Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Investors check your burn rate to assess your efficiency, and project your remaining runway before you run out of money and into a brick wall. It doesn’t take a financial genius to recognize that you need to keep your burn rate low. Cash flow out equates to burn rate, and the runway depends on your reserves.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. ” Fire, Ready, Aim. IPOs dried up.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. This happens because many CEOs are passionate, market-driven people who are constantly trying to launch new products, win contracts, get press, hire staff and woo VCs.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Fixed overhead for salaries, rent, equipment leases and more make up the majority of the “burn rate” (monthly expenses) for most companies. Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. The art of good management.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2014

Startups operate quickly – at a speed driven by the urgency of a proverbial gun-to-their-head called “burn rate.” their burn rate (the amount of money they’re spending monthly minus any revenue coming in) and. Finding “product/market fit” where the first variable is the customer, not the product.

Customer Development 335

Customer Development Design Developer Customer 335

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

Here are a few thoughts about operating in uncertainty in a pandemic. The questions every startup or small business CEO needs to ask now are: What’s my Burn Rate and Runway? Burn Rate and Runway. To answer the first question, take stock of your current gross burn rate i.e. how much cash are you spending each month.

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

YoungUpstarts

JULY 31, 2019

For start-ups in hot markets, the problem also manifests itself in fundraising. Founders need seed capital to get their operations up and running, and to begin generating revenue. The kicker, of course, is that at some point you have to pay that debt down to actually scale. .

Cofounder 127

Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Cofounder Seed Capital 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2022

My conclusion either way is that they have no market, or haven’t looked. Visionary entrepreneurs tend to identify and map strategic new opportunities, rather than grow existing current ones, based on market insights emerging technology. Operational. Embrace the risk of proactive marketing.

Burn Rate 382

Burn Rate Angel Investor Operations Demand 382

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2016

Use burn rate as an example. If you don’t understand how much money your company is burning through each month, how can you expect to intelligently talk about your fiscal health? To become part of the surviving half, use these methods to ensure your startup’s structure stands strong. Read your books from cover to cover.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Burn Rate IP Intellectual Property 124

VC Cafe

JUNE 6, 2024

It’s not a surprise, given that entrepreneurs are obsessed with data and metrics, but in the conservative VC market of 2024, it feels even more important for founders to know what ‘good’ looks like and what investors expect.

B2B 78

B2B Burn Rate Generative AI Retention 78

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

As a rule of thumb, most viable businesses need a gross margin above 50 percent, even on wholesale prices, to cover operational expenses and survive as a business. Project based on your market size how many widgets you will sell in every channel. If you are losing money on every unit, it’s hard to make it up in volume.

Forecast 290

Forecast Burn Rate Widget Business Plan 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly? Market downturn – We all know that investors move in herds. Short answer – yes. The most obvious reason downturns affect investors is psychology.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Depending on the type of business you operate, the metrics you monitor will differ. For example, if you have an eCommerce website , you’ll want to measure unique visitors, referrals, bounce rate, and similar. Direct costs always exclude indirect expenses such as marketing expenses, rent, insurance and so on. Give me the details.

Metrics 60

Metrics Burn Rate .Net Churn Rate 60

The Startup Magazine

MAY 9, 2024

Laser Focus on Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) The era of indiscriminate growth is giving way to targeted marketing strategies. Shift from a wide-ranging, indiscriminate marketing strategy to one more targeted, pinpointing and catering to the most advantageous customer segments.

Burn Rate 88

Burn Rate Bankruptcy Startup Metrics 88

View from Seed

OCTOBER 24, 2019

This means being really conservative with your cash burn early on until you have clearly found product/market fit. As a first time founder, having a few million dollars in the bank after a successful seed raise may seem like a huge amount of capital, and it’s easy to lose discipline around your burn rate.

Dilution 149

Dilution B2B Burn Rate Early Stage 149

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

90 days later, I found out our games are terrible, no one is buying them, our best engineers started leaving, and with 120 people and a huge burn rate, we’re running out of money and about to crash. This can’t be happening to me. Stage 2: Deny any of it was your fault. Stage 3: Get angry and blame everyone else.

Redemption 332

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 332

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

As a rule of thumb, most viable businesses need a gross margin above 50 percent, even on wholesale prices, to cover operational expenses and survive as a business. Project based on your market size how many widgets you will sell in every channel. If you are losing money on every unit, it’s hard to make it up in volume.

Forecast 369

Forecast Burn Rate Startup Widget 369

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

“There’s only one thing that entrepreneurs have complete control over, and that’s picking the market they want to operate in.” Jeff was pointing out there are a host of attributes tied to the market you’re deciding to operate in and you should be thoughtful about that selection. Founder pain! Just Survive.

Marketing 119

Marketing Burn Rate Angel Investor Early Stage 119

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

90 days later, I found out our games are terrible, no one is buying them, our best engineers started leaving, and with 120 people and a huge burn rate, we’re running out of money and about to crash. This can’t be happening to me. Stage 2: Deny any of it was your fault. Stage 3: Get angry and blame everyone else.

Redemption 224

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 224

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Fixed overhead for salaries, rent, equipment leases and more make up the majority of the “burn rate” (monthly expenses) for most companies. Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. Time slipped; fixed overhead continued.

Silicon Valley 97

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 97

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

The last couple of years has also seen the huge initial success of Ycombinator, the Lean Startup and many other product driven approaches to going to market. Broadly speaking this last trend has been healthy as it has brought an increase focus on launching products that you can test with the market and on capital efficiency.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 17, 2019

But for small businesses, like startups, carrying out an effective marketing strategy is critical to their very survival. It is a sobering truth that nine out of ten startups will fail , and marketing success can often be the key element for any startup’s viability. Marketing: startup style. Quiz me this.

Marketing 147

Marketing Startup Burn Rate Advertising 147

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

My conclusion either way is that they have no market, or haven’t looked. Visionary entrepreneurs tend to identify and map strategic new opportunities, rather than grow existing current ones, based on market insights emerging technology. Operational. Embrace the risk of proactive marketing.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Burn Rate Angel Investor Operations 267

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Real Product and Market Focus – This company lost 3-6 months of execution because they got lost building towards a high level vision. A discussion around overall business viability, time to market, and capital impact would have ensued. The year would have been a full year, not just 7-9 months.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

Up and Running

APRIL 30, 2020

” It’s been a favorite management tool of mine since my time as VP for a market research firm, and it’s a method I used for decades growing a software company from zero to well over $10 million in annual sales. Before I started my own business I was a market researcher, doing forecasts. Why is scenario planning important?

Forecast 120

Forecast Balance Sheet Burn Rate Software Review 120

Up and Running

JULY 27, 2020

Businesses operate on cash. With a system, your business will be better prepared to handle the ups and downs of cash flow and keep enough money in the bank to continue to operate healthily. As your business operates, you make sales and have expenses. Why is cash flow management important? How to manage cash flow.

Forecast 83

Forecast Management Cash Position Software Review 83

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Or executives fail to take advantage of a great marketing opportunity with a December 31 deadline because they do not have budget. . Sean Colrock, Director of Client Partnerships at Wiss & Company , suggests at a minimum you track: cash on hand; fume date; and burn rate.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

The Next Web

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Therefore, if you want to bring an MVP ( Minimum Viable Product ) to market, Werdelin approximates that you’ll need $50,000 to $250,000 , depending on the skill sets of the developers and designers you hire. It becomes increasingly difficult when you’re trying to scale your business both from engineering perspective and market penetration.

Cost 168

Cost San Francisco New York City Ruby 168

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

As a rule of thumb, most new businesses need a margin above 50 percent, even on wholesale prices, to cover operational expenses and survive long-term as a business. Based on your market size and penetration expectations, size how many units you will sell, at what price, in every channel. Set a target growth and market penetration rate.

Burn Rate 144

Burn Rate Forecast Angel Investor Revenue 144

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2017

My conclusion either way is that they have no market, or haven’t looked. Visionary entrepreneurs tend to identify and map strategic new opportunities, rather than grow existing current ones, based on market insights emerging technology. Operational. Embrace the risk of proactive marketing.

Burn Rate 170

Burn Rate Angel Investor Operations Demand 170

Tim Keane

DECEMBER 14, 2009

   We worked all day building market strategies for customers while we tried to embody our expertise on software that would expand the company's reach.    But because seed firms operate in an earlier phase, they need to offer different kinds of advice.  .   For instance: 1. 

Burn Rate 60

Burn Rate Angel Groups Seed Stage Startup 60

Up and Running

OCTOBER 7, 2019

A data-driven approach can help you make accurate and timely business decisions to meet market demands and improve cost-efficiency. This metric helps determine how much cash you need for operation and expansion. Activation rate: measures how many visitors are engaging with your website or app. Marketing KPIs.

Founder 71

Founder Retention Metrics Technical Review 71

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

For market changing products, build first a minimally viable product (MVP), and never build products for sale until you have real orders in hand. More features and inventory added early will be wasted as you will need to pivot to match the real market. Entrepreneurs and small business always operate on the edge.

Startup 404

Startup Lean Metrics Matching 404

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2014

My conclusion either way is that there is no market, or they haven’t looked. Visionary entrepreneurs tend to identify and map strategic new opportunities, rather than grow existing current ones, based on market insights emerging technology. Operational. Embrace the risk of proactive marketing.

Burn Rate 234

Burn Rate Angel Investor Entrepreneur Operations 234

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 25, 2023

Once the markets started crashing in 2022 there was a swift swerve towards “just stay alive” and having enough capital on hand to make it through a downturn. Cutting burn, topping off funding rounds, optimizing pricing — there were many levers to pull.

Burn Rate 78

Burn Rate Acquisition Revenue Founder 78

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

ROI per Marketing Channel. It’s crucial to keep a handle of ROI per marketing channel in order to optimize marketing spending. This impacts every decision related to your business, from hiring more staff to expanding product offerings to investing in marketing. – Ben Rubenstein , Yodle. No Specific Metric.

Metrics 146

Metrics Burn Rate Entrepreneur Forecast 146

Berkonomics

APRIL 16, 2020

FINANCIAL: Do you have twelve to eighteen months of cash to cover your “burn rate” now and as you recover? Raising money during this crisis will be almost impossible, even from friends and family shocked by the stock market declines. Do you still need marketing costs when there is no-one out there buying new product?

SBA 87

SBA Burn Rate Salary Stock 87