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

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

At Wildcat, we recommend benchmarking your startup against the four core architectural pillars of the Traction Gap Framework: product , revenue , team and systems. Each has specific requirements linked to each stage and value inflection point of the Traction Gap journey. What does this mean for their early stage investors?

Framework 113

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 113

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. Set expectations accordingly.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

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. Set expectations accordingly.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1 We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins. So what does an early-stage company do to avoid the doom and gloom plaguing the world of startups? That includes us. they still aren’t profitable. And you know what we found?

Early Stage 112

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 112

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. Set expectations accordingly.

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. Commit to a major customer.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

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

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

Funding might be a need in some cases — but it’s not an absolute necessity. ? The business should be self-sustainable. The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. Inception stage.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

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. Commit to a major customer.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2022

Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in the classic book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Duffy emphasizes the often overlooked personal side of entrepreneurship, including balancing finances, relationships, and your health. Moderate your optimism.

Early Stage 307

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 307

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

After many years in business, I’m convinced that none of us has the strengths and interest in all the areas needed for success, including solution changes, finance, marketing, and operations. If your relish the challenges of creating an innovative solution or business model, then this is the type of work you must seek.

Metrics 272

Metrics Early Stage Finance Programming 272

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2019

Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in the classic book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Duffy emphasizes the often overlooked personal side of entrepreneurship, including balancing finances, relationships, and your health. Moderate your optimism.

Early Stage 317

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 317

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.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. Startups are in fact only temporary organizations, organized to search –not execute–for a scalable and repeatable business model.

Lean 300

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 300

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

That is to say, they’d want to be able to control costs and revenues at a high level. million early-stage raise that involved pitching to over a dozen PE firms, which took months to negotiate. Background: Recording Excellence , an online music mixing startup, closed a small PE early-stage funding round a few years ago.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

In describing the competitive landscape, show how your business model creates competitive advantages, and – more importantly – defensible barriers to entry. Financial Plan Goal of the financial plan: Explain how your business will generate returns for your investors. Detail all revenue streams. market research).

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

One of the most important decisions a new business owner can make is how they’re going to finance their venture. . Bootstrapping, saving funds over years, borrowing from friends and family, taking out a bank loan and pitching investors are all viable options, but some will work better than others for your specific business. .

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Or should they look to one of the new wave of Revenue-Based Investors? Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. But should they?

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. And EVEN if you ARE an experienced entrepreneur, all but just a few VCs still want to see customer validation, business model validation and traction, before they will invest. I call it drip-financing. Kir Devries.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

ReadWriteStart

MAY 5, 2011

The smart home business is still in the very early stages in India, and it will take some time before Evolutech ramps up. We can derive GeoInvenio's business model and pricing model based on that. You can select the business you like best through a poll on the 1M/1M Facebook page.

Costa Rica 115

Costa Rica Incubator Silicon Valley India 115

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Consider convertible debt Before diving into a seed round, you may want to consider convertible debt over equity financing. Some came from angel investors, but we also sought out industry experts to be early contributors in this stage, which leads me to tip number three.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

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] That's hundred grand annual revenue. And that became about, and now is about 40% of HubSpot's revenue. Questions I ask Peter Caputa: [0:48] What exactly does Databox do? [02:06] Social media.

Metrics 75

Metrics Analytics Forecast Software Review 75

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

First up was Brad Barrett presenting GrillGrate , a grill accessory with which Brad has built a year-to-date revenue of $400,000. I will work with him on his inventory financing strategy. Her upcoming campaign of reaching out to 100,000 moms will be one of the first concerted efforts to actually test her business model.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114

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

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

But before your business really gets off the ground, you need to make sure you have your accounting administration set up properly. Accounting may seem like the most mundane aspect of running a business, but it’s also the most essential to keep on track —especially during the early stages. Keep refining your methods.

Small Business 60

Small Business CPA Finance Warrant 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2018

Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in the classic book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Duffy emphasizes the often overlooked personal side of entrepreneurship, including balancing finances, relationships, and your health. Moderate your optimism.

Early Stage 158

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 158

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

But to do it, you need to actually have a sustainable business model. Starting a business is too risky. Prior to founding Carely , Michael Eidsaune earned his MBA in finance and spent several years in investment management, eventually earning his level 1 CFA certification. Our revenue model was wrong.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2014

Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in a new book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Duffy emphasizes the often overlooked personal side of entrepreneurship, including balancing finances, relationships, and your health. Moderate your optimism.

Entrepreneur 265

Entrepreneur Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue 265

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 30, 2018

From the outside, it might appear that accounting and finance are complex tasks in need of simplification. In the case of early-stage companies, the work can often be done by an entrepreneur with a basic understanding of financial modeling. offices and equipment) when to pay suppliers or seek financing (e.g.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Early Stage Acquisition Forecast 100

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

But to do it, you need to actually have a sustainable business model. Starting a business is too risky. Prior to founding Carely , Michael Eidsaune earned his MBA in finance and spent several years in investment management, eventually earning his level 1 CFA certification. Our revenue model was wrong.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 120

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

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. Pre-seed tends to be about developing an MVP and generating early traction. A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”?

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? All things being equal, of course, you’d rather have more revenue rather than less. And yet revenue alone is not a sufficient goal. More on that in a moment.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Today, the telecom industry charges customers based on fixed price business models for data services. Sequoia has financed them. Its mission is to help a million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond, build $1 trillion in sustainable global GDP, and create 10 million jobs.

Cloud 117

Cloud Fractional CTO Entrepreneur Bandwidth 117

Steve Blank

AUGUST 20, 2013

Business Model Issues. Recently, the financing of innovation in medical devices has collapsed even further with most Class III devices simply unfundable. on medical device revenues, regardless of profitability delays or cash-flow breakeven. Early stage Venture Capital for medical device startups has dried up.

Startup 296

Startup Venture Capital Lean IPO 296

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2010

The role of a founding CEO in a startup searching for a business model is radically different than a CEO building and growing a company. Certain VC’s like the new class of Super-Angels and small VC funds specialize in the early stage of a startup where you are searching for a business model. Lean Startups ?

Founder 231

Founder Vesting Later Stage Early Stage 231