Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

This is the realm of the angel investor, who wants to own a piece of the new business, and probably knows how to run it and wants a seat on the Board.For B2B startups, every investor expects to see a proven business model, with a working prototype, and preferably a real customer or two.

Non-disclosure Agreement 299

Non-disclosure Agreement Angel Investor Bootstrapping SEC 299

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

She found her audience and her business model and focused on scaling her concept and she made it work. Our intrepid founder, Tomas Gorny, has a classic immigrant entrepreneur story. But, his tenacity is impresive: he pulled himself back up by the bootstraps, and founded Nextiva which today generates more than $100M ARR.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Bootstrapping B2B 78

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Austin Startup

MARCH 2, 2019

I’m a very risk adverse entrepreneur as a result of bootstrapping my first three businesses, almost failing on the fourth (Coremetrics) due to market timing (I was too early and didn’t predict the dot-com bust) and its overcapitalization, and being a mostly customer funded and very capital efficient on the fifth (Bazaarvoice).

Advisory Board 51

Advisory Board Cofounder Greece Bootstrapping 51

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

At Hustle Fund, we back both first time founders as well as repeat founders. One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. 2) B2B startups have high margins. B2B companies can have great unit economics.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

At Hustle Fund, we back both first time founders as well as repeat founders. One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. 2) B2B startups have high margins. B2B companies can have great unit economics.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Is there a profitable business model? The Traditional VC Pitch Entrepreneurs who pursue the traditional product development model don’t have customer data to answer these questions. Can it scale?”

Customer Development 267

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 267