offshore Startup EC2 41

Feld Thoughts

JULY 31, 2013

Today, Zayo has eclipsed $1.1Bin revenue and $600M in EBITDA, leading to an estimated Enterprise Value in the vicinity of $6B. By the time we sold to Level 3, our total proceeds to equity owners and management were $225M. By 2007, they were doing quite well. Circa 2007, this was considered a ridiculous approach.

Bandwidth 147

Bandwidth Colorado Startup IRR 147

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 25, 2012

The company now boasts millions of dollars in revenue, and more than 30 petabytes of managed storage in its data centers. Incorporated in April 2007, over the course of two years - from June 2007 to September 2009 - the founders invested $185,000 of capital in the company, in the form of loans. But those were equity purchases.

Management 149

Management Balance Sheet Silicon Valley Salary 149

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

It’s a bit like if you bought a $1 million home in 2007 and want to sell it for $1 million today. One is slightly better and priced at $1 million, which you know from Zillow is what they paid for it in 2007. Another is slightly worse but priced at $700k and was bought in 2007 for $1 million. The list goes on.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

K9 Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Another company which is going to have widespread impact is eShares, eShares is going to change the way the private companies manage their equity. Direct Revenue, meaning no three-way business models and no advertising, media, or content. VN : What do you look for in companies that you put money in? Frighteningly Early.

San Francisco 48

San Francisco Early Stage Portfolio Software Engineering 48

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

Michael is a very accomplished corporate executive in his own right having run Sega Gameworks and helped IPO EuroDisney as well as having been on the founding team of DreamWorks SKG (where he helped them raise their first $900 million in equity). Founded in 2007 by Oxford Univ. Revenue of ~$160mm in 2008. We discussed: 1.

IPO 242

IPO Venture Capital Private Placement Cofounder 242

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

They’re looking to be paid properly in the context of the overall salary structure, including cash, benefits, and equity, and to be paid commensurate with performance. I am very surprised when that cool thing actually meets a customer need or drives revenue. What will most upset them is what they perceive as unfair treatment.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

Sure enough people slowly started buying licenses, but not at a rate that would have generated enough revenue to pay all my bills. If you are only making a portion of the salary you made before, you’ll need to supplement the revenue from your product sales. He founded Inversoft in 2007 and is the architect of all Inversoft products.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Venture Capital Salary Differentiation 100

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 22, 2009

While it may make sense to offer very slight adjustments for favorable payment terms and one time revenue, net additions to MRR should dominate the sales rep’s thoughts. 1 of MRR generates $12 of annual revenue, so $1 commission equals 1/12=8.3% of Year One Revenue Sounds high, but is that considered a reasonable package?

Software Review 91

Software Review Clawback Sales Salary 91

www.lanceglasser.com

MAY 13, 2012

Customer Equity. Glasser 2007-2012. The CFO is not responsible for making revenue every quarter, but if there is a big surprise, fire him. Queuing theory and product development. A Model for Return on Engineering Expenses. The Essential Product Investigation Phase Gate. So you want to ship the product early? General Management.

CTO 40

CTO CTO Hire Technical Review Architecture 40

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 7, 2021

Depending on its complexity, new product development can last for years, accruing research, prototyping, and production costs without bringing in revenue. In 2007 when they launched their streaming service, it faced no real competition. Brand equity is the reason people choose Coca-Cola over Pepsi and Google over Bing.

Product 142

Product Marketing Software Review Social Media 142

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

In the years immediately prior to the popularity of institutional seed investing (I’m using a time frame of 2002 – 2007), the early-stage financing landscape looked similar to the first segment of the chart. I used 2007 as the marker to delineate this, but the trend probably started a bit sooner.).

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120

Software By Rob

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Paul Graham When I moved to the east coast in 2007 I made it a goal to see Joel Spolsky and Paul Graham speak at some point. Adding features without making the product too complex creates real value for your customers and produces revenue for your company. Check out my book Like this post? Subscribe via RSS On Twitter?

Software Review 47

Software Review Software San Francisco RSS 47

The Equity Kicker

JULY 4, 2014

As an indicator of the significance of the download market, remember that it was the iPod that saved Apple after Jobs returned to the company – according to Wikipedia iPod revenues peaked at $4bn in Q4 2007 and were 42% of Apple’s sales in that period (I imagine that there was an Xmas boost and that iPod sales were a lower percentage over (..)

IPO 110

IPO Advertising Revenue Internet 110

Growthink Blog

JUNE 25, 2014

this year and are now approaching their 2007 highs. By almost any objective standard, paying into the billions of dollars for businesses with little revenues and/or significant operating losses - as is the case with all the companies mentioned above - is absurd. So, will it all inevitably come crashing down?

South America 81

South America Marketing Private Equity Russia 81

The Equity Kicker

APRIL 27, 2016

It’s already been improved through nine versions since 2007 and there simply isn’t much left to do. They have responded by pushing into whole new areas to generate revenue growth, but with patchy success. Microsoft had massive hits with the Xbox and enterprise software, but missed with Bing, MSN, and mobile.

Product 60

Product Acquisition Revenue Mobile 60

The Equity Kicker

JULY 3, 2012

Yesterday Microsoft announced the write off of $6.2bn of the $6.3bn it paid for interactive ad company aQuantive in 2007. In the quarter to March 2012 Microsoft’s Online Services Division (OSD) saw revenues of $707m which was about 4% of total revenues, and it lost $479m. Unfortunately this prediction has not come to pass.

Exit Strategy 96

Exit Strategy Acquisition Advertising Metrics 96

ConversionXL

MAY 8, 2014

Better Value Propositions Mean Better Revenues: We’ve Got Proof. million in incremental revenue. million in incremental revenue. In the prospect’s mind, an effective value proposition works to assure her that the value of what the she is getting outweighs her time, energy and resources to get it. Conclusion.

Clickthrough 100

Clickthrough Cost Tucson Customer 100

David Teten

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

It is particularly valuable for founders because it allows them (and their employees) to assess equity compensation in the form of options paid out to founding team members and other key employees. For my start-up, I built a very robust operational and financial model with a detailed revenue build up and a validated cost structure.

Employee 155

Employee IRR Startup Mexico 155

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

www.mint.com

MARCH 9, 2010

If the answer to the question centers around “We will achieve revenue soon so our net will improve and give us more runway,” it means the company is in trouble because no product ever ships on time nor achieves the company’s “conservative forecast.” These days revenue is the best source of capital. Who is on your board of directors?

Software Review 68

Software Review Startup Post-Money Valuation Technical Review 68

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Unfortunately, he was fired and all of that potential equity disappeared. billion in annual revenue. In 1999, Alibaba had to face many failures; for the first three years, the company made zero revenue. I have been running a PR Firm, Whitegate PRINC since 2007. Thanks to Paige Arnof-Fenn, Mavens & Moguls ! #2-

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur China Incubator Philippines 107

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

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

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. Probably revenue based. I think a couple of million or revenues is probably a reasonable goal.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

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

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Individual accredited investors in typical angel deals put personal capital at risk for an equity share of growth-oriented, start-up companies. In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5 In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

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

www.startupnorth.ca

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The Adventure of a Lifetime 17 Pithy Insights for Startup Founders 17 Pithy Insights for Startup Employees Venture Hacks > Hiring Venture Hacks > Employees Venture Hacks > The Option Pool Shuffle Paul Graham > The Equity Equation [link] boris It's important to note that those options grants are AFTER a Series A funding.

Employee 41

Employee Founder Salary Equity 41

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