VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? While the answers are somewhat semantic, the pre-seed funding round is making a comeback in 2024 startup financing. A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”? Pre-seed tends to be about developing an MVP and generating early traction.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. A business only achieved critical mass by becoming cash-flow positive. Both have worked.

Revenue 434

Revenue Valuation Viral Retention 434

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Rational burn profile, up to 50% of revenue at close, scaling down.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Join a startup incubator.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders? IV: Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing?

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

Any place with a fixed cost that relies on foot traffic will come under pressure. But other businesses like law firms, contracting firms, real estate firms, will take hits, too. Your revenue plans are no longer valid. What’s your monthly cash burn at your new low revenue level? Cut costs to stay alive for 24 months.

South Korea 333

South Korea Salary Business Model China 333

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Does the traditional VC financing model make sense for all companies? A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. So what is Revenue Based Investing? Absolutely not.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 12, 2021

Effective budgeting plays an integral role in small business success. Creating a financial plan enables companies to predict expenditures and create an effective plan for incoming revenue. Recording your expected revenues and expenses monthly does not count as effective budgeting. Not planning for emergency costs.

Technical Review 132

Technical Review Software Review Forecast Cloud 132

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Join a startup incubator.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2022

The way to start is with a sample financial model, available from many sources on the Internet, such as over 200 downloadable free from the Corporate Finance Institute website. Don’t try to build the “ultimate” business model, for all possible alternatives, in multiple business domains.

Conversion Ratio 368

Conversion Ratio Startup Business Model eCommerce 368

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Join a startup incubator.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

The other aspect of the people roadmap is org-level team building necessary to unlock or accompany certain stages of the business. The decision around sequencing is equally (if not more) important, especially in the first 12-18 months of the business as you search for PMF and test out your initial go-to-market (GTM) strategy.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 1, 2023

During such times a firm should take measures that have historically been thought to safeguard it, such as cutting costs, lowering goals, and keeping an eye on cash flow to weather the impending storm. Make a budget and keep a close watch on the finances , ensuring that there are no unnecessary expenses. 2- Create an emergency fund.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Software Review Technical Review Revenue 96

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 23, 2013

Marketo filed for IPO with impressive 80% year-over-year growth in 2012, with almost $60m in revenue. of revenue, force-feeding sales pipelines with an unprofitable product. I know the argument: The pay-back period on sales, marketing, and up-start costs is long, but there’s a profitable result at the end of the tunnel.

Business Model 335

Business Model .Net Revenue IPO 335

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 21, 2017

Revenue multiples, profit multiples, premium over the previous financing — these are metrics used by sellers to help determine a minimum acceptable price. Even for startups, it takes years for a new product to become good enough to demand many millions of dollars in revenue.). Yet mobile advertising revenues were paltry.

Balance Sheet 242

Balance Sheet Vertical Acquisition Revenue 242

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5% raised from angels.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Key resources. Try this one.

Business Model 143

Business Model Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor 143

ReadWriteStart

JULY 7, 2021

Various business models in an on-demand courier delivery app. Business to Consumer (B2C) – It is the most common type of business model. The need for efficient last-mile delivery – has led to the rising need for Courier service apps among businesses and customers.

Technical Review 163

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Demand Social Media 163

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2023

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. A business only achieved critical mass by becoming cash-flow positive. Both have worked.

Valuation 235

Valuation Revenue Viral Retention 235

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

— Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. Typically, this caliber of bankers wouldn’t talk to you unless your company had five profitable quarters of increasing revenue. Board Control.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 28, 2022

17- Identifying new costs and services. Focus on making the customer journey easy while identifying new costs and services, such as credit card processing and delivery. It may not even be necessary to change my business model, just having a digital storefront may be enough to get people back to shopping.

Social Media 122

Social Media Entrepreneur Retention Finance 122

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

A version of this article appeared in the Harvard Business Review. The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. Sloan kept the corporate staff small and focused on policymaking, corporate finance, and planning.

Michigan 268

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 268

Steve Blank

MARCH 26, 2019

The class was unique in that it was 1) team-based, 2) experiential, 3) lean-driven (hypothesis testing/business model/customer development/agile engineering). When we started this class, the concept of Lean (business models, customer development, agile, pivots, mvp’s) was new to everyone. Class Velocity/Depth.

Lean 248

Lean Business Model Balance Sheet Video 248

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 29, 2024

Designing Your Business Model Crafting a business model is like building a blueprint for your venture. Revenue streams are another critical component of your business model. Revenue streams are another critical component of your business model.

Intellectual Property 132

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Bootstrapping 132

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2023

In one of the sessions I attended the room was packed with developers, and in the web3-focused session, most of the chatter was not on NFTs or Play to Earn, but on the potential of generative AI to reduce costs, increase productivity and test various aspects of the game creation value chain from ideation, to development and marketing of games.

Generative AI 103

Generative AI San Francisco Technical Review Europe 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Both have worked.Google reached $1 billion in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400 billion. A business only achieved critical mass by becoming cash-flow positive.

Revenue 246

Revenue Entrepreneur Valuation Viral 246

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan » March 09, 2011. How should I finance my new venture? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup? The overarching idea, of course, is to reduce the cost of capital while maintaining appropriate flexibility for the venture. 

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

The Startup Magazine

JULY 7, 2022

Many people think a startup’s finances are healthy if income is more than expenses, but this is not always the case. Analysis of each spending category will let the owners know how much their cost of production is. If the cost of production is higher than the business revenue, then the business model is unsustainable.

Management 154

Management Startup Finance Business Model 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2020

The way to start is with a sample financial model, available from many sources on the Internet, such as over 200 downloadable free from the Corporate Finance Institute website. Don’t try to build the “ultimate” business model, for all possible alternatives, in multiple business domains.

Conversion Ratio 308

Conversion Ratio Startup Business Model eCommerce 308

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Cloud computing and the open source movements have brought down the costs of starting a company by more than 90%. The most successful of these businesses will still need venture capital to scale their businesses. The opportunity to transact at the point of purchase increases the sheer number of revenue opportunities.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2023

Some argue the only way to start is to drop everything and jump in with both feet, while others recommend an overlapped approach to the lifestyle, including not quitting your day job until you have revenue and a proven business model. Startups cost money but don’t pay a salary before revenue.

Private Equity 255

Private Equity Salary Cofounder Equity 255

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Bates: Good morning and welcome to our CEO panel, “How to Fine-Tune Your Small Business Finances From Funding to Growth” which I think is the direction that we would all like to be going. I’m here with some really phenomenal CEOs who are going to talk to us today about small business finances from funding to growth.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

There are two reasons to raise money: You have a killer idea that is only partially validated, that you think can get to $50M+ of revenue in 5 years with 80%+ gross margins (if margins are lower, you need a lot more revenue)and you need money to get to product-market fit, or. Team, Product, Traction, Business Model and Market.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

Continuous innovation requires the imagination and courage to challenge the initial hypotheses of your current business model (channel, cost, customers, products, supply chain, etc.) Today open source software has slashed the cost of software development from millions of dollars to thousands. The founders.

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Key resources. Try this one.

Intellectual Property 250

Intellectual Property Business Model Angel Investor Channel 250