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. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary. Solicit funds from friends and family.

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Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

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. Business commercialization.

Product Development 120

Product Development Developer Product Angel Investor 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

As I looked around at other schools, I saw pretty much the same landscape – business plan classes, business plan competitions and loosely coupled accelerators that focused primarily on mentoring. It taught lean theory ( business model design , customer development and agile engineering) and practice.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

Nick Kim , Crosscut’s Head of Platform, in his presentation at the 4th Annual VC Platform Summit, shared their Platform development methodology, which he viewed as an exercise in product development. For example, recruiting writ large is useful at all stages of development.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 1, 2020

As we wanted a direct path to the user to ensure we would be providing the best user experience, we decided to go for a freemium model to lower the bar for developers to get started. million developers using our product. Developers have no barrier to getting started with Snyk. Today, we have around 1.5

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Open Source Development Team Review Security 62

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

A Venture Capital Firm is a firm that invests in startups and early-stage companies. Early-Stage Investments vs. Mid-Stage Investments. Investing in a startup company carries a high degree of risk, particularly at the early stage. They also look for a robust business model and product/market fit.

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Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event Seed Stage 52

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

But startups require money upfront for product development and later to scale. Some quick VC math : If a VC invests in ten early stage startups, on average, five will fail, three will return capital, and one or two will be “winners” and make most of the money for the VC fund. ——-. The Good News. FDA approvals?

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Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Private Equity 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2012

I got to spend time inside his company while I was using their software to analyze early-stage ventures. We’re building the wrong product!” ” “A pivot is a substantive change to one or more of components to your business model. And that’s where the problem was. A Pivot a Week. he’d declare. “We

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Founder Cofounder Advisory Board Burn Rate 316

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Public venture funding has become a valuable avenue for growth for early-stage businesses in the sector, helping to put Canada’s tech industry on the map for professionals both locally and abroad. million for early-stage companies and the US $42.2 million for late-stage companies in the United States.

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Canada Government Venture Capital Early Stage 127

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

You know, could you look at my business plan? See if the business model works, all these questions. So if you're running a small business, usually what you're doing, if it's a consulting business or any type of business, you are doing something similar to what other people have done in the past.

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? But all things are never equal.

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Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

What founders need to approach Pre-Seed VCs with confidence As a pre-seed investor I can share how we evaluate the attractiveness of investment opportunities we evaluate: Founding team – while the product, business model and market may all change with time, the founding team is the core of the company.

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Valuation Generative AI Software Review Technical Review 186

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Early stage startups have to survive one day at a time and are often presented with limited choices of the moment that enable them to continue. At early stages you probably don’t have an assembly line and can’t clearly define any particular job. Your Product Plan must fit into context of your overall business mission.

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Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

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 addition, I’ve noted a few multi-product lending firms, e.g., Kapitus and United Capital Source , which provide RBI as one of many structural options to companies seeking capital. . Alternative Capital. “

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

The Startup Magazine

JULY 16, 2018

Earlier this year at the FUND Conference in Austin, Texas, over 100 startups presented their early-stage companies in front of hundreds of investors and industry leaders. This experience prompted us to prioritize building the Yip Yap Kids app with a “bring your own device” subscription based business model.

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Startup Texas Angel Investor Mobile 77

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

We often tell founders that a business plan is nonsense. A business model, on the other hand, is a snapshot of your business assumptions at this moment in time. It''s that the business model is complex. Once you''ve stated those assumptions clearly, you run experiments to see if they''re valid.

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Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Beyond understanding your business strategy, investors will also want to understand your financial forecasts. They want to know how your business will function from a financial standpoint — what is typically called your “ business model.” Here’s where you describe the nuts and bolts of your business.

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Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Exit Strategy 138

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

They couldn’t keep up with the fast product development times that were enabled by using standard microprocessors. So their management teams were insisting that they OEM (buy from someone else) these products. Convergent Technologies was one of those OEM suppliers.

Technology 138

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 138

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

One way to conceive of our goal in an early-stage venture is to incrementally “fill in the blanks&# for the business model that we think will one day power our startup. For example, say that your business model calls for a 4% conversion rate – as ours did initially at IMVU.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

When seeking equity investments, the source of capital is, for the most part, tied to the stage of capital being raised. You see, equity capital is raised in stages or rounds. The five main stages include the following: 1. Early Stage Investment (Series A & B) 4. Pre-Seed Funding 2. Seed Funding 3.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? Can it scale?”

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

This post describes a solution – the Customer Development Model. In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provide the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 242

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

There is an inherent conflict in a consultant’s business model and the needs of a startup. Such positions include: PR, Sales, Product Development, Lead Generation, Strategic Planning, Fund Raising, etc. Their story, market positioning, products, etc. Yet, it does nothing to help you execute your business model.

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Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder PR 40

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Telecom O2 learning to move at the speed of the internet 500 Startups and their accelerated feedback loops on what works, and what doesn't work in early-stage investing. PayPal, under the leadership of David Marcus and Bill Scott, re-defining and re-engineering itself by embracing Lean Startup to improve the product experience.

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Lean Entrepreneur San Francisco Agile 167

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 1, 2012

Pivotability Nowadays everyone agrees that it’s both likely and healthy for an early-stage startup to be on the lookout for an intelligent pivot. If the market is small, it’s hard to get more than a few customers, so you need a business model like B that extracts the most amount of money from the limited available pool.

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Customer Revenue Acquisition Cofounder 320

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

2) What is the business model and the potential unit economics? Certain investors tend to gravitate towards certain business models. But, I think business-model-gravitation should be a big factor in whom you decide to pitch. This one is pretty investor-specific. I’ve also done some rabbit deals.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Business Model B2B Email 48

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

2) What is the business model and the potential unit economics? Certain investors tend to gravitate towards certain business models. But, I think business-model-gravitation should be a big factor in whom you decide to pitch. This one is pretty investor-specific. I’ve also done some rabbit deals.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Business Model B2B Email 48

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Most startups don’t have the luxury of hiring an experienced PM early in their journey. Many founders have to turn to brute force to figure it out, even when they themselves don’t have practitioner product management experience. they can range from customer acquisition, product engagement/stickiness, or business model.

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Hiring Bandwidth Product Early Stage 120

Women Entrepreneurs Can

MARCH 18, 2023

VCs typically invest in startups at the seed or early growth stage. They may help with product development, market research, or even setting up a management team. They Provide Business Expertise Venture capitalists provide business expertise to startups by guiding them from ideas to profitable companies.

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Artificial Inteligence Startup Early Stage Syndicate 52

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? This is the usual reason given for a marketing launch, but for most early stage startups, its a failure. You have to know your business model.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco Lean PR Early Stage 168

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

We were focused on revenue, but we didnt understand that revenue is not important for its own sake in an early stage company. No business model, either. All my products and ideas focus on early cash and a business model that works from the first day. Ultimately your product must be useful.

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 94

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

I hate business plan competitions – when they encourage students to write a “winning plan&# rather than teaching them how to get out of the building and use locally available resources to start a company. MootCorp in particular has an impressive track record of putting early stage tech companies on the right path towards funding.

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Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 140

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas. Your pitch is going to cover your strategy (what you’re going to do), your tactics (how you’re going to do it), your business model (how you will make money), and your schedule (who is doing what and when).

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 8, 2015

Do we believe “startup-driven” innovation (innovation that comes from relationships with external, early-stage companies) should be part of the corporate innovation portfolio? Wants to promote intrapreneurship to extend its business model and retain creative employees like Google, Amazon, and Facebook do.

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Silicon Valley Acquisition Boston Early Stage 120

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2010

Yet at their early stages, they are not small versions of larger established companies. The good news is this team found a business model, product/market fit and a repeatable sales model. The table below helps elucidate some of the characteristics of entrepreneurial executives by stage of the company.

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Agile Development Team Review Leadership Merger 120

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

enabling you to expand on an already working business model), and if you’re in the extremely early stages of building your company, you still need to develop your product. Product development. Raising money is all about enabling scalability (i.e. One Entrepreneurial Mom Shows You How It’s Done.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Startup Forecast Channel 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2014

Every startup needs access to capital, whether for funding product development, for initial rollout efforts, acquiring inventory, or paying that first employee. Most entrepreneurs think first of bank loans as the primary source of money, only to find out that banks are really the least likely benefactors for startups.

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Entrepreneur Finance Equity Early Stage 254