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.). Every day, 5% of the entire online world visits a customer running on the WP Engine Digital Experience Platform. It’s the heroin-hit that hooks the entrepreneur. (The

Engineer 152

Engineer Revenue San Francisco Security 152

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Investors know that the fun of a startup turns into managing production processes, sales processes, and personnel in a few years. Find a private equity firm or friendly individual. Investors hesitate to invest under these conditions. Most entrepreneurs like the startup role, but not the big-company role.

Exit Strategy 289

Exit Strategy Entrepreneur IPO Startup 289

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

Founders can now access the largest pool of risk capital that ever existed –in the form of Private Equity (Angel Investors, family offices , Venture Capitalists (VC’s) and Hedge Funds.). At its core Venture Capital is nothing more than a small portion of the Private Equity financial asset class. Timing is everything.

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Venture Capital 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

I like the work just published by Bob Rice in “ The Alternative Answer ,” which does a great job of summarizing the investment universe, starting with the “conventional” stocks, bonds, and real estate, but moving on through more esoteric alternatives, including hedge funds, private equity, real assets, managed futures, and finally venture funding.

Cram Down 269

Cram Down Angel Investor Intellectual Property Venture Capital 269

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2016

Investors know that the fun of a startup turns into managing production processes, sales processes, and personnel in a few years. Find a private equity firm or friendly individual. Investors hesitate to invest under these conditions. Most entrepreneurs like the startup role, but not the big-company role.

Equity 120

Equity Exit Strategy Private Equity Startup 120

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 6, 2013

For Leads or Sales consider a Modified Lehman Formula. If you have a deal that is related to bringing in sales and you do want to have a perpetual compensation you can use some version of a Lehman Formula that incentives the person upfront as they are bringing in revenue for you, then caps it off on an ongoing basis. Hand-off Sales.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Securities and Exchange Commission Non-disclosure Agreement Due Diligence 164

David Teten

JANUARY 10, 2012

Before joining Track.com as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Savage served as Managing Director of FX Macro Sales at Goldman Sachs, where he published widely-read and insightful research focused on the foreign exchange markets and the macroeconomic environment. Moderator: Robert Savage, CEO, Track.com.

Technical Review 128

Technical Review Technology North Carolina Switzerland 128

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

Instead of funding, you pay the investors a structured royalty, which is a portion of the sales. The royalty may be of a limited timeline, variable rate, or perpetuity based on the investment agreement. ? Convertible bonds and convertible equity. For mature businesses, there are Private Equity or PE firms. ?

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

David Teten

JULY 25, 2017

Large private equity funds like KKR can afford to pursue a consulting model ( Capstone ), typically with associated fees, but that doesn’t normally make economic sense for a VC. A more sophisticated way to do this: calculate your internal ratios , e.g., your Customer Acquisition Cost and Lifetime Value.

Portfolio 60

Portfolio Technical Review Private Equity Database 60

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 29, 2017

I loved what I did (sales) but I didn’t love doing it for somebody else. By screening hundreds of SMB acquisition opportunities as managing partner at my private equity firm, I saw first-hand that the vast majority of small business owners run their firms without the benefit of good financial or operating metrics.

Entrepreneur 76

Entrepreneur Social Media Liquidity Event Private Equity 76

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

The most striking example was the one hundred million–dollar purchase of one of my companies by a New York private equity investor using only five million of its cash. Offering too little in an acquisition to satisfy the seller? But I learned it again and again in my various business lives. Here’s a striking example.

Naming 62

Naming Warrant Private Equity Valuation 62

venturebeat.com

JULY 12, 2012

Acquisition. Additionally, he’s looking for companies that have a long-term potential to be Microsoft partners or acquisitions. It was fiercely independent, and was, until its HP acquisition, one of the few PC makers still assembling computers in North America. From $1.5B Editor’s picks. Featured stories. Enterprise.

Detroit 69

Detroit Incubator Technical Review Venture Capital 69

ConversionXL

MAY 14, 2014

The Marketing department is “in charge” of eCommerce, but eCommerce sales results aren’t doing anything. Iztok said, “We ensured the CEO that conversion optimization would increase sales. Meanwhile this company gets bought by a private equity group who installs a new CEO. Great success.

Conversion 124

Conversion eCommerce Technical Review Software Review 124

Scott Edward Walker

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

The most common financial buyer is a private equity firm. Indeed, big private equity firms (such as Blackstone, TPG, Apollo, etc.) There are also, however, lots of small private equity firms that you never read about and which are on the hunt for small, private companies.

Private Equity 59

Private Equity New York City Equity Deal Structure 59

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

The mode purpose for funding is (in order of frequency) Sales, Marketing, Market Expansion, Product Development, and Hiring Employees. Additionally, Feenix typically needs fewer financial covenants and can provide quicker turnaround for due diligence with the benefit of transparency they receive by tracking credit card sales activity.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Sales & Marketing | Wednesdays. SALES & MARKETING. Will Work for Equity. Dave Graham Business Venture Capital Private Equity GlobalLogic Inc. In the past few years, hundreds of small companies have been snatched up by private equity firms willing to agree to ever-rising valuations. Finance | Tuesdays.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

VC Cafe

AUGUST 30, 2011

Ad verification startup DoubleVerify has raised a fourth round of $33 million from private equity fund JMI Equity and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP). billion acquisition by Google. billion acquisition by Google. According to Ynet , the deal values DoubleVerify at $200 million. Continue reading →

Private Equity 87

Private Equity Valuation Equity Acquisition 87

YoungUpstarts

MAY 7, 2015

In reality, many businesses are a perfect fit for ESOPs, but the business owners will never know because they think selling to a private equity or other third-party buyer are their only legitimate alternatives: Discussed below are some of the most common myths associated with ESOPs (sometimes referred to as “ESOP Fables”): 1.

Stock 100

Stock Employee Private Equity Valuation 100

Hearpreneur

MARCH 14, 2018

While I wasn’t selected by one of the five TV sharks, I was able to create a partnership with a private equity group that saw my segment. We’ve made an acquisition of a smaller company and have added some products and services. It was a chance to apply all my skills and expertise in marketing and sales.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur PR Technical Review Non-Compete 95

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2015

The initial sales for any eCommerce brand can be particularly difficult and require high customer acquisition costs; however, in this case, they were also able to pre-sell their product to their fellow classmates, which provided a lot of added confidence during the initial manufacturing run.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor eCommerce 60

Scott Edward Walker

APRIL 16, 2014

From the seller’s perspective, the first step in connection with the sale of his company is the negotiation and execution of a confidentiality agreement (sometimes referred to as a “non-disclosure agreement” or an “NDA”) with the potential buyer. Mistake #2: Not Negotiating the Material Terms of the Sale in the Letter of Intent.

Non-disclosure Agreement 101

Non-disclosure Agreement Acquisition New York City Non-Compete 101

Growthink Blog

MARCH 1, 2017

Rising public markets, with big companies flush with fresh equity and thus able to more assertively pursue growth-by-acquisition strategies, creates a virtuous trickle-down effect on valuations and business sale probabilities for even the smallest of firms. Launch that new sales campaign. Speed Everything Up.

Marketing 48

Marketing Private Equity Acquisition Equity 48

Pascal's View

MARCH 18, 2010

Compounding this problem is the fact that, with no IPO options, the consideration paid for companies in trade sales—acquisition by larger companies—has been declining. This problem goes way beyond venture capital—as 47% of all IPO’s since 1991 were backed by neither VC’s or private equity firms—this is an American problem.

IPO 28

IPO Government SEC Venture Capital 28

Berkonomics

JANUARY 26, 2017

The most striking example was the one hundred–million–dollar purchase of one of my companies by a New York private equity investor using only five million of its cash. Offering too little in an acquisition to satisfy the seller? But I learned it again and again in my various business lives.

Naming 48

Naming Warrant Private Equity Valuation 48

Jeff Hilimire

MARCH 4, 2014

I’ve had the fortune to do it twice, once to a private equity company and once to a public company. When selling my first company, we worked so hard on the process of the sale that we inadvertently slacked off on business development (i.e. We felt the pain of that a few months after we closed the sale.

Private Equity 61

Private Equity Acquisition Deal Structure Sales 61

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

great web customer acquisition tutorials. turn customer feedback into sales and relationships. SaaS Sales Team Compensation â?? Company Guides : They specialize in helping high growth companies and entrepreneurs seeking corporate finance advice and private equity investment. Argonaut Private Equity.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Mike Michalowicz

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

automation.com through $80M in sales. He sold the majority interest in iAutomation in 2007 to the #1 private equity firm in their space after a successful auction process that left them picking from 6 bidders. During this time they completed multiple acquisitions and built an amazing team.

Australia 60

Australia Private Equity .Net Equity 60

Growthink Blog

JUNE 18, 2014

Almost every day comes barely able to believe valuations on technology company financings, acquisitions, and public offerings. And when asset values go up, when purchase and sales transactions occur that result in huge capital gains, when people are working and earning good wages, Tax Receipts increase too.

Accredited Investor 78

Accredited Investor Private Equity United States Valuation 78

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

After graduating college, I spent several years on Wall Street, first at a large investment bank working on M&A for large corporate clients, then as a private equity professional helping invest hundreds of millions of dollars in private companies. Customer acquisition will be harder than expected.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Acquisition B2B Partner 60

Mike Michalowicz

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

automation.com through $80M in sales. He sold the majority interest in iAutomation in 2007 to the #1 private equity firm in their space after a successful auction process that left them picking from 6 bidders. During this time they completed multiple acquisitions and built an amazing team.

Australia 60

Australia Private Equity .Net Video 60

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

All Web Leads , a leading online sales lead generation company supplying the US insurance industry, announced today that it had acquired InsuranceLeads.com, a leading online insurance leads provider. “We are very excited to welcome the InsuranceLeads.com team to the All Web Leads family,&# said Bill Daniel, CEO of All Web Leads, Inc.

Private Equity 63

Private Equity Lead Generation Acquisition Boston 63

David Teten

JANUARY 10, 2012

acquisition. Mr. Fralic was also one of the early employees and VP of Business Development at Half.com starting in 1999, and after the eBay acquisition, spent six years with eBay in a variety of entertainment, business development, and media roles. through the Yahoo! In 1997, Mr. Yavonditte joined Juno Online Services, Inc.

Portfolio 122

Portfolio New York Social Bookmarking Philadelphia 122

Growthink Blog

AUGUST 22, 2010

In my last post, I referenced Basil Peters' great book - Early Exits - and how the technology investment of choice is "small ball": Putting small amounts of money to work in companies with game plans of quick sales to strategic acquirers within 3 - 5 years. Well, in response, I have been inundated with variations of one of the two queries: 1.

Technology 67

Technology Intellectual Property Private Equity Merger 67

Duct Tape Marketing

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

John Warrillow: They sure are, and by the way, that’s a typical fishing letter used by either a private equity group or a business broker, as flattering as it can be, it probably doesn’t mean a whole lot. One, product innovation, and two, sales and marketing.

Entrepreneur 50

Entrepreneur Switzerland Revenue Differentiation 50

Women Entrepreneurs Can

MAY 9, 2019

Early on, having a solid organizational infrastructure helps document your journey beyond the acquisition of funding- no matter where it comes from. Scaling will increase the cost it takes to do business and it often does it before you’re able to generate additional revenue in the traditional way your company acquires sales.

Programming 40

Programming Sweat Equity Startup Private Equity 40

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

I also had my hand in sales and marketing for BTB over my summers, but after college, I went off to work as an analyst in real estate asset management and acquisitions for the private equity firm Onyx Equities.

Management 48

Management Private Equity Social Media Equity 48

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

And I really believe I can do, on the sales part, so much more if I have additional people. Jason: That’s true in engineering; it’s true in sales; it’s true in marketing. After that, I did it for a private equity firm then we became a part of a larger corporation. Is it more the marketing/sales side?

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Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220