Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2010

After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. Product or service readiness. This is the dreaded “due diligence” process.

Technical Review 225

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Private Equity 225

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

In many instances, you raise an institutional round to either fulfill a product strategy or go-to-market strategy or you’re increasing sales and marketing hires, so you have better visibility into what needs to happen in the next six, 12, 18 months. In terms of negotiation, there are always hot buttons. Business model?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

You must have a prototype or a minimum viable product (MVP). One should also establish the proof of concept of your business before you can qualify for funding. Ground rules of funding. ? Firstly, not all businesses are fundable. This kind of funding is only applicable if the product is unique and innovative.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

My blog linked to Brad Feld’s blog because I was so grateful for his series on term sheets and he was one of the biggest reasons that as a VC I felt compelled to blog. There was no viral social networking products back then like Twitter where people could easily discover your content. Free product.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Gust

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. Product or service readiness. This is the dreaded “due diligence” process.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Private Equity 152

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

After stints as a technology investment banker, a dot-com entrepreneur, and a product manager in Silicon Valley, I moved to Los Angeles in 2006. Encyclopedic knowledge of term sheets and startup buzzwords can be quickly learned, trained, and packaged. Ability” vs. “Knowledge”. The top tier funds see almost all of the best deals.

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Womble Bond Dickinson has released a white paper on Performance Aligned Stock and a term sheet on ImpactTerms.org. . (If That said, John Berger observes, “I can easily make a low-risk, debt-like Flexible VC deal, or a high-risk equity-like deal, and I can do it using the same term sheet with different terms.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

In some cases, great companies massively expand the definition or potential of the market with innovative products, technology leverage, and great execution. I was speaking to the former CFO of one of our most valuable portfolio companies the other day, and she recounted how this company once pitched 70 investors to barely get a term sheet.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 12, 2017

You should assume your target has substitutes for your product, has an overflowing inbox, and is being wooed by others. The more mature and visual your product, and the better your customer reference base, the less need there is to propose a baby step. In that case, you are not making a specific offer; you are soliciting a terms sheet.

Term Sheet 48

Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Merger 48

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

In some cases, great companies massively expand the definition or potential of the market with innovative products, technology leverage, and great execution. I was speaking to the former CFO of one of our most valuable portfolio companies the other day, and she recounted how this company once pitched 70 investors to barely get a term sheet.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

Up and Running

MAY 18, 2016

You’ll learn more about what destroys startups, how to use the Customer Development method to succeed, how to use the Business Model Canvas, how to identify and keep your customers, and how to drive profits. Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. B y Cindy Alvarez.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

In some cases, great companies massively expand the definition or potential of the market with innovative products, technology leverage, and great execution. I was speaking to the former CFO of one of our most valuable portfolio companies the other day, and she recounted how this company once pitched 70 investors to barely get a term sheet.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

Up and Running

JANUARY 7, 2020

One of the biggest challenges we overcame at Skylift was getting product-market fit to prove to investors we had a viable business. . You’ll notice I don’t have to tell you about our product for you to understand the impact it has on the world. Instead, what you read is how to communicate product-market fit.

Product 82

Product Marketing Silicon Valley Term Sheet 82

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Note to self, this event is not for alpha products with no customers. Use the 10-5-3-1 formula for raising money: Have 10 great meetings with investors, 5 of those do detailed due diligience on your company, get 3 term sheets, and 1 transfer into your bank account! Check out the twitter feed from the event.

CTO Hire 49

CTO Hire Cofounder Fractional CTO San Francisco 49

K9 Ventures

APRIL 27, 2011

Arlo and AJ had built a stunning new way of doing product discovery for soft goods. So far, almost every shopping website shows products either in an endless list of “Next Page” links (hint hint Amazon — you have so much room for improvement!), or by using keyword search, which doesn’t really cut it.

Software Review 134

Software Review Technical Review IP Finance 134

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

Some VC’s are walking away from signed term sheets. Remember, a year from now no one wants to be the CEO of a company out of business whose lament is, “I did what the board told me to do.”. Days 3 and 4: Prepare new business model and operating plan. Or to launch new products?

South Korea 333

South Korea Salary Business Model China 333

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

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Note to self, this event is not for alpha products with no customers. Use the 10-5-3-1 formula for raising money: Have 10 great meetings with investors, 5 of those do detailed due diligience on your company, get 3 term sheets, and 1 transfer into your bank account! Check out the twitter feed from the event.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Cofounder Fractional CTO San Francisco 40

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

Staring at us in the board meeting were three term-sheets from brand name VC’s and an unexpected buy-out offer from Google. They wanted to build an industry not just a product or a company. They used Customer and Agile development to search for a scalable and repeatable business model to become a large company.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 26, 2022

They’ll obviously see the value of what you built and will be compelled to offer a term sheet on the spot. You’re spending most of the time talking about the market, the product, the financials of the whole thing, when in reality the person across the table is trying to figure out if your brain is awesome or broken.

Founder 103

Founder .Net Term Sheet Aggregator 103

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Pivoting - Chris Dixon , June 14, 2010 My Hunch cofounders and I frequently ask ourselves: “If we were to start over today, would we build our product the same way we had so far?&# Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

Gust

DECEMBER 27, 2012

You should know EVERYTHING about your business, product, customers and competition. You should have a crystal clear understanding of your business model and your financials. At the other end, do your homework to really understand which investors would be the most productive for you to approach.

Software Review 164

Software Review Term Sheet Technical Review Angel Investor 164

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Here’s some big news for San Diego’s innovation economy: There’s a new venture capital firm in town—and its investment methodology represents a fundamentally different approach to the conventional business model for venture investing. It took another 21 months or so for Correlation Ventures to secure its first $8.5

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

K9 Ventures

JUNE 30, 2016

Now, what do you do when you get an email from a VC firm, that says something like: Dear <Founder’s Name>, We recently came across your company in {TechCrunch | Term Sheet | StrictlyVC}. Saw that you’ve raised a seed round and are building a AI platform for chatbots.

Email 96

Email Database Term Sheet Partner 96

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

I spoke about the topic on Fox Business News yesterday in a great session with TechCrunch50 winner RedBeacon and will post it along with my other VC Videos when Fox puts it on their website. The promised to follow up with: calls, using your product, talking to customers or “noodle on things.&# Will they?

Campaign 277

Campaign Email Venture Capital Term Sheet 277

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Every year I teach classrooms full of students who leave class understanding the basics of how to search for product/market fit—and thinking their next goal is to “get funded.”. You (think) you have product-market fit with real customers and real revenue and need money to grow and expand. It’s sometimes called “product/market fit.”

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

When I decided I wanted to start a company, I realized that I needed to pick up certain skills first, like product management, knowledge of online services, and a practical understanding of commercial software development. Going to business school is one of the worst places to accomplish this. It’s okay to prepare yourself first.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

When I decided I wanted to start a company, I realized that I needed to pick up certain skills first, like product management, knowledge of online services, and a practical understanding of commercial software development. Going to business school is one of the worst places to accomplish this. It’s okay to prepare yourself first.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

But with so many investors still licking their wounds from the dot-com bust, many focused on proven business models, such as advertising or e-commerce. Normally, you’d expect us to explain our product — i.e., what “professional people search 2.0” The blue boxes identify the corresponding markets for those products.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Is there a profitable business model? The Traditional VC Pitch Entrepreneurs who pursue the traditional product development model don’t have customer data to answer these questions.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Tim Keane

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

« Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations | Main. |   A bottom up market model goes something like this.   Our product/service will save (audience) a lot of money.    In fact, we estimate $X per year based on current spending for this product/service. 

Marketing 116

Marketing Wisconsin Startup Angel Investor 116

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2018

It's difficult to assess whether the reason why a black female isn't getting funded is because of a problem with her business model or whether it's because she isn't getting taken seriously because of who she is. With consumer products, it's a little more difficult. I offered a term sheet to lead a $1.6mm financing.

Founder 100

Founder Conversion Naming Term Sheet 100

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

I took a look back at our original financial model we presented to VCs in 2004. The business model (OEM through broadband and home security companies for mass distribution) if not specific product functionality has remained largely the same. offering to invest $75K if we could find another $250K by September 30, 2005.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2012

Additionally, this focus will allow everyone within the team to make more accurate decisions faster, as it’s clear who you are building your product for. For many start-ups, the central focus is developing a product that offers value to a target audience. Make sure you check and understand the term sheet and overall deal.

Bankruptcy 121

Bankruptcy Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence 121

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

Many very successful, non-technology companies have also been products of venture capital, including Home Depot, Starbucks, and Staples. Having been through the company-building process myself and after a decade in VC working with thousands of companies and negotiating hundreds of term sheets, I wrote this book to help demystify the process.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Automation allows you to spend less time on tedious tasks and will help boost productivity, especially within a small marketing team. Russell Rothstein, Founder and CEO, IT Central Station , a product review site, said, “We see VCs on our site very often. They read reviews of the products of target investments.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

When I was an entrepreneur there was no public information about how term sheets worked or how investors thought. The principle of microeconomics is that at a market-clearing price for any product the right amount of sellers and buyers will emerge and a price will be set. All of these are false.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150