ReadWriteStart

JULY 20, 2023

While venture-backed startups struggle to find relief amidst a backlog of richly priced ventures, some tech companies are defying expectations and going public with resounding triumphs. These companies primarily sell access to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products, but they frequently face challenges in achieving operating leverage.

IPO 107

IPO Startup Initial Public Offering eCommerce 107

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of someday taking their startup public, and making it a multi-national powerhouse. Typical costs for startups today range from $250,000 to $1 million, even if the offering does not go through. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 242

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 242

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

And from a financial perspective, any investor would be better off buying stock in Amazon than buying and share of a corner bookshop; if you invested $100 in Amazon’s 1997 initial public offering (IPO), those shares would have been worth about $120,000 in 2018. To blitzscale successfully, you need a successful business model.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

VC’s worked with entrepreneurs to build profitable and scalable businesses, with increasing revenue and consistent profitability – quarter after quarter. The reward for doing so was a liquidity event via an Initial Public Offering. The Business Plan (Concept- Alpha-Beta - FCS ) became the playbook for startups.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

Investors look for a team with business, financial, marketing, and operational skills, as well as a social passion. Employs a profitable business model with customer traction. A winning business model, like Zappos, often benefits social needs as well as business needs.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Initial Public Offering Merger Acquisition 48

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

Your first year or two in business is where your dreams merge with reality and take a new form to guide your future efforts. Many entrepreneurs end up taking their company in a different direction after some time spent testing your initial business model.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

With this capital, the company propels itself to $50 million+ in revenues, and to either a sale to a strategic acquirer or to an initial public offering. By definition, companies that receive venture capital cannot fund their businesses from operations, and thus need to seek outside capital.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Version One Ventures

JULY 20, 2015

Bessemer offers a good overview of current valuations for different business models: SaaS, marketplaces, consumer, and ecommerce. You can see in their chart below that marketplaces get some of the highest revenue multiples because of their operational leverage and high defensibility at scale.

Valuation 60

Valuation Early Stage IPO eCommerce 60

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

Overall, nonventure-backed companies fail more often than venture-backed companies in the first four years of existence, typically because they dont have the capital to keep going if the business model doesnt work, Harvards Mr. Ghosh says. Languishing businesses were counted as survivors. Of the 6,613 U.S.-based

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107