Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2020

In my experience, most successful entrepreneurs have indeed created a new product, but most people who claim to be inventors have a hard time starting a business. The simple solution I recommend to inventors is to find a partner who can focus on business and marketing, while you focus on technology.

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Founder Intellectual Property Dilution Startup 312

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. Jonathan Bragdon , CEO, describes Capacity as “a team of founders-turned-funders making non-dilutive, founder-aligned investments of $50-$300k in post-startup, post-revenue businesses planning to 2X revenues in 12-24 months.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. You can’t underestimate the importance of selecting an attorney who “gets” your business model, your market opportunity, and most importantly, your fundraising and exit strategy. My business partner and I were elated.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2021

In my experience as a business advisor and occasional investor, many of you won’t make it that far, succumbing to the high costs of getting those first customers, funding an initial inventory, and building an operational support process. In these cases, you both win by expanding the market.

Dilution 404

Dilution Incubator Bootstrapping Government 404

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. FLEXIBLE VC VS. OTHER VENTURE CAPITAL MODELS.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 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. In 2019 we partnered with several revenue-based lending providers, effectively creating a marketplace. “. Benefits: Non-dilutive, flexible credit offerings that fit SMB or enterprise SaaS. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

Use good judgment, talk to your co-founders/investors/lawyers, and partner with a bank that values transparency and relationships such as SVB.]. GM: The model is more about the relationship with the entrepreneurs, the investors, and us as the bank, as opposed to cash flow or fixed assets to lend on. These are value-creation milestones.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

– while the other might want a quick sale and pocket some bucks while the tech market is hot. She started it with a partner, 50-50. It either needed to get more aggressive in pricing, pivot to a new business or business model or raise more capital (and take the dilution) in order to have more time to figure things out.

Founder 340

Founder Sacramento Cofounder Technical Review 340

View from Seed

OCTOBER 28, 2019

In other words, the goal of a pre-seed round isn’t to subsequently raise a Series A (which these days requires both product-market fit and meaningful evidence of strong market demand), but to raise another round of seed financing. In fact, they’ve been around even before the pre-seed term emerged prevalent to describe them.

Seed Stage 248

Seed Stage Finance Dilution Early Stage 248

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

His passions are business process automation, surfing, and his new baby girl Maya. ?. Sales are the bloodstream for most businesses, and tech startups are no exception. It’s always better to be earn money, not just raise it, as money you earn doesn’t dilute your ownership and reassures your investors.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

We are all a bit puzzled by how quickly this market has evolved. With a combined market cap of all crypto currencies now topping $170b , crypto has become more than a third of an Amazon or a Facebook. It has 10 times the market cap of SNAP, the most prominent IPO of 2017. New way of running your VC business.

Venture Capital 164

Venture Capital LP Dilution Limited Partner 164

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

For a more elaborate explanation of the deal, please read my blog post 1M/1M: Alternative Financing For Startups Using A Sales Channel Partner. I have discussed at length why revenue sharing channel deals may serve as perfectly fine alternatives to raising equity (or even complements) because of their non-dilutive nature. Safarclick.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 12, 2017

Let’s talk first about an angel round to individual investors, all of whom may be duly accredited but many of whom may have no background that enables them to understand fully your idea and your business model. But, they expect to be analyzing a finished product from you and not creating your business plan for you.

Term Sheet 48

Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Merger 48

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Given Ramaswamy’s history at Google, he had the unique vantage point to understand every aspect of the business – and how to build something differently. Additionally, as Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman points out, competition from the big companies isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “If Reid, why don’t you start?

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Given Ramaswamy’s history at Google, he had the unique vantage point to understand every aspect of the business – and how to build something differently. Additionally, as Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman points out, competition from the big companies isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “If Reid, why don’t you start?

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

This past week while I was in Tokyo for meetings with potential partners for Fab, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on startups. million registered users, 7500 supplier partners, 600 team members, and a run-rate of more than $150M in sales in just 15 months. A huge untapped market opportunity.?. So, here goes.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

It looks as though you’ve built a very interesting business, and I’d love to spend some time getting a better understanding of your future plans for the company and if there is an opportunity to partner with [My Firm]. In case you aren’t familiar, I’ve attached a brief overview on our firm.

Programming 294

Programming Entrepreneur Private Equity Equity 294

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

Many cups of coffee and pizzas later, the weekend culminates in a round of presentations from the teams, which clearly articulate the startup’s pitch: problem, market, solution, team, etc. For example, you may point out that there is a company with similar technology, but different application/market. Know your market.

Elevator Pitch 102

Elevator Pitch Incubator Technical Review Startup 102

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

it also means less dilution, something that entrepreneurs should be very mindful of. The entrepreneurs believed that they could build the business faster with more capital, so it’s not an unreasonable thing to give up more dilution for more money at the same valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 164

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 164

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

From the founders’ point of view, the advantages of the RBI model are: Greater control over the company. Less or no dilution. Focus on lower-risk business models; no requirement for a ‘swing for the fences’ model. Like traditional lenders, RBI investors usually don’t take board seats. Optionality.

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 7, 2022

Optimizing Your Agency For Profitability written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing Podcast with Marcel Petitpas. In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast , I interview Marcel Petitpas. 17:51] What kind of challenge does white labeling add to the pure optimization model? [20:05]

Cofounder 73

Cofounder Hosting Networking Software Review 73

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

” The company was pitching a franchise business to roll out the technology nationwide, when it had yet to actually run it live in a single location. This is a classic example of focusing on scaling up before product-market fit has been achieved. He has shown some hustle, and demonstrated product-market fit.

Silicon Valley 167

Silicon Valley Salary Dilution Indiana 167

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 22, 2012

As you may have already seen , I’ve been breaking down the pitches on this season’s Shark Tank while wearing my work hat as a Managing Director at Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company has gotten off to a fast start, $150k in revenue in the first two months, with all the marketing coming from social media. Freaker USA.

Pre-Money Valuation 101

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Differentiation 101

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

Written By Dan Martell on February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Hiring LeanStartup Marketing Metrics Startup Life | 6 Comments. Take the market and break it down into smaller chunks. What is the best advice you can give for finding a business partner? Don’t quickly choose any business partner. Why do I do it?

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 12, 2012

While our investment focus covers all of Europe, we consider France to be a very important market for our business and we are actively seeking new investment opportunities. France is indeed a country with a proven track record of developing innovative business models.

France 71

France Europe Capital Gains Dilution 71

Professor VC

DECEMBER 8, 2015

one company running out of cash and another with cash but searching for a business model). Not surprisingly, the merger was highly dilutive, particularly to Confinity/PayPal shareholders. I was a Limited Partner in Angel Investors II (Ron Conway's angel fund) that was an investor in Confinity. At the IPO, Musk held a 14.2%

Merger 28

Merger LP IPO Redemption 28

Ben's Blog

AUGUST 17, 2020

While multiples are indeed often an input for valuing mature, slower growing companies, in the private, high growth tech market, entry multiples tend to be a byproduct of the valuation process: What investors are really trying to understand are possible exit values. A multiple is a company value divided by a metric.

Valuation 36

Valuation Balance Sheet Cofounder Forecast 36

Seeing Both Sides

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Whether you are raising a $250K seed round or navigating a $100M IPO, the capital markets - in all of its various forms - are a fundamental constituent in the business-building journey. If you have a stronger balance sheet than your competition, you can push off monetization decisions and focus on product-market fit.

Balance Sheet 42

Balance Sheet Entrepreneur Dilution Portfolio 42

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

One of my favorite business books of all time is Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. My boss and mentor from Open Market, Gary Eichhorn , made the entire management team read it in the 1990s to hammer home its important lessons as we stumbled through the chasm on our way to scaling from zero to nearly $100 million in revenue in a few years.

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20

Up and Running

JULY 14, 2015

What if something dramatically changes in the market? Build in fluidity to your business plans. I’d implemented a business plan including marketing, engagement, sales strategy and realized a few months in that it wasn’t servicing a key influence or in the sales process. Our business model was Pinterest.

Incubator 60

Incubator Email Startup Oregon 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Most venture capitalists who have been in this business for a long time foresaw this correction and have been talking about it privately for the better part of the last year or two. I’ll spare you the math and point out that this means we funded 0.104% of the market. Can Investors Spook the Market into Falling?

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

Life Beyond Code

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

In 1M/1M, we offer a case-study-based online educational program, video lectures, and methodology, online strategy consulting at public and private online roundtables, as well as introductions to customers, channel partners and investors (pre-seed, seed, angel, VC, bank, alternative financing).

Programming 116

Programming Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 116