Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

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Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Two developments have changed the face of startup investing in the UK in recent years. When startups can do more with less money the returns from investing small amounts of money go up, and that can be seen in rising Series A valuations and declines in the average amount of money raised before exit.

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 119

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1

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Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 112

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2013

One of the challenges for investing in startups has always been the lack of an established way for founders and investors to actually measure and decide on the valuation of the startup concerned. ” Ideaspotting investment pre-money valuation valuation Worthworm'

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Web Technical Review Angel Investor 150

Berkonomics

JANUARY 28, 2021

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up pre-money valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Why fight about valuation, or disappoint the founder at the outset?

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 62

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

I believe the Maker Movement and hardware startups with limited resources are made for each other. They come at the early stage while a startup has no revenue or valuation, so professional investors are hard to find. Network with potential cofounders and strategic partners.

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Startup Cofounder Incubator Early Stage 397

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

This post originally appeared in TechCrunch back in 2015, written by our co-founder and managing partner Erik Rannala. Like a teenager with a million-dollar allowance and an identity crisis, a startup with too much capital and no product-market fit will become capable of making larger mistakes. Hire the wrong people.

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Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

The email continued, &# The problem I’m working on is that many founders are either making uninformed decisions or inefficiently learning the new skills they need. The solution I’m exploring is a just in time learning methodology that accelerates founders’ learning curve by aggregating relevant content, peers and mentors.&#.

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Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 333

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5%

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

VC Cafe

AUGUST 2, 2022

As an early stage investor in the world of gaming and metaverse technology at Remagine Ventures, I find these companies have the potential to set the agenda, become the potential platforms for developers building in this space and future acquirers/consolidators of startups building the next generation of the Internet.

IP 206

IP Cofounder Valuation Acquisition 206

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you. Of course, unlike cars there is no direct comparison across each startup so these are just some general guidelines to try and even the information field.

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Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2017

They come at the early stage while a startup has no revenue or valuation, so professional investors are hard to find. Provides networking with cofounders and strategic partners. Countless startup teams have already been spawned from these. Accelerates the trend to higher purpose startups.

Technical Cofounder 153

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Wiki Cofounder 153

Genuine VC

JULY 9, 2013

Recently, we surveyed our Boston-based NextView portfolio Founder/CEOs asking them about which service provider firms they’ve been using. Although these startups are very diverse businesses themselves, they face similar requirements (especially in that they’re currently all in the seed to Series B range of company stage).

Early Stage 246

Early Stage Boston Portfolio Silicon Valley 246

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

There’s been a lot of digital ink spilled around the various types of capital available to startups today. What is it, and how should founders think about it? As a startup grows, venture debt becomes a viable option to continue that growth. You’ll also see some startups use it as an additional cushion.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Another topic we debated early in the program was “lean startup” vs. “ fat startup ” where we both took the obvious hedge and said “it depends.” If I were a number 3-5 players I’d be looking to exit early while there’s still a lot of enthusiasm for this hot market.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

Startups focus on speed since they are burning cash every day as they search for product/market fit. But over time code/hardware written/built to validate hypotheses and find early customers can become unwieldy, difficult to maintain and incapable of scaling. These shortcuts add up and become what is called technical debt.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. 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). I thought I’d revisit it and share the story… First, you have to rewind mentally to early 2003. May 26, 2011.

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Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Entrepreneur Homepage Startups Starting a Business Home How-To Guides Startup Basics Business Ideas Business Planning Startup Financing Success Stories Home-Based Business Starting a Business Play Video How to Take a New Product from Just an Idea to a Business (Video). Startup Basics Does College Matter for Entrepreneurs?

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

In venture capital in particular, early-stage companies are often operating in frontier industries, where the rules are unpredictable and conventional analytic frameworks may be misleading. The only problem that faces startup investors now is how to mine this new data layer efficiently to increase returns.”. Pitchbot.vc

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

So even if my own mother asked me to meet with you, and you were pitching me a biotech opportunity for a $10 million investment at a $90 million valuation, I might take the meeting, but it wouldn’t be particularly useful for either of us. And that’s how to get a meeting with David S.

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

Her background includes senior roles in both the banking and tech sectors, and she has launched four data businesses—including her current firm, New Frontier Data , which boasts a $20 million valuation and has received $5 million in funding. According to Fortune , in 2006, female founders were involved in only 2.95

Venture Capital 82

Venture Capital Lean Cofounder Technical Review 82

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

of teams’ online pitch decks and recorded videos, as well as loved the dozens of second-round video conversations which we had with Founders working on quite compelling startups. Many of these Founders we wouldn’t have had an opportunity to connect with if we hadn’t launched this program.

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

The world of startups is a bit like a gold rush right now: there’s lots of money to be made, almost no rules regarding who will make or lose it, and only a few will actually see a sustained profit at the end of the day. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with startups that can’t initially generate cash. More Independence.

Startup 130

Startup Revenue Cofounder Angel Investor 130

mashable.com

OCTOBER 16, 2010

All of this is according to Paul Graham, co-founder of the early-stage investment fund Ycombinator. During a presentation at Startup School at Stanford University earlier today, the prolific investor discussed the state of startup funding with a packed auditorium of students and entrepreneurs.

Angel Investor 84

Angel Investor Venture Capital Social Media Technical Review 84

mashable.com

OCTOBER 16, 2010

All of this is according to Paul Graham, co-founder of the early-stage investment fund Ycombinator. During a presentation at Startup School at Stanford University earlier today, the prolific investor discussed the state of startup funding with a packed auditorium of students and entrepreneurs.

Angel Investor 83

Angel Investor Venture Capital Social Media Technical Review 83

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

For Startups And Winning SEC Approval, AngelList Opens Up Investment Platform To More Companies. In December, AngelList , a service that matches early-stage startups with investors, debuted the ability to allow accredited investors to actually invest in startups on the platform with as little as $1,000.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 10, 2022

I love working with great people and as a venture capitalist, am fortunate the number of founders I’m impressed by far exceeds our investment capacity. Here’s an example of a founder that I’ve known for a while who recently raised a seed round with different firms than ours. fundraise came about & why it didn’t include me (yet).

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Founder Acquisition Startup 89

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

by Tom Larkin, cofounder and CEO of Social Rebate. Be willing to take feedback and tweak your model, especially in the early stages. Many entrepreneurs do a strong job of research up front, in the idea formulation stage, but fail to continue it through the development stage. Be realistic about your valuation.

Cofounder 154

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Early Stage Valuation 154

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 29, 2018

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series/ebook, over the years I’ve noticed that I tend to frequently share certain Lucky7 posts with entrepreneurs we’ve backed , team members at data.world, or other startup investors I know. Since I first wrote about the Golden Age in 2014, valuations for tech companies have only increased?—?rather

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Austin Technical Review Advisory Board 48

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

The world of startups is a bit like a gold rush right now: there’s lots of money to be made, almost no rules regarding who will make or lose it, and only a few will actually see a sustained profit at the end of the day. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with startups that can’t initially generate cash. More Independence.

Startup 78

Startup Revenue Cofounder Angel Investor 78

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 12, 2017

Securing adequate financing for any new venture nowadays is an exceptionally difficult proposition, which is why angel investors are considered so valuable to the startup ecosystem. This due to equity ownership interest often requiring an exchange for the early stage funding provided by the investor. Credible Experience.

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Angel Investor South America Early Stage Africa 100

Austin Startup

JULY 22, 2021

On October 4th, five technology startup finalists will pitch to a panel of advisors and judges made up of successful investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders. Any software, hardware, or CPG startup in Texas with a female founder or co-founder can apply to participate. Startups, submit your application now!

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San Antonio Dallas Houston Founder 107

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Seed investors are aplenty and of course they need downstream money to fuel their early-stage bets. I told my friend that I felt that in 2014 too many new VCs feel the pressure to chase deals, to be a part of syndicates with other brand names and to pounce on top of every startup whose numbers are trending up quickly.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2014

I believe the Maker Movement and startups are made for each other. They come at the early stage while a startup has no revenue or valuation, so professional investors are hard to find. Network with potential cofounders and strategic partners. Countless startup teams have already been spawned from these.

Entrepreneur 246

Entrepreneur Detroit California Cofounder 246

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 18, 2019

by Chris Grey, co-founder and COO of CapLinked. In the uber-competitive startup world, surviving is success in itself. Conventional wisdom says that 90% of startups will fail. As a founder, you have to come to terms with not having complete control — of your team, the market, or your valuation.

Cofounder 127

Cofounder Startup Private Equity Equity 127

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

Think of startups and early stage businesses whose entrepreneurs you know. Two: Co-management. So, co-management is the second group to share in the bounty upon a liquidity event. The third group is made of the total number and types of investors, other than the founder(s). Reward for early risk.

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Liquidity Event Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder Initial Public Offering 96