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Lessons Learned: Validated learning about customers

Startup Lessons Learned

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? First of all, it means that most aggregate measures of success, like total revenue, are not very useful. But all things are never equal.

Customer 167
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It's a startup, not a spreadsheet

Startup Lessons Learned

It’s entirely possible for the startup to be a massive success without having large aggregate numbers, because the startup has succeeded in finding a passionate, but small, early adopter base that has tremendous per-customer behavior. The solution is to change our focus from outputs to inputs.

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Changes in Software & Venture Capital – Part 2 of 3

Both Sides of the Table

With new micro VC entrants into to early-stage investing plus increased competition from angels, incubators and the like – traditional VCs have taken notice. So VCs spent a couple of years experimenting with earlier-stage investing, which is OK. The Explosion in Early-Stage Innovation. There are also others.

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The Series A crunch is hitting now. Have we even noticed?

pandodaily.com

This time around, there has been an explosion at the early stages, and the very late pre-IPO growth stages. But the angels who’ve staked their funds on spreading bits of money all over the Valley are increasingly anxious that only 20 percent of their deals — in aggregate — will get the chance to keep going.