Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. Finance has homes in New York, Hong Kong, and London. Finding talent and financing isn’t the only hurdle to overcome on the road to startup success. Wessel measures a 39% acquisition advantage to being in-state. Energy is still the domain of Houston and Dubai.

Las Vegas 243

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 243

The Startup Magazine

MAY 1, 2023

Modern technology has made it possible for fleet managers to optimize operations, streamline vehicle acquisition, and leverage telematics innovations to their advantage. Many automakers provide special pricing and financing options for businesses purchasing multiple vehicles at once.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Management Software Review 157

Babbling VC

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

Due to very positive market resonance, we're looking to quickly ramp up a sales team of two to three people. Initially, we need a Head of Sales to help us get going. If you or anyone you know has some start-up experience, comes out of the sales space and wants to be part of a quickly growing, financed business let us know.

Sales 65

Sales Russia Sweden France 65

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 18, 2020

In the context of COVID-19, banks try to keep their customers safe, educating them on how to make contactless payments, use remote channels, and leverage digital tools to manage their finances and complete transactions. The lockdown has created extreme conditions for the food and beverage industry.

Global 179

Global Technical Review Analytics Mobile 179

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2017

billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. Finance has homes in New York, Hong Kong, and London. Finding talent and financing isn’t the only hurdle to overcome on the road to startup success. Wessel measures a 39% acquisition advantage to being in-state. Energy is still the domain of Houston and Dubai.

Silicon Valley 149

Silicon Valley Las Vegas Arizona Montana 149

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan » March 09, 2011. How should I finance my new venture? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup?   Sometimes, the bonus in bootstrapping is that the venture finds it doesn’t need acceleration financing. 

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

In SaaS the main benchmarks being measured are revenue growth, sales efficiency (unit economics), churn and burn rate. The main B2C benchmarks have to do with traction: growth in user acquisition, user retention/churn, monetisation, as well as the effectiveness of consumer marketing + virality. Software as a Service (Saas) benchmarks.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

This required a repeatable and scalable sales process, which required a professional sales staff and a product stable enough that customers wouldn’t return it. A 20th century VC was likely to have an MBA or finance background. This allows founder(s) to sell part of their stock (~10 to 33%) in a future round of financing.

Founder 263

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 263

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 4, 2018

This week we closed $250M in financing from Silver Lake , the premier technology private equity firm. The next sale isn’t quite as sweet.). That revenue is in on 75,000 customers, earned through the hard work of 500 employees across six offices on three continents. It’s the heroin-hit that hooks the entrepreneur. (The

Engineer 152

Engineer Revenue San Francisco Security 152

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2013

billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. Finance has homes in New York, Hong Kong, and London. Finding talent and financing isn’t the only hurdle to overcome on the road to startup success. Wessel measures a 39% acquisition advantage to being in-state. Energy is still the domain of Houston and Dubai.

Silicon Valley 256

Silicon Valley Las Vegas Phoenix Montana 256

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

When Sloan arrived at GM in 1920 he realized that the traditional centralized management structures organized by function (sales, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing) were a poor fit for managing GM’s diverse product lines. Sloan kept the corporate staff small and focused on policymaking, corporate finance, and planning.

Michigan 285

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 285

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2022

The way to start is with a sample financial model, available from many sources on the Internet, such as over 200 downloadable free from the Corporate Finance Institute website. What if your customer acquisition cost assumptions have to change? Each has a different set of variables for sales, revenue flow, marketing costs and personnel.

Conversion Ratio 368

Conversion Ratio Startup Business Model eCommerce 368

Up and Running

DECEMBER 4, 2017

“There are a lot of people who consider themselves fixers and developers,” Columbia Business School Adjunct Professor Timothy Bovard, who teaches Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition said in an article on the school’s site. If you’re looking at the acquisition path to entrepreneurship, what do you need to know?

Due Diligence 97

Due Diligence Acquisition Demand Small Business 97

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

How long does it take me to pay back my original customer acquisition costs? This financial leader could well have come through the finance org at another startup or at a larger company but they often also can come from strategy consulting (Bain, BCG or McKinsey) or through investment banking (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc.).

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Up and Running

MARCH 14, 2018

Impress the investors with what you and your team have accomplished to date (sales, contracts, key hires, product launches, and so on). Customer acquisition: Marketing and sales strategy. Your financials should easily allow you to calculate your customer acquisition costs. This is your opportunity to blow your own horn!

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Angel Investor 164

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 25, 2018

Toronto’s Mark Attanasio has spent some 20 years advising businesses at various stages in their development on what it takes to position themselves for growth – whether it’s through traditional transactional activities like management buyouts and mergers and acquisitions or via a public listing on a Canadian stock exchange.

Partner 113

Partner Technical Review Management Due Diligence 113

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 23, 2022

A marketing strategy should include a go-to-market plan that is sales-led and product assisted. Product should be your main channel for customer acquisition, retention and expansion. Marketing should collaborate as a business function with sales, finance and ops, but you shouldn’t replace any of their tasks as a manager.

B2B 94

B2B Marketing Curation PPC 94

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Bates: Good morning and welcome to our CEO panel, “How to Fine-Tune Your Small Business Finances From Funding to Growth” which I think is the direction that we would all like to be going. I’m here with some really phenomenal CEOs who are going to talk to us today about small business finances from funding to growth.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

The benefit is that we work together for a common goal, taking care of the needs of support, sales, marketing, engineering, product, and even finance, rather than solving for one department’s goals at the expense of another. At WP Engine we’re extremely collaborative across teams.

Engineer 264

Engineer Framework Social Media Acquisition 264

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 7, 2018

This means finance, operations, sales, and marketing departments as well as leadership can all access the same data. Predictive analytics help determine the most effective markets for adspend, suggesting areas where the product is being well-received and those where the cost of customer acquisition is unreasonably high.

Artificial Inteligence 164

Artificial Inteligence Analytics SCRUM Cofounder 164

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities. Popular revenue models today include recurring subscription charges, licensing, as well the traditional sale or lease model. Key activities.

Business Model 334

Business Model Intellectual Property Angel Investor Channel 334

Austin Startup

MARCH 26, 2019

25 questions that DTC entrepreneurs should ask themselves before scaling customer acquisition So you run a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand. You just spent a few thousand dollars on advertising and your paid customer acquisition cost (CAC) numbers tested well relative to your best guess for customer lifetime value (LTV).

Technical Review 49

Technical Review Software Review China Acquisition 49

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 7, 2017

My company, EcoFlow Tech, raised more than one million in sales and achieved our goals of getting customer feedback and generating buzz. However, having a high top-line sales numbers doesn’t necessarily mean you will hit your goals, or even that your campaign was a success. Know what you need in the end.

Campaign 145

Campaign San Francisco Technical Review Flash 145

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 18, 2012

Category leaders do very well, while the #2, 3, 4… players struggle to attract customers and financing. In the past, the adoption of an enterprise tool was primarily driven by the quality and aggressiveness of a sales force to win over more customers. However, now individual employees get the ball rolling by using a product.

IP 163

IP Technical Review B2C Social Network 163

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. Finance has homes in New York, Hong Kong, and London. Finding talent and financing isn’t the only hurdle to overcome on the road to startup success. Wessel measures a 39% acquisition advantage to being in-state. Energy is still the domain of Houston and Dubai.

Las Vegas 120

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Phoenix Montana 120

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 2, 2017

This keeps them aligned with their investors since a $250m exit with modest venture financing raised can be wonderful for all parties, but the same transaction can look awful if your last round was $60m on $300m pre! Here the acquisition becomes more metric-driven and the assumptions around growth and multiples drive the offer.

Technical Review 115

Technical Review Cap Table Acquisition Startup 115

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 13, 2018

As an entrepreneur, there are different ways in which you can invest your finances. In this article, we’ll give tips on how to find the best business for sale using the most comprehensive methods. How to Find the Best Businesses For Sale. There will always be different businesses for sale at any given time.

Sales 100

Sales Michigan Advertising Search 100

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 13, 2018

Get a company ready for sale: per due diligence work and support during the sale process. I wanted to be able to select clients that are a good fit and can benefit from my finance, IT and international experience. Support company’s existing teams during transitions and special projects. What inspired you to start your company?

Technical Review 99

Technical Review Founder Due Diligence Early Stage 99

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

Sales pipeline/forecast. I listened in on a board call with an enterprise software company this week, and when the CEO said, “Our VP of sales assured me our pipeline won’t be affected.” How can you shift focus to customer retention versus acquisition? Internal Assessment. Operating Numbers.

South Korea 334

South Korea Salary Business Model China 334

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 21, 2012

In fact, he points out that conventional term loans are a far less common way to finance a business, and in some countries, credit cards are actually a more popular source of startup capital. First mover advantage usually isn’t an advantage anyway, and imitators tend to also become an acquisition of those they copy. His advice?

Technical Review 184

Technical Review Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Acquisition 184

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

B2B2C startups can focus on their core expertise, thanks to business collaborations, and they enjoy a faster route to customer acquisition by tapping into existing customer bases. With Coho AI’s platform, SaaS and B2C companies can optimize user acquisition by identifying promising user cohorts and tailoring their product experience.

B2C 120

B2C Startup Acquisition Finance 120

Board Effect

DECEMBER 19, 2019

Another vein of thought is that boards should primarily be involved in strategic planning when there is a major event such as a change in the CEO, a major investment opportunity, a looming acquisition, a decline in sales, or an unsolicited takeover bid. This requires the board to oversee the implementation of the strategic plan.

Management 64

Management Software Review Acquisition Merger 64

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

Common exit strategies include being acquired by another company, the sale of equity, or a management or employee buyout. We will cover them in more depth below: Acquisition. Acquisition: The acquisition is often known as a “merger and acquisition.” Who needs an exit strategy? Management buyout.

Exit Strategy 117

Exit Strategy Lock-up Period Merger IPO 117

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2021

Instead, their solutions must still compete for funding in a formal budgeting and acquisition process before being eligible for widespread adoption. Investors are also likely to express impatience with the long timelines of defense sales. Palmer Luckey’s Anduril has aggressively pursued financing to sustain growth.

Artificial Inteligence 353

Artificial Inteligence Marketing Startup Silicon Valley 353

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 13, 2018

Get a company ready for sale: per due diligence work and support during the sale process. I wanted to be able to select clients that are a good fit and can benefit from my finance, IT and international experience. Support company’s existing teams during transitions and special projects. What inspired you to start your company?

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Founder Due Diligence Early Stage 84

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 24, 2010

Instead of making a few dollars per sale and hoping for thousands of sales, you sell to only a few customers, and charge much higher rates. Your EULA will be examined with the same fervor as a billion dollar acquisition. Is there progress on getting the sale done? Some will even say they have the power to block the sale.

Software Review 233

Software Review Technical Review Sales Software 233

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

First is that there are, perhaps, a thousand people in the world of entrepreneurship who know what they are doing when it comes to dealing with issues like financing, positioning, market sizing, customer validation, customer acquisition and other seemingly obvious topics that all entrepreneurs need to deal with.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Technical Review Startup Early Stage 114