Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology.

Angel Investor 256

Angel Investor Early Stage Incubator Government 256

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2023

A better approach is to first understand who these people are, why and how they invest, and then focus on the ones who are the best match for your particular startup stage, location and industry. By definition, angels are accredited investors, who invest their own money for a percentage of the business.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Accredited Investor Syndicate Syndication 265

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

They prefer to see a rational staged plan, already in progress, with some checkpoints achieved, as well as future ones planned. A proven business model, ready to scale, is particularly attractive. Contrary to popular belief, most investors are not looking for entrepreneurs who are desperate for funding.

Angel Investor 268

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Early Stage 268

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 4, 2020

What others may see as the end of a business or an opportunity, Necessity Entrepreneurs see as chal­lenges or setbacks to overcome. Think you might fit this definition of entrepreneurial success? Necessity Entrepreneurs don’t pursue business solely for the sake of financial or personal gain. Is your business idea disruptive?

Entrepreneur 205

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Silicon Valley Bandwidth 205

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2011

Over the last decade we assumed that once we found repeatable methodologies (Agile and Customer Development , Business Model Design) to build early stage ventures, entrepreneurship would become a “science,” and anyone could do it. Founders fit the definition of a creator: they see something no one else does.

Agile 333

Agile Customer Development Early Stage Business Model 333

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

Almost every early-stage startup who has approached investors for funding has heard the innocuous sounding rejection “I love your idea, but come back when you have more traction.” First of all, a definition. What does traction really mean to investors, and how much is enough? Market penetration.

Hockey Stick 304

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 304

VC Cafe

JUNE 6, 2024

This post explores the most important benchmarks VCs look for in B2B SaaS with data brought to you by 20VC/La Famiglia, Serena Capital, Emergence Capital, and Openview Ventures, providing definitions and insights into the most critical metrics for SaaS companies. The post 2023-2024 B2B SaaS Benchmarks appeared first on VC Cafe.

B2B 78

B2B Burn Rate Generative AI Retention 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2021

A better approach is to first understand who these people are, why and how they invest, and then focus on the ones who are the best match for your particular startup stage, location and industry. By definition, angels are accredited investors, who invest their own money for a percentage of the business.

Search 317

Search Accredited Investor Angel Investor Venture Capital 317

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 11, 2018

As is the right business model, which is the focus of the Don’t Bet on Your First Business Model workshop. This kind of testing, done right, is definitive for creating growth. Talking with customers can be a surprisingly tricky thing to get right, so a great customer discovery process is important.

Lean 103

Lean Las Vegas Cofounder Startup 103

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

The first time a few brave corporate innovators tried to overlay the Lean tools and techniques that work in early-stage startups in an existing corporation, the result was chaos, confusion, frustration and ultimately, failure. The Lean Definition of the Three Horizons of Innovation. Horizon 1 is the company’s core business.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Eric Ries in Times Square For any model to be useful it has to predict what happens in the real world – including the web. I realized the Customer Development model needs to be clearer in what exactly a startup is supposed to do, regardless of the business model. “What is the “Business Model” of your startup?&#

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

The key reason for the explosion in capital flowing into the industry, and therefore the large increase in practitioners, had nothing to do with 1970’s performance, early stage investing, or technology. Some were Silicon Valley early stage companies, such as Apple, Quantum, and Masstor Systems.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

View from Seed

OCTOBER 28, 2019

Over the past few years, “pre-seed” as a distinct category has emerged within the early stage fundraising landscape. The milestones and the funding rounds to accomplish everything before that are much more specific and idiosyncratic to the specific startup based on the business model, sector, team composition, etc.

Seed Stage 248

Seed Stage Finance Dilution Early Stage 248

VC Adventure

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

It’s not the Fearless Fund or the dozens of other interesting experiments in early-stage finance going on across the country that are imposing simplistic race-based thinking on America, it’s the Alliance. Applying this kind of thinking to the world of messy early-stage finance is potentially deadly.

North Carolina 68

North Carolina America Early Stage Venture Capital 68

The Equity Kicker

MAY 7, 2015

Steve Blank gave us this now famous definition of a startup: A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Blank is writing for all sectors and across more stages, and his advice is necessarily more general. We have gone a step further. we re-join Blank).

Business Model 60

Business Model Search Due Diligence Early Stage 60

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Asking for early-stage money before you have customers and revenue will likely kill your credibility with real investors. Yet, knowing this distinction is important.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

For example, it’s not adequate to say your company is targeting small businesses, since there are several million of these. How many customers fit the definition? In describing the competitive landscape, show how your business model creates competitive advantages, and – more importantly – defensible barriers to entry.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

Well, I have coached early stage entrepreneurs for a couple of years now - diligently, patiently - and have learned a few things. First up today was Yogesh Sharma presenting Rangrut.com , a business that connects employers with learning institutions and on-campus students to fill job openings.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Technical Review Startup Early Stage 114

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

Especially in the early stages, so much about the company may change in how they think about product or go-to-market — and change multiple times — before raising an institutional round. Business model? But the costs are definitely there. NVV: What do debt providers look for in a company’s track record?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

It was also beneficial because I got some good experience with both B2B and B2C business models. On the SEO side of things, I'll definitely want to get your feedback on Browse My Stuff. FI and Adeo have already been helpful making introductions to several of the leading early-stage investors for casual gaming companies.

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

David Teten

DECEMBER 12, 2017

As a globally focused LP in early stage VC funds, we at Blue Future Partners have observed a growing trend of firms investing substantially in software tools, whether developing proprietary solutions or adopting off the shelf tools. But what tools are they using themselves to automate their own processes? Methodology.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Venture Capital 60

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

Where I use LinkedIn: * I definitely use LinkedIn for Specific Requests - Ex. Open Source Business Models, speakers for Web 2.0 I definitely check people out using LinkedIn. However, it definitely has served as a hub. Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh. event I did last fall.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Almost every early-stage startup who has approached investors for funding has heard the innocuous sounding rejection “I love your idea, but come back when you have more traction.” First of all, a definition. What does traction really mean to investors, and how much is enough? Market penetration.

Hockey Stick 266

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 266

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Most investors will assume that if the business plan is solid and a large market opportunity exists, there will be vigorous competition from other players. The amount of investment in IP in any direct sense is generally small for early stage startups. Measured as a discrete line item in a budget, it might be near zero.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

View from Seed

MARCH 3, 2015

EM: It definitely helped us get off to a very fast start. EM: When you’re at an early stage, you don’t know what that buyer path looks like yet, so you should be trying all different strategies to get data and figure out the playbook. ” What were the advantages of doing these aytpical, non-scalable things?

Marketing 120

Marketing Sales Cycle Startup CTO Hire 120

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

02:06] Can you share your experience starting with an early-stage company (Hubspot) that eventually went public? [07:11] But yeah, so they definitely made a bunch of changes. I think the net of it is it went from HubSpot teaching a business model to follow to more of a partner program where you're reselling technology.

Metrics 72

Metrics Analytics Forecast Software Review 72

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

It’s Never Been More Important to Understand Your Capital Provider’s Business Model [Charles Hudson/Precursor] – Charles is just a wonderful human and his posts about venture capital are essential for anyone who considers themselves part of the startup community.

Venture Capital 64

Venture Capital China Government Early Stage 64

K9 Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

What everyone can agree on, though, is that there are definitely more seed and early stage funds now than ever before, and more people willing to give money to young companies looking to make it big. Direct Revenue, meaning no three-way business models and no advertising, media, or content. Frighteningly Early.

San Francisco 48

San Francisco Early Stage Portfolio Software Engineering 48

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 14, 2011

a group of entrepreneurs from TiE Chennai gathered at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) Research Park campus, and we spent the next four hours discussing strategy and tactics of early-stage entrepreneurship. Some of these businesses should definitely apply for the Microsoft BizSpark India Startup Challenge grants.

India 126

India Technical Review Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 126

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 9, 2014

If your business has products or services that can cause harm in any way to the public, your business could face thousands of pounds worth of compensation. Aside from making the point of how vital it is to insure your business for protection there are also other factors you should keep in mind. Others business insurance'

Early Stage 203

Early Stage Employee Global Business Model 203

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology.

Product Development 120

Product Development Developer Product Angel Investor 120

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Defining the pre-seed round It’s futile to look for ‘one true’ definition. I genuinely believe that the next 24-36 months will be a great vintage to invest in early stage. Data from Crunchbase shows a pretty consistent picture.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

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? What matters is proving the viability of the company’s business model, what investors call “traction.&#

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

A better approach is to first understand who these people are, why and how they invest, and then focus on the ones who are the best match for your particular startup stage, location and industry. By definition, angels are accredited investors, who invest their own money for a percentage of the business.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Accredited Investor Venture Capital Startup 120

Eric Friedman

JULY 1, 2013

You see, in going through my “ sandbox projects ” it was interesting to see that I have tried a few different business models in the past; consulting/development ( Dogsly / TodaysKicks ), ad vertising on DoBlu.com and Multiplayergames.com , consulting, and of course subscription ( SubscribeToIt.com ).

Early Stage 92

Early Stage Business Model Web Software 92

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

Avoid elephants in your early stages. See definition of a whore. This is especially problematic in the Web 2.0 / Freemium world where too many company build their business models around trying to build massive scale of free customers and then convert a small share to low monthly payments. Learn from my mistakes.

Startup 389

Startup Early Stage Demand Channel 389

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

This is because excessive capital becomes toxic for an early stage company. There are few cases where this can be the right approach, but it requires a very clear definition of what’s the core product, technology, and knowledge that needs to be built and retained within the company and what can indeed be done by an external team.

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 117