Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Is there a profitable business model? How many are there?

Customer Development 267

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 267

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

New San Diego VC Firm Emerges as ‘The Moneyball of Venture Capital’. Here’s some big news for San Diego’s innovation economy: There’s a new venture capital firm in town—and its investment methodology represents a fundamentally different approach to the conventional business model for venture investing.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Existing companies are starting to feel the pressures of new technologies and the massive wave of new entrants fueled by the explosion of investment from a recent form of financing – venture capital. Venture capital firms, as we know them only date back to the 1970s.) See here for background on horizons.).

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Venture Capital United States Technical Review 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

So what’s wrong the product development model? The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.)

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

The initial hypothesis for Epiphany (from my much smarter partner Ben ) was that as departments in the enterprise (manufacturing, finance, customer support sales) became automated, the marketing department would eventually get its turn. We had validated our new assumptions by a set of orders, and we had pivoted on our business model.

Silicon Valley 253

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 253

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2010

I just read the Q1 2010 report from CB Insights , which shows some interesting trends. billion to work across 731 financing deals with US startups, a 50% increase over Q1 2009. To me, this indicates that venture capitalists (VCs) are looking for business, but they are clearly moving away from early-stage (pre-revenue) deals.

Venture Capital 123

Venture Capital Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley Massachusetts 123

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

And EVEN if you ARE an experienced entrepreneur, all but just a few VCs still want to see customer validation, business model validation and traction, before they will invest. I call it drip-financing. In 1M/1M, our preferred financing strategy is customers. Because customer financing equals revenue, not equity.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. When It’s Darkest Men See the Stars - Steve Blank , November 24, 2010 When It’s Darkest Men See the Stars. but: Something is Still Missing.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Managewith.us - Collaborative Task Manager Mavenlink - manage project communications, documents, schedules, budgets, payments Industrial Logic – Agile eLearning Misc Office Help Google Apps – cloud mail server, calendar, docs, etc.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

October 3rd, 2010 the Chubby Team 48 Comments. If you are an entrepreneur seeking funding, try our free Funding Recommendation Engine to identify a list of angels, venture capital and state grant programs that best match your business. We had the wrong business model. Investors Companies. It’s free.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

This continues my series of posts: Top 30 Startup Posts for July 2010 Top 30 Startup Posts in June 2010 Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March Here they are: How to Minimize Politics in Your Company - Ben's Blog , August 24, 2010 “Who the f@#k you think you f$&kin’ with.

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. " 8 Questions to Ask When Interviewing at a Startup - Instigator Blog , June 18, 2010 Job interviews are meant to be conversations. Now I have.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Which at this stage of the company was marketing and financing. Our “Hollywood meets Silicon Valley” story played great in Silicon Valley, they ate it up in Hollywood, and the business press tripped over themselves to talk to us. The story had universal appeal, and we spun the tale and keep the buzz going. We all know how that ends up.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

If you take funding from a venture capital firm or angel investor and want to build a large, enduring company (rather than sell it to the highest bidder), this isn’t the decade to do it. The collapse of the IPO market and dysfunctional math in the venture capital community has stacked the odds against you. Here’s why.

Venture Capital 303

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 303

philipsmith.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

» January 23, 2010. While there have been times in the last dozen or so years, usually during times of venture capital excess, that cash to founders, early-stage executives and other key employees has matched regular market compensation (still with the upside of the equity), this is not true in the vast majority in the start-up game.

Silicon Valley 40

Silicon Valley Equity Technical Review Recapitalization 40

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

According to a study by CB Insights (2017), a software that gathers essential data from investors, companies and industries, more than 70% of startups do not exceed the first stage of venture capital investment. The rounds were conducted from 2008 to 2010, starting from seed capital. Why do so many companies fail?

Venture Capital 77

Venture Capital Cofounder Finance United States 77

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

You literally have to take your vision of the opportunity and against all rational odds assemble financing, and a team to help you execute. You literally have to take your vision of the opportunity and against all rational odds assemble financing, and a team to help you execute. And that’s just to get started.

Founder 310

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 310

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Venture Capital Cafe > Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). easy business finance software. Boilerplate Venture Funding Documents. YCombinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents. National Venture Capital Association â?? model legal documents. Raising Venture Capital.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 1, 2010

Other than that 1 hour session, I intend to stay VERY busy at SXSW this year and wanted to share some of the other talks and panels I will try to attend. Here is my list for 2010 -I hope to run into you there; I’ll be the really tired looking guy moving fast from event to event. 12:30 PM: Who Needs Venture Capital?

Omaha 79

Omaha Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Media 79

genylabs.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Research Brief - Small Business Credit Outlook. The Economic Stimulus Package: Whats in it for Growing Businesses? Defining Small Business Innovation. 2010 Top 10 Small Business Trends. Intuit Future of Small Business Resources. December 2010. Business Models. personal businesses.

Equity 40

Equity Technical Review San Jose Stock 40

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas. Your pitch is going to cover your strategy (what you’re going to do), your tactics (how you’re going to do it), your business model (how you will make money), and your schedule (who is doing what and when). venture capital.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Thursday, September 16, 2010. Has DEMO lost its luster and relevance in 2010? October 4, 2010 11:55 AM. Rebuild our Inner Cities one Venture at a time? ▼ 2010. (7). The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State. Venture News.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 38

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

It is time to fix your key SaaS metrics: P&L: MRR = MRE: you control your destiny when your monthly revenue equals your monthly expenses Sales & Marketing: Your cost of capital doubled, so if a CAC ratio > 0.5 Would the median EV/2010 multiple of CARR (as a surrogate to forward revenue) be a valid approach? at 4:04 PM.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Portfolio 48

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

As your business grows, you will likely need more and more time from your accountant and at some point you’ll hire a full time person to handle the day-to-day, likely combined with roles as office manager or finance (not to be confused with accounting). Advertising.

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Bottom Up Market Sizing » January 12, 2010. Please see later version of this post on May 16, 2010 Entrepreneurs are often not experts in the area of term-sheet negotiations and all of the surrounding issues. « Power of Angel Investing in Milwaukee | Main. Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

You may happen to emphasize the right points that pique an investor’s interest, but you shouldn’t leave your financing up to chance. Second, understand the broader financing climate. The general rule is one business model drives the business. As it happened, we did end up pursuing all three lines of business.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

www.aaronkharris.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

I recently left one of the worlds largest hedge funds, and finance in general, to launch Tutorspree. Im a private tutor on Tutorspree Text Aug 23, 2010 @ 9:08 pm Permalink We have a CTO, and so can you! I handed out a whole bunch of business cards, and got rejected time and time again. How am I going to do that? startupcto

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire New York City .Net Cofounder 40

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010. One comment made by Jason was that angels tend to be less sensitive than VCs on valuation and can potentially make it difficult to get a venture financing done at acceptable valuation. Labels: Angel Investors , fundraising , term sheets , venture capital , venture financing.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Professor VC

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Monday, October 11, 2010. October 13, 2010 6:38 PM. October 18, 2010 2:41 PM. October 19, 2010 1:28 PM. Rebuild our Inner Cities one Venture at a time? ▼ 2010. (7). The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley. Steve Bennet. at 11:35 PM.

Social Network 28

Social Network Networking Software Review San Jose 28

Cracking the Code

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

If that were the case, most of the Cable and Wireless companies who have been using a similar business model would have gone bankrupt a long time ago and Saleforce would not have 20% FCF margins today. It is true that understanding this new business model is hard for a traditional software incumbent, as this interview demonstrates.

Software Review 48

Software Review Software Technical Review Cloud 48

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I attended the annual LP meeting for a venture capital firm this week and got into a discussion about the above question. May 14, 2010 10:56 PM. June 3, 2010 9:50 AM. November 11, 2010 9:52 AM. November 11, 2010 1:56 PM. ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley. Thursday, November 19, 2009.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Tweet View Comments Sarah Lacy Feb 19, 2010 Pepperdine has a new study out that attempts to shed some light on the clubby, shadowy world of private finance. Researchers polled experts in lending, mezzanine capital, private equity, venture capital and private businesses themselves. dasein Yeah, I agree.

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Qualcomm Ventures is invested in a number of startups including Livescribe, Obopay , Arieso and Zeebo. Brad Feld: Feld is co-founder and managing director of Foundry Group, a Boulder, Colorado venture capital firm that focuses on early stage investments ranging from $250,000 to $500,000.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

In other parts of the country, this is business as usual: Identify a customer need Build a product Sell the product In the valley, the knee jerk reaction is to start with the powerpoint deck and look for the venture capital drug. Jon Fisher purposely avoided raising venture capital in his ventures.

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

Business schools teach aspiring executives a variety of courses around the execution of known business models, (accounting, organizational behavior, managerial skills, marketing, operations, etc.). In contrast, startups search for a business model. (Or to optimize this search. to optimize this search.

Wiki 316

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 316

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

in fees is a hefty transaction fee considering company will still have legal and other fees on the financing. ► 2010. (7). The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases.

SEC 54

SEC San Jose Angel Investor Accredited Investor 54

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

► 2010. (7). The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases. I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State. Venture News. 2 weeks ago.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review Early Stage San Jose Angel Investor 38