Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

You (think) you have product-market fit with real customers and real revenue and need money to grow and expand. What most founders don’t realize is: Every stage of a startup requires a different set of metrics and milestones and founder skills. Knowing these will help a founder position her pitch to get investors’ attention.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Version One Ventures

JULY 20, 2017

million seed round, we’re looking back at our journey with founders Mike Murchison and David Hariri. Intrigued, Boris reached out to Mike Murchison and learned that he and his co-founder David Hariri were building a social network to help others solves problems online. . By the summer of 2016, Volley was now Ada.

Artificial Inteligence 151

Artificial Inteligence Silicon Valley Stealth Term Sheet 151

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

This also appears as a guest post at Fortune’s Term Sheet. Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). Yes… he was a very successful PayPal exec and previously co-founder & VP Product of SocialNet.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2020

If you or your team sees you as an idea person, your first task as an entrepreneur should be to find a co-founder who can deliver. Finding a co-founder is rarely a bad thing, since two heads are always better than one in meeting all the startup challenges. Tailor investor proposals and term-sheets.

Entrepreneur 307

Entrepreneur Cofounder Term Sheet Acquisition 307

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

With open source software (LAMP stack) and cloud computing infrastructure it just wasn’t that expensive to get your company going and founders just wanted to raise less money. If a VC term sheet comes in they begin their due diligence process. A few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding.

Software Review 283

Software Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Southern California 283

mashable.com

JUNE 11, 2013

Or maybe the co-founders have a poisonous relationship that will hinder the companys growth. Check out the tips below from founders, CEOs and investors alike. Then remove half." — Jonathan Wegener , Founder, Timehop and ExitStrategy. ." — Jonathan Wegener , Founder, Timehop and ExitStrategy.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Technical Review Startup Software Review 111

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. ARR of $500K+. Decathlon Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

It included one firm who I asked not to call Salesforce.com as a reference (they were our largest pilot customer) and in their kindness they called Marc Benioff (the CEO) and asked his opinion. Another called Parker Harris, the co-founder and CTO. I thought, what would I do if I was trying to sell to a customer.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 13, 2021

However, too many people approach it by just copying what it seems like everyone else is doing without taking a hard look at what your actual goals are and really learning how to go about the job of Founder and CEO. I’m actively funding company builders in NYC —13 deals (11 led), plus three term sheets out in the last year.

Startup 145

Startup Term Sheet Differentiation Cofounder 145

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table. Founders however are asked to take low salaries and never really get back the time they worked for free.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Austin Startup

JULY 22, 2021

Any software, hardware, or CPG startup in Texas with a female founder or co-founder can apply to participate. All finalists will receive: A fast track into the Capital Factory portfolio where you will receive opportunities to get in front of potential investors, customers and employees. Female Founders!

San Antonio 107

San Antonio Dallas Houston Founder 107

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

In fact, choosing the right partner to champion your deal can have a huge impact on whether or not you get a term sheet in the first place. I understand that and actually think it’s ok because that partner gets experience with making investments, sitting on boards, finding co-investors, managing founder relationships, etc.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Detroit Early Stage Partner 150

Cracking the Code

JULY 5, 2016

PostoInAuto’s founder, Olivier Bremer, was terribly talented, but his business was not at a point where he could raise a significant investment. He was intrigued, so I connected him to BlaBlaCar’s founders who convinced him to join the adventure shortly after. Thus it is not only about the money.”

Italy 59

Italy Technical Review Germany Poland 59

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. .

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

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! Presenter: Jennifer Bonnett (Founder & CEO, Nexpense).

CTO Hire 49

CTO Hire Cofounder Fractional CTO San Francisco 49

Eric Friedman

AUGUST 18, 2021

Dan is the co-founder of Standard Treasury, a Y Combinator backed company. He is also co-founder and Managing Partner of Deciens Capital, an early stage investment fund. I hope you take this as a term of endearment. Fred Ehrsam , his co-founder, is also incredible. On Sushi and VC. Everything we do.

Silicon Valley 88

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Africa 88

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! Presenter: Jennifer Bonnett (Founder & CEO, Nexpense).

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Cofounder Fractional CTO San Francisco 40

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. The Business Model Generation was co-created by 470 Business Model Canvas practitioners from 45 countries.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

To learn more about this space, I suggest join an online community I co-founded, PEVCTech. . This provides us more time to develop meaningful relationships with prospects and customers. Russell Rothstein, Founder and CEO, IT Central Station , a product review site, said, “We see VCs on our site very often. 1) Manage the firm .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Haystack

FEBRUARY 9, 2019

At the beginning of 2018, we almost invested in a startup with two strong founders. To make a long and private story short, on the morning I was about to call the founders to let them know I was in, they decided to amicably part ways. A few months passed, and we ended up investing in the company with one of the original founders.

Artificial Inteligence 107

Artificial Inteligence Algorithm Term Sheet Cofounder 107

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

The reality today is that capital is more available than ever and entrepreneurs have become more sophisticated, so founders are looking for more than just cash from their venture backers. I’ve seen many founders not fully grasp how the venture capital business works and what incentives investors have.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2016

If you or your team sees you as an idea person, your first task as an entrepreneur should be to find a co-founder who can deliver. Finding a co-founder is rarely a bad thing, since two heads are always better than one in meeting all the startup challenges. Tailor investor proposals and term-sheets.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Term Sheet Acquisition Metrics 120

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of SNAZZ, a cloud-based event management platform. What are some of the unique benefits and constraints from the point of view of a founder? . Access to the corporate investor’s ecosystem can open up great opportunities from technology validation to customer and partner development.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2015

If you or your team sees you as an idea person, your first task as an entrepreneur should be to find a co-founder who can deliver. Finding a co-founder is rarely a bad thing, since two heads are always better than one in meeting all the startup challenges. Tailor investor proposals and term-sheets.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Startup Term Sheet Acquisition 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 12, 2015

I loved the founder but was struggling because this just didn’t seem “big enough” to me. They pass because of doubts about customer adoption. It’s not a question of “are there a lot of potential customers for this?” It’s more a matter of, “I don’t really believe that lots and lots of customers will buy/adopt this.”

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Marketing Angel Investor Term Sheet 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 12, 2015

I loved the founder but was struggling because this just didn’t seem “big enough” to me. They pass because of doubts about customer adoption. It’s not a question of “are there a lot of potential customers for this?” It’s more a matter of, “I don’t really believe that lots and lots of customers will buy/adopt this.”

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Marketing Angel Investor Term Sheet 120

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

signup, upgrade, trial pricing Zuora – online subscription management FeeFighters – find the cheapest credit card processors HealPay – Collections made easy Customer Support Tender – support, knowledgebase tool for your site GetSatisfaction - conversations between companies / customers.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2011

If they say yes you get a term sheet and once this is signed it is usually 3-6 weeks until your legal docs get signed and you’re funded. It can be a good strategy to bring just the CEO because 1-on-1 rapport is easier to build but if you have equally strong co-founders bring them. Who should attend the meeting?

Non-disclosure Agreement 340

Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Cofounder Term Sheet 340

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

You’d imagine that every founder was getting rich. Actually, positive outcomes for founders are quite rare. As a startup founder you rarely have much money in your bank accounts. But why don’t you just give me the damn term sheet you promised so I can trust you even more. It’s not. I know, right?

Monaco 420

Monaco Cofounder Chicago Mexico 420

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

A first order filter is whether the founders are aiming for a scalable startup. Now with customers and early revenue, it was out raising its first round of venture money. Staring at us in the board meeting were three term-sheets from brand name VC’s and an unexpected buy-out offer from Google. Go For Broke.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

Cracking the Code

MARCH 28, 2022

The first time I met Matan, Melio's co-founder and CEO, he told me that his mission was simple: he wanted to “help small business stay in business” by making B2B payments fast, simple and flexible. Starting a bookkeeping service was the fastest way to engage with customers. It was one of the most pivotal moments in our journey.

B2B 62

B2B Cofounder Small Business 62

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

At least for a couple of years until you’ve grown into your new valuation / made enough revenue / captured enough customers / etc. ” Getting a term sheet on the table is the second most sure way to get a potential acquirer to move faster. But I owe it to my existing investors and co-founders to listen.

Valuation 316

Valuation Balance Sheet Dilution Term Sheet 316

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

One of the highlights of my trip was a startup dinner which included Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of 37signals. 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? Now I have.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

Second, more damning is the “signaling problem.&# This means that if a VC invests in your seed round and does not participate in a future round the next round investor will think to himself, “well, if Big VC Co. We used the Y Combinator open source term sheet. That founder wasn’t one of your angels.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

.” Hackernews list of “Tools of the Trade” for startups - includes over 150 SaaS tools used by startups, and over 150 comments with interesting insights from founders. Steve Blank on Lean Customer Development. Customer service. Google Custom Search Engine. Customer Relationship Management.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Feld Thoughts

JULY 14, 2015

The feedback is “come back when you’ve made more progress with customers.” The term sheet converts all the convertible debt into a post-money valuation of $100, essentially making the convertible debt worthless. So the new investment gets 60%, the founders get 39.9%, and the $1m of seed money gets 0.1%.

Recapitalization 70

Recapitalization Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Angel Investor 70

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 19, 2013

Loss 1: Offered a Substantial Secondary Slot But Passed Since We Seek to Lead/Co-Lead. This opportunity looked juicy: two founders we knew previously, mission-driven, attacking a big market. At the time we were not ready to offer a termsheet because the founders were working in a new area. How do we take it to, well, 11.

Cofounder 105

Cofounder Term Sheet Seed Stage Portfolio 105