Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2022

Too often they are also hesitant, inexperienced, and fearful of hiring people or finding a mentor to be the partner they need. You have no idea how to pivot with the latest market trends. They let the burn rate go up too fast, and the business burns down before it really starts. You start playing the blame game.

Burn Rate 329

Burn Rate Differentiation Salary Entrepreneur 329

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

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. My wife was a great partner here. This can’t be happening to me. Stage 2: Deny any of it was your fault.

Redemption 332

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 332

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

This post originally appeared in TechCrunch back in 2015, written by our co-founder and managing partner Erik Rannala. Like a teenager with a million-dollar allowance and an identity crisis, a startup with too much capital and no product-market fit will become capable of making larger mistakes. How do you know you have it? Lose focus.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

Most of these scenarios involve attracting outside investors, strategic partners, or key team members: You are the team and you don’t need outside funding. They can iterate and evolve their business idea with a low burn rate and minimal dependencies. Writing it down promotes both understanding and commitment.

Business Plan 274

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence 274

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

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. My wife was a great partner here. This can’t be happening to me. Stage 2: Deny any of it was your fault.

Redemption 224

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 224

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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2019

Too often they are also hesitant, inexperienced, and fearful of hiring people or finding a mentor to be the partner they need. You have no idea how to pivot with the latest market trends. They let the burn rate go up too fast, and the business burns down before it really starts. You start playing the blame game.

Burn Rate 249

Burn Rate Entrepreneur Differentiation Salary 249

Up and Running

APRIL 27, 2020

Recessions, or even a volatile market like we’re currently experiencing due to COVID-19 , are difficult times. Current businesses are finding ways to pivot their business models, revisiting their budgets, and developing new forecasts to minimize their burn rate and maximize their available cash runway.

Software Review 113

Software Review Lean Forecast Business Plan 113

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 10, 2020

See below for a good description of what we like to see in deals at Forward Partners and what makes us different from other VCs. An interview with Nic Brisbourne, Forward Partners. Every good VC looks for the same three things: a great team, a great product, and a large and attractive market. That’s still true in some markets.

Partner 68

Partner Early Stage Portfolio Metrics 68

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. Guest contributed to Techcrunch.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

Not just because meeting Clayton was influential in shaping my thinking about markets but also because Derek Andersen (who founded Startup Grind) is such an awesome host and runs a very informative events. ” Well, I really wanted to be a general partner but there weren’t a lot of general partner openings.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup San Diego 337

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

I notice some founders (from YC in particular) have been trained to say something like: “we are just starting the process, but things are moving faster than we expect and we are already scheduling follow-up conversations and partner meetings.”. Some founders lay out a specific time frame for when they hope to get the round closed.

Term Sheet 364

Term Sheet Burn Rate Founder Partner 364

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. I was WAY off between my book research about what the engineering & construction market would want (my first company) and what they actually wanted. I only found out through customer meetings. IMO at least.

Hiring 346

Hiring Sales Startup Early Stage 346

Tim Keane

DECEMBER 14, 2009

  He is a partner in a pretty much exclusively software seed stage fund, Y Combinator that you can read more about.     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.  Starting Startups.   Amen.

Burn Rate 60

Burn Rate Angel Groups Seed Stage Startup 60

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

The Next Web

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Henrik Werdelin , the Managing Partner of Prehype , a venture development firm based in New York City that has helped build companies like Tradable , Barkbox , FancyHands , Basno and Path , says recreating Twitter isn’t necessarily difficult, but the layered features will take time to get right. “You 1) Twitter. 4) WhatsApp. 6) Pinterest.

Cost 168

Cost San Francisco New York City Ruby 168

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

He told me that when the markets soured they were no longer hot. I just knew that our sales sucked wind and we were burning through tons of cash. I advocated LOUDLY at the board that we needed to cut our burn rate. The reality is that the market has changed and I need to change to the new realities.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Burn Rate Cofounder Sales 306

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2010

Fixed overhead for salaries, rent, equipment leases and more make up the majority of the “burn rate” (monthly expenses) for most companies. And we were able to secure that investment along with a partner from that firm joining our board. Time slipped; fixed overhead continued.

Silicon Valley 85

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 85

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2013

Too often they are also hesitant, inexperienced, and fearful of hiring people or a mentor to be the partner they need. You have no idea how to pivot with the latest market trends. They let the burn rate go up too fast, and the business burns down before it really starts. You start playing the blame game.

Burn Rate 275

Burn Rate Entrepreneur Differentiation Salary 275

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

Every year at Upfront we try to analyze the venture markets. Of course we fund companies in good markets and bad. To do so we need entrepreneurs who can build companies that scale well in booming markets and also control costs appropriate in correcting markets. Here is the list of the groups participating.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate LP Curation Valuation 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2017

Too often they are also hesitant, inexperienced, and fearful of hiring people or finding a mentor to be the partner they need. You have no idea how to pivot with the latest market trends. They let the burn rate go up too fast, and the business burns down before it really starts. You start playing the blame game.

Burn Rate 139

Burn Rate Differentiation Salary Entrepreneur 139

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

What should the cash burn rate of the company be and how long of a cash runway should the company maintain? this requires a strong knowledge of market data, employee performance, company performance relative to market and available resources? What are the kinds of difficult tasks that need to be solved by boards?

LP 269

LP Startup Burn Rate Stock Options 269

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

” There are a lot of data points that one can observer to get a sense of the venture capital markets – both LP fundings into venture and VC financings of startups. But these data points are often lagging indicators and perhaps a better barometer of the future would be to gather data on VC perceptions in the market right now.

LP 150

LP Valuation Burn Rate Pre-Money Valuation 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

Yet as we enter February 2017 the VC funding markets are booming, Snap, Inc has filed for its IPO, AppDynamics was just purchased for $3.7 This past year was also the year that startup boards also got more disciplined about containing burn rates and pushing for companies to be run more pragmatically.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Saudi Arabia Kuwait Burn Rate 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2015

Last night I wrote a post about how the fall in the stock market over a 3-day period may affect the venture capital markets. This morning the US stock markets are rallying. Let me give you the quick summary of what I said yesterday: Public markets affect venture funding. So now what? Equally importantly. ” Maybe.

Balance Sheet 150

Balance Sheet Valuation Burn Rate Stock 150

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

You can almost set your watch to six months or so after first customer ship, when Sales starts missing its “numbers,” the board gets concerned and Marketing tries to “make up a better story.” The web site and/or product presentation slides start changing and Marketing and Sales try different customers, different channels, new pricing, etc.

Burn Rate 251

Burn Rate Management Business Model Customer Development 251

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

Here are the ten slides you need: Problem and market need. Make sure to communicate the relevance of your product / services to market needs. Define the characteristics of the overall industry, market forces, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Investors like $1B markets with double-digit growth rates.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2015

Too often they are also hesitant, inexperienced, and fearful of hiring people or a mentor to be the partner they need. You have no idea how to pivot with the latest market trends. They let the burn rate go up too fast, and the business burns down before it really starts. You start playing the blame game.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Startup Differentiation Salary 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2014

Rely on informal agreements with partners. The same principles apply to strategic partners. Later, when your venture is trying to close on financing, or even going public, that forgotten partner surfaces, demanding their original share. Make it a rule to not fraternize with your employees, and choose your partners wisely.

Startup 265

Startup Intellectual Property LLC Burn Rate 265

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

Here are the ten slides you need: Problem and market need. Make sure to communicate the relevance of your product / services to market needs. Define the characteristics of the overall industry, market forces, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Investors like $1B markets with double-digit growth rates.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

In my last post I described what happened when a company prematurely scales sales and marketing before adequately testing its hypotheses in Customer Discovery. They told the CEO (who was the technical founder) that the sales team should focus on “other markets.” Revenue Plan Needs to Match Market Type. They don’t.

Revenue 232

Revenue Balance Sheet Hockey Stick Burn Rate 232

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2012

Other weeks Yuri would be buffeted by the realities of his burn rate, declining bank account and depressing comments from customers. I offered that at Epiphany, my partner Ben’s office was the first place I would go when I thought I had new “insights.” Better, during that time brainstorm them with someone you trust.

Founder 321

Founder Cofounder Advisory Board Burn Rate 321

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

This is pulled from NextView’s board deck resource, which was compiled using a combination of real startup board decks and input from NextView’s founding partners: Rob Go , David Beisel , and Lee Hower. Here’s an exact, step-by-step breakdown of how we’d recommend structuring it.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2012

Rely on informal agreements with partners. The same principles apply to strategic partners. Later, when your venture is trying to close on financing, or even going public, that forgotten partner surfaces, demanding their original share. Make it a rule to not fraternize with your employees, and choose your partners wisely.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property LLC Burn Rate 274