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How Much Should You Raise in Your VC Round? And What is a VC Looking at in Your Model?

Both Sides of the Table

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. He or she wants to know how long the money you will raise will last and whether this is long enough to warrant taking a risk on funding you. Founder: “$250k / month.”

Burn Rate 247
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Why Successful People Focus on the Bottom End of the Funnel

Both Sides of the Table

Sales people (and website customer acquisition folks) all think in terms of funnels and yet non-sales professionals seldom do. Meeting with 12 biz dev targets makes for great conversations with your board and takes the heat off of you for a while but doesn’t matter for s**t if none of them close in the end.

LP 150
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Account-Based Marketing vs. Lead Generation: Which is Right for You?

ConversionXL

Without marketing attracting the right accounts, there are no hot leads for sales to have meaningful conversations with. And when you’re having a conversation, you might even be in a power position.”. But the customer is worth more and the target approach of ABM is warranted. Strategic importance of clients.

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What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. We want money to make some acquisitions (investors would prefer to fund M&A if they know specific deals – not to encourage bad behavior. We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok.

Burn Rate 383
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Flexible VC, a New Model for Companies Targeting Profitability

David Teten

The value ascribed by subsequent investors (in a secondary); buyers (acquisition); or the public markets (IPO). Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Lenders sometimes take warrants. Yes, typically preferred equity. 15-20% sold per round. Volatile, uncapped.

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Tortoise vs. the Hare

Austin Startup

Perhaps a specialist is warranted in one area, and a smart generalist in another. In these startups one of the traps is paying too much for a specialist, because the company may not grow fast enough to warrant the expense, and the specialists talents may go (somewhat) to waste without the rapid growth environment.

Warrant 48
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7 Interview Blunders and Bonuses

Up and Running

Sure, this was an awkward conversation for the candidate, but I wasn’t about to continue wasting my time or his time. Whether your marketing tactic is a billboard or you’re running ads online, you need to track whether or not the marketing spend is producing results; hence, warranting continued spend.

Warrant 91