Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. Implement a modern real business model. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. Implement a modern real business model. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 18, 2022

This could be a home-based business, franchise option or whatever option looks attractive to you. One thing is certain, your business can succeed if you can put in the right energy and bring in the right people to kick-start it. 1- Health consulting business. I'm going to start a health consulting business.

Affiliate 62

Affiliate United States Entrepreneur Software Review 62

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. In all these cases, capital is provided to fuel forecasted growth without creating a commitment to a particular vision for future funding rounds, exit goals, and associated blitzscaling. Novel Growth Partners, Lighter Capital, Rev Up, Corl, Flow Capital.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

They collected information that justified their assumptions about the problem, opportunity, market size, their solution and competitors and the their team, They rolled up a 5-year sales forecast with assumptions about their revenue model, pricing, sales, marketing, customer acquisition cost, etc. A plan is static, a model is dynamic.

Business Model 328

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 328

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Union Square Ventures The next morning I got to spend time with Brad Burnham , partner at Union Square Ventures talking about their investment strategy and insights about web-based businesses. Bill and his partner Fred Wilson have invested in ~30 or so companies with 27 still active. It is related to business model.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

Jason does an excellent job explaining the math behind more complex subscription forecasting, but also touches on topics like marketing and company culture. It’s a great blog to visit, especially if you need help with your subscription business. Hunter is a partner at Homebrew and previously led consumer product management at YouTube.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

Steve Blank

MARCH 5, 2012

One of the confusing things to entrepreneurs, investors and educators is the relationship between customer development and business model design and business planning and execution. When does a new venture focus on customer development and business models ? Here’s an attempt to put this all in context.

Search 320

Search Business Model Customer Development Agile 320

Up and Running

AUGUST 28, 2018

You should go into this thinking about your business plan as a living document, not something you do once and then file away forever. Revisit and update it regularly by comparing your forecasts to your actuals and adjusting as necessary. First, your business plan laid out the opportunity at hand. Be specific. Operations.

Business Plan 72

Business Plan Technical Review Exit Strategy Oregon 72

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

I’ve heard many entrepreneurs deliver their pitch as if they’re auctioning off their grandmother’s antiques. It must be because they think they need to address every aspect of their business plan in one fell swoop, but doing so makes them seem anxious, tense, and nervous. Outline your business model. How much do they pay?

Sweat Equity 122

Sweat Equity Churn Rate Elevator Pitch Forecast 122

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

to nearly 5% of the total retail market, with a forecasted continuous increase. Today, eCommerce companies can scale up faster than almost any other consumer business model. This is due in part to the relatively simple and immediate validation of business models that are not fully dependent on advertising.

eCommerce 94

eCommerce Open Source SEM Technical Review 94

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

We have two great teaching assistants , plus we’ve rounded up a team of 25 mentors (VC’s and entrepreneurs) to help coach the teams. Business schools teach aspiring executives a variety of courses around the execution of known business models, (accounting, organizational behavior, managerial skills, marketing, operations, etc.).

Wiki 311

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 311

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. How does your business model make money? What are your forecasts for revenue, expenses and cash flow?

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Up and Running

OCTOBER 30, 2017

This article is part of our “ Business Startup Guide ”—a curated list of our articles that will get you up and running in no time! People often ask us for a list of steps they can use to start their own business. From business type to business model to physical location, there are so many variables!

Venture Capital 166

Venture Capital Business Plan Limited Liability Company Finance 166

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

At Palo Alto Software, I am surrounded by entrepreneurs. Our LivePlan customers are entrepreneurs, our founder and staff have run and sold companies, the Bplans readers are aspiring entrepreneurs (or actual entrepreneurs), and as I sell my own handmade jewelry, I like to think I have a very small claim to the title.

Curation 60

Curation Lean Software Review Finder 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

Entrepreneurs need to look more broadly into the business-to-business (B2B) space for more lucrative opportunities. Segments that come to mind include product tracking, navigation, safety, security, local business search, and payments. entrepreneur B2B startup smartphones location-based services business'

B2B 210

B2B Angel Investor Forecast Global 210

Up and Running

JANUARY 29, 2019

you can still reach out to those with similar business and revenue models. From there, do an actual sales forecast to model the revenue you think you’ll be able to bring in. Partners and resources. How the business will be funded. As you start your business , you may discover unanticipated challenges.

Lean 64

Lean Business Plan Revenue Forecast 64

Up and Running

JANUARY 24, 2014

I’ve heard many entrepreneurs deliver their pitch as if they’re auctioning off their grandmother’s antiques. It must be because they think they need to address every aspect of their business plan in one fell swoop, but doing so makes them seem anxious, tense, and nervous. Outline your business model.

Sweat Equity 138

Sweat Equity Churn Rate Forecast Business Model 138

Up and Running

MAY 30, 2022

It’s a living, breathing guide for existing businesses. One that business owners should revisit and update regularly. Actually writing a business plan is often a daunting task for potential entrepreneurs. This includes financial statements such as your profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet, and sales forecast.

Business Plan 150

Business Plan Balance Sheet Revenue Metrics 150

Steve Blank

JULY 28, 2011

The combination of Venture Capital and technology entrepreneurship is one of the great business inventions of the last 50 years. It provides private funds for untested and unproven technology and entrepreneurs. And they’ll do this using the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack.

Engineer 278

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Intellectual Property 278

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

A long-term business plan like this is different from a traditional business plan in that it’s lighter on the details and more focused on your strategic direction. It has less focus on financial forecasting and a greater focus on the big picture. Entrepreneurs are always thinking about the future.

Business Plan 83

Business Plan Lean Forecast Exit Strategy 83

genylabs.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Small Business Labs. Tracking and Forecasting the Trends Impacting the Future of Small Business. Welcome to Small Business Labs. Small Business Labs, from Emergent Research , covers the key social, technology and business trends impacting small business. Defining Small Business Innovation.

Equity 40

Equity Technical Review San Jose Stock 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2012

But entrepreneurs need to look more broadly into the B2B space for more lucrative opportunities. Segments mentioned include product tracking, navigation, safety, security, local business search, and payments. All you need is an innovative idea and viable business model to get your startup in line for the real mainstream.

B2B 206

B2B Angel Investor Mobile Forecast 206

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2011

But entrepreneurs need to look more broadly than this to tracking, navigation solutions, safety, security, local business search, and payments. LBS data can not only give you information to drive the relationship, but you can also use it to identify your sales reps with similar interests and partner them with the prospect.

B2B 227

B2B Startup Angel Investor Forecast 227

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2018

Historically, entrepreneurs have taken months to craft detailed plans without even gathering feedback from potential customers. Entrepreneurs have viewed business planning as a single hurdle to get their business up and running or a thick wad of paper to shove across a banker’s desk in order to get the funding they need.

Lean 134

Lean Forecast Software Review Business Plan 134

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

That’s great if you are tackling such a problem, but for most businesses, that’s not the reality. As long as you, as an entrepreneur, are solving a problem that customers have, you can build a business. Financial Summary - For a great pitch, you don’t necessarily have to show a detailed 5-year forecast.

Elevator Pitch 166

Elevator Pitch Forecast Oregon Differentiation 166

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Forecasting is sometimes done by dragging the mouse based on many assumptions, because it’s hard to predict the future. One question that keeps coming up when speaking with early stage entrepreneurs when it comes to funding, is what metrics the company needs to hit to raise seed/series A/B etc: What’s a good conversion rate?

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

The company has just missed its quarterly revenue forecast. As you rightly pointed out, though most of us as entrepreneurs are aware of these concepts, we don't dig deep, drill down and present the numbers / issues / solutions to the board and / or investors. Good board members want to know two things: Why that happened?

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

Hippoland

JANUARY 29, 2016

These are some things I wouldn’t include in an email deck include: How many people you are hiring Financial projections / forecasts These are hypothetical – the number of people you hire could change, and if an investor thinks you should hire 5 sales people instead of 4, you shouldn’t let that be what stops you from getting a meeting.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Angel Investor Entrepreneur Forecast 48

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

To give you a better idea of what entrepreneurs in this industry are thinking about during each phase of the startup process, I interviewed SaaS entrepreneurs from all over the world, including our own COO Noah Parsons. The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Up and Running

APRIL 28, 2015

Your business model has to truly be similar to the company you are referencing. If you aren’t solving some problem in the world, you are going to have a long uphill climb with your business. Investors will expect to see your sales forecast, profit and loss statement, and cash flow forecast for at least three years.

Forecast 60

Forecast Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 60

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Lean Planning is a set of tools for discovering a business model that works, building an action plan to test your assumptions, creating financial models and a plan for a viable business, and tracking your performance so you can adjust your plan on the fly, quickly and easily. Do startups have a manual?

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Up and Running

MAY 1, 2014

The vast majority of business owners and entrepreneurs aren’t business experts. Just like you, they’re learning as they go and don’t have degrees in business. Writing a business plan may seem like a difficult hurdle, but it doesn’t have to be. Your business plan isn’t complete without a financial forecast.

Business Plan 163

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Distribution 163