Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2012

They need to realize that investors ask for projections, not merely as predictions, but more as commitments from the founder and his team. In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable.

Forecast 238

Forecast Burn Rate .Net Business Model 238

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Depending on the composition of the founding team, you might or might not have near-term holes in certain functions at the exec level – e.g. you’ll most likely need to bring on a CTO/VP of Engineering shortly after the seed round if you don’t have a technical co-founder.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

In both cases, the founder and I brainstormed on ways to shift the product in order to get closer to what I perceived as something that would be great. In both cases, the answer was that the founder would go to find other ideas, turn those into paper descriptions and validate it with customers. Customer Validation 101.

Customer 227

Customer Fractional CTO Viral Lean 227

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2011

They need to realize that investors ask for projections, not merely as predictions, but more as commitments from the founder and his team. In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable.

Forecast 230

Forecast Burn Rate Startup .Net 230

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 22, 2019

By the time they are up and running they are so busy with the day to day aspects of keeping their business ticking over that they can become overwhelmed at the time demands of invoicing, tax compliance and a thousand other distractions competing for their attention. One-stop-shop” accounting software. Staff requirements.

Software Review 176

Software Review Due Diligence Startup Stock 176

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 10, 2023

2- Yes, to build a customer-centric business model Photo Credit: David Brewer We based and built it around the idea that our industry could, and should do better and that was the model that we were going to implement that idea as our core objective. Thanks to Evan Tunis, Florida Healthcare Insurance ! #2-

Business Plan 127

Business Plan Jordan Entrepreneur Florida 127

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

He and his co-founder were both PhD’s in applied math who believe they can make some serious inroads on next generation search. Why a business plan is different than a business model. Instead of writing a full-fledged business plan, they had focused on building and testing a business model.

Business Model 328

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 328

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

But next the question is, ‘What happens to my business?”. The questions every startup or small business CEO needs to ask now are: What’s my Burn Rate and Runway? What does your new business model look like? Next, take a look at your actual revenue each month – not forecast, but real revenue coming in each month.

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

Who would have forecast that entrepreneur Gary Ross Dahl would make millions by starting a “ pet rock ” business way back in 1975? Investors look for entrepreneurs who talk about building a sustainable business, rather than highlighting the breakthrough elegance of the technology or the need for social change.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2011

Implement a new business model. Software as a service (SaaS) has now pretty much replaced the old licensing model, but offering it was a strategic risk for SalesForce.com. Be aggressive in your forecasts. Every investor has heard from the “conservative” founder who reduces his forecast to lower the risk.

Founder 245

Founder Forecast Startup Viral 245

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

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 7, 2014

Though Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg likened Facebook to electricity, a utility that sparked great interest at the time of its discovery before settling into the commonplace, 2013 saw a decline in teen use of Facebook, one of the flagship social media platforms. Word-of-Mouth Marketing.

Social Media 187

Social Media Forecast Media Channel 187

Up and Running

DECEMBER 26, 2018

Are you ready to start your business this year? Sometimes it can help to hear from small business founders who were able to breathe life into their business idea and make it go. These four founders shared their success stories with our LivePlan team over the past year. Allison Reitz, founder of Good Elephant.

Small Business 112

Small Business Founder Metrics Forecast 112

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Every Flexible VC structure allows founders to access immediate risk capital while preserving exit, growth trajectory, and ownership optionality. . Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2010

They need to realize that investors ask for projections, not merely as predictions, but more as commitments from the founder and his team. In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable.

Forecast 151

Forecast Startup Burn Rate .Net 151

Women Entrepreneurs Can

AUGUST 3, 2020

Leveraging technology within your business model can lay down the path for improved productivity, smoother operation, and increased profits. Predictive analytics forecasts future outcomes based on current and historical data. BPA cuts down on business costs and provides more reliable outcomes in results. About the Author.

Technical Review 52

Technical Review Operations Artificial Inteligence Technology 52

YoungUpstarts

JULY 27, 2020

by Michael Sipe, author of “ The AVADA Principle ” and founder of 10x Catalyst Groups. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, small businesses have reopened across the nation but certainty and optimism are a long way from being restored. We are in the early stages of a depression that’s going to go on quite a while.

Merger 205

Merger Forecast Early Stage Small Business 205

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 20, 2018

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! Starting up a business requires a lot of different steps. True, your business aspirations may be on a more modest scale than these world-famous brands. But where to begin?

Sweat Equity 93

Sweat Equity Startup Lean Italy 93

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

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 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

This is the home of Jason Cohen, software startup founder, bootstrapper, investor, and mentor. Jason does an excellent job explaining the math behind more complex subscription forecasting, but also touches on topics like marketing and company culture. As co-founder of Y Combinator and co-founder of the Viaweb which sold to Yahoo!

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

I wondered if business plans and 5-year forecasts were the right way to plan a startup. Experienced entrepreneurs kept finding that no business plan survived first contact with customers. So what would a search process for a business model look like? And in 2003 the Haas Business School at U.C.

Lean 317

Lean Georgia Michigan Business Model 317

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2012

Implement a new business model. Software as a service (SaaS) has now pretty much replaced the old licensing model, but offering it was a strategic risk for SalesForce.com. Be aggressive in your forecasts. Every investor has heard from the “conservative” founder who reduces his forecast to lower the risk.

Forecast 257

Forecast Viral Social Network Business Model 257

Transformify

JUNE 6, 2019

Why so many startups and small businesses fail to build a sustainable business? A single reason would make startup founders' and business owners' lives much easier but unfortunately there are too many of them. Quite often, such startups end up having no clear business model, let alone a sustainable business model.

Lean 56

Lean Management Technical Review Software Review 56

Steve Blank

MAY 14, 2012

Any dispassionate observer would recognize that on Day One, a start-up has no customers, and unless the founder is a true domain expert, he or she can only guess about the customer, problem, and business model. Founders, presuming they know their customers, assume they know all the features customers need.

Balance Sheet 335

Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 14, 2017

by Jon Leighton, Director of digital agency iResources and founder of neatly.io. Indeed some of the biggest names out there started off as a completely different business; including Twitter, Nintendo and most recently, Slack. But pivoting applies to all businesses and the theory behind it is exactly the same.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Architecture Revenue Channel 157

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2010

The startup founder who gets fired just as his/her company is growing into large company could be a cliché – if it wasn’t so true – and painful. I’ve been the founder who got fired, I’ve been on the board as my friends got fired and I’ve been the board member who fired the founders.

Agile 120

Agile Development Team Review Leadership Merger 120

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. That’s the sales forecast, the spending forecast and the cash flow. That’s a lean business plan. It is not a document.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

YoungUpstarts

MAY 26, 2017

by Edmund Buckley , co-founder & CEO of CampusSafe. Your pitch deck is the most important assets your business will have, arguably more than the business plan itself. Use a Bottom-Up Model. A common mistake is using a top-down model to forecast financials. Slide 3: Introduce your business model.

Cofounder 185

Cofounder Silicon Valley Forecast Business Plan 185

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

How does your business model make money? Good causes such as feeding the world’s hungry may help your marketing but may not sustain a business. The business model has to clearly define who is your customer, market penetration expected, how much customers pay versus total costs and the investment required to sustain cash flow.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

He is the co-­founder and CEO of Quote Roller and PandaDoc. 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. There is logic behind your thinking of how to determine which CAC is right for your business model.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

VC Cafe

AUGUST 23, 2022

In an email to a founder (shared with me confidentially) a partner in the fund said they’ve decided to deprioritise anything related to the creator economy for now to create more diversification in their portfolio. According to research firm Ampere Analysis, Global video game sales are forecast to contract 1.2%

Social Media 217

Social Media Revenue Video Distribution 217

Gust

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

Implement a new business model. Software as a service (SaaS) has now pretty much replaced the old licensing model, but offering it was a strategic risk for SalesForce.com. Be aggressive in your forecasts. Every investor has heard from the “conservative” founder who reduces his forecast to lower the risk.

Forecast 188

Forecast Viral Social Network Business Model 188

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 14, 2011

Then, Satish from Chennai, India, discussed Quantum Arc, a solution for predictive analysis and forecasting of fire breakout hazards by monitoring electrical/power infrastructures in major facilities. While the basic premise is compelling, and I am very interested in entrepreneurship opportunities in this area, the business model is flawed.

India 126

India Technical Review Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 126

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 16, 2012

TripAdvisor may be one of the most fascinating companies I know and so I was excited to dig into their business model as part of my series on scaling. TripAdvisor is more of a classic consumer Internet success story, but with even more powerful network effects and an amazing business model. Henry Harteveldt, Forrester.

Part-Time VPE 54

Part-Time VPE Software Review Costa Rica Technical Review 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2010

Implement a new business model. Software as a service (SaaS) has now pretty much replaced the old licensing model, but offering it was a strategic risk for SalesForce.com. Be aggressive in your forecasts. Every investor has heard from the “conservative” founder who reduces his forecast to lower the risk.

Entrepreneur 243

Entrepreneur Forecast Viral Business Model 243

Up and Running

MAY 3, 2012

From a young person’s perspective, with tight labour markets, decreasing barriers to entry, low capital-intensive business models and immediate free access to a global market, the appeal is also compelling. We need to insist that they set goals and milestones, create cash flow forecasts and devise ways to test their assumptions. ??We

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Technical Review Silicon Valley Lean 82