Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2022

Most Internet businesses should show profitability in two years, while new medicines may take ten years to pass FDA and other safety tests. A very common mistake of early-stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. Yet it took almost six years to become profitable, with revenue only from advertising.

Revenue 297

Revenue Widget Angel Investor Early Stage 297

The Next Web

DECEMBER 4, 2013

As a startup, you’re working with limited resources and a lean business model. Building your brand presence on specialized outlets holds immense value for your business – especially in early stages. Its social media and editorial advertising strategy clearly put the product first. Prioritize social networks.

Social Media 158

Social Media Media Viral Startup 158

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

In describing the competitive landscape, show how your business model creates competitive advantages, and – more importantly – defensible barriers to entry. Explain exactly which marketing/advertising strategies will be used and why. It is critical that these projections reflect the other sections of your business plan.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 1, 2020

They advertise to the world that this problem matters and that we're a potential solution to it and they help us make the product better. To double click on your last point, in the freemium model, you have to accept that some users are just going to be a cost center for the company and never generate any revenue.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Open Source Development Team Review Security 62

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 4, 2022

Every industry that requires humans to create original work—from social media to gaming, advertising to architecture, coding to graphic design, product design to law, marketing to sales—is up for reinvention. The application landscape, while still in the early stages, seems to be rapidly growing.

Generative AI 204

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Video Architecture 204

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Eric Ries in Times Square For any model to be useful it has to predict what happens in the real world – including the web. I realized the Customer Development model needs to be clearer in what exactly a startup is supposed to do, regardless of the business model. “What is the “Business Model” of your startup?&#

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

It was also beneficial because I got some good experience with both B2B and B2C business models. In some ways it is similar to early stage incubators such as Y Combinator, although FI is even earlier stage, focusing on developing the founders themselves as entrepreneurs as opposed to actual companies.

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 17, 2010

Micropayments and Subscriptions: How Business Models for Startups are Shifting - [link]. An “earn in” proposal – Employee option allocations in early stage companies - [link]. Why My Small Business Uses crowdSPRING – Innova Apps, Inc. - [link]. Want to Start a Technology Company in LA? - [link].

Social Media 88

Social Media Small Business Design Media 88

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2019

Most Internet businesses should show profitability in two years, while new medicines may take ten years to pass FDA and other safety tests. A very common mistake of early stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. Yet it took almost six years to become profitable, with revenue only from advertising.

Widget 185

Widget Angel Investor Revenue Early Stage 185

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

02:06] Can you share your experience starting with an early-stage company (Hubspot) that eventually went public? [07:11] I think the net of it is it went from HubSpot teaching a business model to follow to more of a partner program where you're reselling technology. And each of those people are using multiple tools.

Metrics 72

Metrics Analytics Forecast Software Review 72

K9 Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

What everyone can agree on, though, is that there are definitely more seed and early stage funds now than ever before, and more people willing to give money to young companies looking to make it big. Direct Revenue, meaning no three-way business models and no advertising, media, or content. Frighteningly Early.

San Francisco 48

San Francisco Early Stage Portfolio Software Engineering 48

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Almost every early-stage startup who has approached investors for funding has heard the innocuous sounding rejection “I love your idea, but come back when you have more traction.” What does traction really mean to investors, and how much is enough? Let me try to clarify the rules, and what it takes to win at this game.

Hockey Stick 266

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 266

Kodorra

NOVEMBER 25, 2018

Don’t forget to choose a sound business model. Whether it is advertisement model, B2C (Business to Consumer) ecommerce, affiliate or subscription, picking the right choice could determine the rise or fall of your business. Step 2: Name your business. Well, at least it’s free to start with.

Software Review 45

Software Review Hosting Intellectual Property Naming 45

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 21, 2017

Crowdfunding and subscription-based models such as Patreon might offer a way forward, but gaining funds from nothing is somewhere between tough and impossible without knowing the correct contacts; you’ll need a viable business model and to have been running successfully for several months or years before you can start to scale upwards.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Startup Advertising Employee 100

Growthink Blog

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

technologies like social networking, mobile gaming, and interactive advertising, in 2011 new fortunes and legends are being made. Most of the highest ROI opportunities we see need just a little money – sometimes just a few hundred thousand dollars or less – to “ignite” their business models. social networking hype of 2006-2007.

Social Network 63

Social Network Technical Review Stock Early Stage 63

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2013

Most Internet businesses should show profitability in two years, while new medicines may take ten years to pass FDA and other safety tests. A very common mistake of early stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. Yet it took almost six years to become profitable, with revenue only from advertising.

Widget 242

Widget Angel Investor Revenue Early Stage 242

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2017

Most Internet businesses should show profitability in two years, while new medicines may take ten years to pass FDA and other safety tests. A very common mistake of early stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. Yet it took almost six years to become profitable, with revenue only from advertising.

Widget 137

Widget Angel Investor Revenue Early Stage 137

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

The presentation was on outsourcing generally, not just software engineering and the audience was very early stage companies (some yet to be founded). It’s a dating website that is free for users and makes money from advertising. The servers are in the cloud, his advertising sales is with Google, etc. .&#

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

To help you better understand your choices — and learn how others have tackled the challenge — we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members the following questions: When you first started your business, how did you fund it? What advice do you have for entrepreneurs in the early stages who are considering their funding options?

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

The Startup Magazine

JULY 16, 2018

Earlier this year at the FUND Conference in Austin, Texas, over 100 startups presented their early-stage companies in front of hundreds of investors and industry leaders. This experience prompted us to prioritize building the Yip Yap Kids app with a “bring your own device” subscription based business model.

Startup 79

Startup Texas Angel Investor Mobile 79

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2011

Most Internet businesses should show profitability in two years, while new medicines may take ten years to pass FDA and other safety tests. A very common mistake of early stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. It actually is still only marginally profitable, with revenue only from advertising.

Startup 243

Startup Widget Angel Investor Early Stage 243

Scalable Startup

JANUARY 27, 2011

Growth means bigger and more complex barriers to entry – more advertising, products, support and security for your users/buyers, advanced services, etc. Flat to negative revenue growth is a real red flag, especially for early stage companies. Many early stage founders aren’t sure how to handle this requirement for success.

Revenue 22

Revenue Early Stage Down Round Software Review 22

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Advertising. Internet and Online Business. Business Software. Over the past year or so, work-for-equity arrangements have become an integral part of Arizona Bays business model. Its too early to say how well the strategy has worked; none of Grahams investments has gone bust, but he hasnt cashed out yet, either.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 21, 2010

Most Internet businesses should show profitability in two years, while new medicines may take ten years to pass FDA and other safety tests. A very common mistake of early stage startups is to request a small investment to get started. It actually is still only marginally profitable, with revenue only from advertising.

Widget 227

Widget Angel Investor Early Stage Revenue 227

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

Avoid elephants in your early stages. This is especially problematic in the Web 2.0 / Freemium world where too many company build their business models around trying to build massive scale of free customers and then convert a small share to low monthly payments. They take special tools. Learn from my mistakes.

Startup 389

Startup Early Stage Demand Channel 389

Growthink Blog

JANUARY 24, 2011

Yet the blogosphere is abuzz with how Facebook usage rates and advertising effectiveness are already starting to plateau. So we are left with that sinking feeling that this whole social networking advertising space may be just one giant bubble waiting to burst…. billion, and for the first time surpassed newspaper ad spending.

Investment Bankers 102

Investment Bankers United States Early Stage Advertising 102

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

Since then Mike his built his career by investing in early-stage companies (seed or series A), which is remarkable given that Polaris Ventures is a $1 billion fund. I’ve already started the business modeling. I spent a couple of days hanging out in DogPatch San Francisco and I was both impressed and envious.

San Francisco 230

San Francisco Los Angeles Cofounder SMS 230

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

So we’ve got scholarships for people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend—early-stage entrepreneurs, particularly those from beyond Silicon Valley; staff from small non-profits; and students. Early-stage entrepreneurs; people participating in startrup incubator or accelerator programs; and bootstrappers.

Lean 165

Lean Nebraska San Francisco Silicon Valley 165

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 5, 2012

MentorMob is bootstrapped and has 12 employees.

Illinois 165

Illinois Aggregator Chicago Widget 165

BeyondVC

APRIL 11, 2007

As a VC that invests in early stage companies, part of my job is to discover new opportunities and business models. It is also important for us to realize that we are still just in the second inning when it comes to new advertising models.

Software Review 60

Software Review Technical Review Social Network Vesting 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 1, 2012

Pivotability Nowadays everyone agrees that it’s both likely and healthy for an early-stage startup to be on the lookout for an intelligent pivot. You spend less on marketing/advertising/acquisition. They’re more worried about the problems which don’t naturally get corrected over time.

Customer 320

Customer Revenue Acquisition Cofounder 320

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

This world of local meets retail meets digital advertising portends to technology disruption and with it VC opportunities. The desktop web introduced banner ads that offered “brand advertising” opportunities akin to television. Businesses are also one-click from advertising through Google and now Facebook. And the future?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

NZ Entrepreneur

OCTOBER 10, 2019

Early stage business investors such as angel investors or venture capital companies are generally only interested in companies with great potential for success and a high return on investment. This area of a business plan should be worked out very carefully and comprehensively. Don’t forget marketing.

Business Plan 51

Business Plan Forecast Venture Capital Angel Investor 51

Up and Running

DECEMBER 16, 2014

In October, Jennefer published her new book, “The Little Book of Big PR; 100-plus Quick Tips to get your Small Business Noticed.” ” The book is the inspiration for today’s webinar, and if you enjoy her PR tips for early-stage and established entrepreneurs, I’d really encourage you to check out her book, which is on shelves now.

Public Relations 117

Public Relations Small Business PR Entrepreneur 117

Ben's Blog

MAY 15, 2020

Finally, we’ll zoom out and assess the big picture: how various categories of company may be impacted long-term, how this crisis compares to 2008 (and what that means for early-stage founders), and the industries and business models that are now prime for growth.

Founder 36

Founder Conversion Technical Review Cash Position 36

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 13, 2021

In the early stages of Google, search was seen as a terrible way of making money in advertising. That didn’t strike anyone as a good business model. But Google of course stuck with it—and rewrote the rules of online advertising. But Google of course stuck with it—and rewrote the rules of online advertising.

Networking 28

Networking Early Stage Cofounder Advertising 28

Venture Chronicles

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

3) Don’t discard old business models because they are old… Silicon Valley is home to the shiny new object syndrome and we often forget that old business models are referred to as old because they WORK. 4) Raise boatloads of money when it is available to you, and do it on your own terms.

IPO 47

IPO Silicon Valley Private Equity Stock 47