VC Cafe

JANUARY 15, 2024

A billion dollar valuation, the Unicorn status was once the holy grail for many VCs and founders. At zero interest rates with a seemingly never ending flow of capital to fuel growth, Unicorn creation rate hit a peak in 2021, but fast forward 3 years and justifying a billion dollar valuation seems more like a liability.

IPO 89

IPO Valuation Private Equity 89

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

— all great things when you are executing and scaling a known business model. Because the new CEO had built a team capable of and comfortable with executing an existing business model, the company would fail or get acquired. Sandberg had been the vice president of global online sales and operations.

Founder 269

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 269

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 5, 2020

6- The global automotive. The global automotive industry is going through an enormous disruption these days. The global automakers and suppliers will be adapting their business models accordingly, forming new partnerships and investing in new technologies. Thanks to Parker Lawrence, AlltimePower ! #6- 21- Fintech.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur China 157

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

The pervasive ability and need to communicate constantly and globally through the Internet and smartphones is incenting everyone to get more out of their own assets and time, and capitalize on the idle resources of others. One consequence of the new sharing business model is that goods become services.

Cuba 316

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 316

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

In addition to FOMO it is partly driven by massive increase in valuations for earlier-stage companies who raised money at bit seed prices but who still have product risk. million pre-money valuation is now raising $1 million at a $12 million valuation the next investor has nowhere to go but up (or sit out the investment).

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Agile VC

JANUARY 13, 2016

Was this simply a shift in sentiment among the tech & business media? A realignment of valuations by late stage investors? Potential for instant global distribution (mobile app stores, Facebook, etc). But growth dried up (due to competitive pressures, changes in business model, etc) and today Zynga has a market cap of $2.2B

Technical Review 157

Technical Review .Net Revenue Software Review 157

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

Continuous innovation requires the imagination and courage to challenge the initial hypotheses of your current business model (channel, cost, customers, products, supply chain, etc.) Their need to get into high-profile deals has driven late-stage valuations into unicorn territory. The founders.

Restful 238

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 238

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

Do I think we are in a valuation bubble? I think that later stage valuations are frothy (for reasons I explain below) while earlier stage valuations are starting to stabilize from previous highs (with the exception of the superstar serial entrepreneur) - turns out scaling in a sea of competition (both startup and entrenched) is not so easy.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 15, 2020

If you want to feel bullish on how Lightning can be used as global payments rails, read this comprehensive essay by Nicolas Burtey of Galoy. TL;DR: The best analogue for Bitcoin itself is a global settlement layer like Fedwire (run by the Federal Reserve for interbank settlements with an average transaction size of $2 million).

Networking 168

Networking Global OTC Security 168

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 30, 2017

What is your business model? Social enterprises have unique challenges when building a business model. Generally, investors focus on growth, profits and valuation. Social enterprises need a business model that demonstrates value while remaining true to a social mission.

Global 100

Global Argentina Elevator Pitch Business Model 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Yes, it’s true that FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving some irrational behavior and valuations amongst uber competitive deals and well-financed VCs. In 1997, the year the Kauffman Report begins its analysis; there were 70 million users online globally. There are 20x more consumers online. Bottom of the sales funnel. And the future?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

But how strong is that business school network actually useful for entrepreneurs? There’s no question that going to a business school builds your network. You’re going to school with somewhere between 200 to 800 people who are going to be future global business leaders; these relationships can be enormously valuable.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

But how strong is that business school network actually useful for entrepreneurs? There’s no question that going to a business school builds your network. You’re going to school with somewhere between 200 to 800 people who are going to be future global business leaders; these relationships can be enormously valuable.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Data companies more focused on later-stage companies include Avention , Bureau Van Dijk , BizQualify, Dow Jones , FactSet , Genesis , S&P Global Market Intelligence , DueDil , Core 2 Group , D&B Hoovers , InsideView , LexisNexis , Pitchbook , Preqin , PrivCo , SourceScrub , Refinitiv , and Unquote. If you have one, please contact me.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Hunter Walker

JULY 18, 2022

Multiples dropped in public and private markets, growth expectations were cut, and business models with high spend for promise of future ROI became quite unfavorable. The ‘valuation multiples’ reset also came with an increase in slope of the curve. A drop in growth rate turns into a drop in valuation multiple.

Valuation 116

Valuation Cap Table Startup Later Stage 116

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

The pervasive ability and need to communicate constantly and globally through the Internet and smartphones is incenting everyone to get more out of their own assets and time, and capitalize on the idle resources of others. One consequence of the new sharing business model is that goods become services.

Cuba 246

Cuba Venture Capital Community Valuation 246

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Typical business stage. An already proven business model and its already valuable assets. Typical business model. Flexible VC: Compensation-based. 2-5x return cap + path to uncapped equity returns.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Note that Clearbanc has a somewhat different business model than the RBI VCs I list here.). However, to raise RBI a woman founder does not need to promise a valuation of $1 billion within 5 years.

Revenue 60

Revenue Cofounder Founder Venture Capital 60

Growthink Blog

APRIL 15, 2015

Now given that the company has yet to even come close to breaking even, this can be viewed as either a great validation of Domo''s business model, or as more evidence of the “Bubble Mania” of the current technology financing landscape and a screaming signal to get out while you still can. And investors just can''t enough of them.

Valuation 48

Valuation Venture Capital Finance Acquisition 48

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 24, 2011

Additional work in figuring out the precise go-to-market consumer, academic institution, or enterprise - each is a different business), and consequent business model and pricing model will help enhance the company's valuation.

Illinois 114

Illinois Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Chicago 114

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 9, 2022

If your business model literally can’t work without you raising $50-100mm more, then you’re playing a pretty dangerous game that was always obviously heavily reliant on friendly capital markets that might disappear. So, yeah, that’s going to come down—especially because they likely got over their skis on valuation.

Stock 97

Stock Marketing Valuation Later Stage 97

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

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. Why not go further, develop more valuation, customer experience, and really, deeply validate the business? Next comes the topic of angels.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

Not really; it was a result of an industry investing into a frothy market at higher and higher valuations in expectation of near term liquidity, and suddenly the IPO window shutting, leading to no exits and little additional capital to support these companies. Taking all five at once is crazy.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

Start Up Blog

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Here are some of their key numbers below: Filed to float with a valuation of around $13b USD. The problem is that it has a technology company valuation. Valuation around $30b. It is purely connection via software, and hence deserves a technology company style valuation. DOOR DASH – IPO. Lost $450m USD last year.

IPO 62

IPO Valuation Software Venture Capital 62

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

” Venture debt gives you those options, and particularly for companies that wind up doing well, then on your same cash-out date, you’d likely have achieved a better milestone thanks to fueling your spend, which would translate into a better valuation. Business model? Traction and revenue? Previous capital raised?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

The fact that SaaS valuations are being more affected by the downturn than the Nasdaq can be surprising given the supposed resiliency of the SaaS model (recurring revenues) but it translates the public investors belief that SMB software spend is going to be hit very hard by this recession. SaaS 13 Index Valuation. anecdotes. (13).

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Portfolio 48

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2016

The pervasive ability and need to communicate constantly and globally through the Internet and smartphones is incenting everyone to get more out of their own assets and time, and capitalize on the idle resources of others. One consequence of the new sharing business model is that goods become services.

Cuba 120

Cuba Marketing Venture Capital Community 120

genylabs.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Small Business Labs, from Emergent Research , covers the key social, technology and business trends impacting small business. EMERGENT RESEARCH is focused on better understanding the small business sector of the US and global economy. SBA: Small Business Administration Office of Advocacys Home Page.

Equity 40

Equity Technical Review San Jose Stock 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2015

The pervasive ability and need to communicate constantly and globally through the Internet and smartphones is incenting everyone to get more out of their own assets and time, and capitalize on the idle resources of others. One consequence of the new sharing business model is that goods become services.

Cuba 120

Cuba Entrepreneur Venture Capital Community 120

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

But, you can iterate and iterate on features, but you cannot iterate your way to a business model. I’ve seen too many businesses get stuck or fail because of their endless pursuit for the magic new feature that is going to help them gain traction. Never, ever, choose your investors based on valuation.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

Up and Running

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Financial Summary: Explain your business model, startup costs, revenues, and liabilities to the company. This move can free up your time to pursue more clients instead of dealing with the nuts and bolts of the business on a daily basis. Key assumptions and risks : Acknowledge the assumptions you are basing your business on.

El Paso 61

El Paso Business Plan Technical Review Forecast 61

David Teten

DECEMBER 12, 2017

As a globally focused LP in early stage VC funds, we at Blue Future Partners have observed a growing trend of firms investing substantially in software tools, whether developing proprietary solutions or adopting off the shelf tools. But what tools are they using themselves to automate their own processes?

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Venture Capital 60

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

Valuations. There are a ton of companies being funded at $500+ million valuations--seriously limiting exit opportunities. Many of the private companies like AirBnb, Dropbox, and Square and that have been rumored to have big valuations are real, growing businesses. Are their valuations justified?

Angel Investor 104

Angel Investor Valuation Startup Revenue 104

Cracking the Code

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

If that were the case, most of the Cable and Wireless companies who have been using a similar business model would have gone bankrupt a long time ago and Saleforce would not have 20% FCF margins today. It is true that understanding this new business model is hard for a traditional software incumbent, as this interview demonstrates.

Software Review 48

Software Review Software Technical Review Cloud 48

thebarefootvc

MARCH 5, 2017

Entry valuations for these teams were high, often bid up by the interest in the sector (and scarcity of talent). Many teams, while discussing VC investment, were acquired by larger companies for their asking valuations. Some of the smartest fledgling teams have been acquired by Google, Apple, Uber and Facebook over the past few years.

Artificial Inteligence 84

Artificial Inteligence Algorithm Valuation Aggregator 84

David Teten

AUGUST 6, 2015

My colleague Paul Bianco serves as interim CFO for a number of ff Venture Capital ’s portfolio companies, and has built and reviewed hundreds of financial models. I also spoke with Michael Hutchens , CEO & Cofounder of BPM Global , which helps organizations more efficiently build and maintain financial models.

Balance Sheet 60

Balance Sheet Software Review Forecast Acquisition 60

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2012

Incubators and accelerators have provided a tremendous boost to the start-up ecosystem, but the arena also requires another medium to step in for those accelerator graduates – one that helps them scale, go global, and gain critical traction to attract market interest and investment. Crowdfunding (trend or hype)? Keep your feet on the ground.

Incubator 121

Incubator Turkey Estonia United States 121