Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Median valuations for early-stage valuations tripled from around $20m pre-money valuations to $60m with plenty of deals being prices above $100m. was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. And we’re patient.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1 So what does an early-stage company do to avoid the doom and gloom plaguing the world of startups? If the answers are no, have an honest conversation with your VCs today. That includes us. We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins.

Early Stage 111

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 111

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 3, 2021

Still, you need to find some way to pull your company out of this early-stage quicksand. First, we need to address the core challenges of developing effective early-stage growth strategies for new businesses. Conversely, investing too heavily in the long term will make it harder to generate initial momentum.

Early Stage 125

Early Stage PPC Retention Churn Rate 125

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 21, 2023

There are a few situations where cutting corners, even in the early stages, can cause big headaches (and significant real money costs) in the future.

Technical Review 111

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Early Stage 111

Eric Friedman

JULY 19, 2019

Many early stage investors look for financial models for 3+ years from founders to make an investment. Like most posts, this request/conversation has come up enough to turn it into my thoughts + the best resources I have to help founders. In fact, for early stage companies you are usually wildly wrong.

Early Stage 114

Early Stage Startup Framework Revenue 114

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

conversation literally every week with startups. How much you raise determines valuation I know it sounds crazy but at the earliest stages of a company your valuation often is determined by how much money you raise. million and in my second company we raised only $500,000 by choice. I have this “How much should I raise?”

Pre-Money Valuation 292

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Early Stage Startup 292

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 20, 2014

We all have a sincere desire to understand how our UI is supporting conversion — or what obstacles or barriers exist. I reached out to fellow conversion optimization people, and asked them how they are going about qualitative research. It’s a proven tactic for increasing conversions. User testing.

Conversion 120

Conversion eCommerce Audience Analytics 120

Software By Rob

DECEMBER 20, 2016

The emails I’m highlighting here are easy to set up and pack a punch – ideal for early-stage products. You’ll learn how to: increase your signup conversions by 15%. improve your “trial-to-paid” conversions. Use the Signup Abandonment Email to increase your signup conversions by 15%. The best part?

Early Stage 27

Early Stage Email Fractional CTO Churn Rate 27

Software By Rob

DECEMBER 20, 2016

The emails I’m highlighting here are easy to set up and pack a punch – ideal for early-stage products. You’ll learn how to: increase your signup conversions by 15%. improve your “trial-to-paid” conversions. Use the Signup Abandonment Email to increase your signup conversions by 15%. The best part?

Early Stage 27

Early Stage Email Fractional CTO Churn Rate 27

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 2, 2013

Then I got an email that asked: I'm leading the marketing efforts for an early-stage startup. The challenge is that LinkedIn is not that great with finding people who were at early-stage startups. An early-stage startup is a different animal. And sometimes that grows into more conversations.

Startup 259

Startup Early Stage Incubator Los Angeles 259

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

You have an edge in the highly competitive world of early stage investing that comes from some combination of your experience, industry knowledge, and personal network. You enjoy meeting new people and have a healthy appetite for conversation. You have an authentic passion for startups and a deep respect for entrepreneurship.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review North America Seed Stage Bandwidth 156

Austin Startup

MARCH 8, 2021

Here’s how 5 Sputnik-backed, woman led early stage startups began and how they’re growing today. after founding her first company Alex Porter, co-founder of MOD Tech Labs Learning to Humanize Tech : how Alex Porter and Tim Porter started MOD Tech Labs and how they learned to succeed in the early days during Sputnik ATX.

Early Stage 63

Early Stage Cofounder Washington Startup 63

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

Instead what I prefer are conversations around linking team presence (being together, whether it’s in an official office or just somewhere) to the nature of the work to be done for a period of time. But these aren’t the discussions I enjoy most.

Early Stage 146

Early Stage Seed Stage Startup Software 146

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. Conversely many VCs believe that constraining cash can often lead to increases in creative solutions at a startup. Founder: “$250k / month.”

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

This may vary from fund to fund, but in general here is the top level criteria VCs would use to check initial fit: Stage – is the startup raising a round which is within the range of the fund (pre seed, seed, series A, early stage, growth, etc.). Stake – can the fund secure it’s minimum stake in the business?

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder Portfolio 166

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

And with so many new funds in the market and looking to put capital to work it’s no surprise that there was an even bigger boom in the numbers of deals being funded in the early-stage markets. I launched my first startup in 1999 so I know the economics of launching from first-hand experience. Why Has Seed Investing Declined?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

Austin Startup

JULY 7, 2019

Funding early-stage resources?—?how For early-stage, we raise 77 cents on the dollar to men. In our Q&A, the conversation was dominated by two of the male judges honing in one one slide about our performance several times over. Without these things, how are we supposed to get more women past early-stage!?

Early Stage 51

Early Stage Founder Austin Conversion 51

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

If you combine this with self-awareness, you get a powerful combination for an early stage CEO. The folks who recoil from these conversations or get defensive or blame others for every failure, that’s. Do you feel like it would take effort, but you could build a relationship? Do you trust them?

Technical Cofounder 101

Technical Cofounder Founder Cofounder .Net 101

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2020

When you are already juggling several tasks at the early stages of web development, focusing on the content and content quality may not rank high in your list of priorities. SEO goes beyond ranking, and is, in fact, about increasing conversion. Content Duplication or Spinning Helps in Short Term. You Do Not Need SEO Services.

SEO 147

SEO Semantic Web Development Engineer 147

View from Seed

MARCH 11, 2020

But in a way, seeing what an investor asks for gives you a sense of how they approach the stage of the business you are in. Conversely the VC is able to benchmark the maturity of your data and analytics function against other similarly staged companies as well. Having conversations with your existing investors.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Seed Stage 279

Version One Ventures

MAY 3, 2023

Sequoia, Accel, Lightspeed, Nexus, Matrix and Elevation came up in conversations all the time. Micro VC’s, dedicated seed funds, domestic funds and a domestic LP ecosystem are all still in the early stages of development. Venture Capital The VC scene is dominated by US and US-affiliated funds.

India 87

India LP Silicon Valley Vertical 87

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 11, 2009

She is a go to person for me when I have questions around technology or early stage marketing and branding. We do a lot of B2B and also have an "Early Stage Branding" practice for technology startups. The analogy of a lively dinner conversation to describe Visible Networking is perfect. Maybe ten years.

Early Stage 150

Early Stage Southern California Los Angeles Marketing 150

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

The same goes for your sales conversations; why did new leads seek you out, and what objections do you hear during the sales process? Uncovering popular articles and conversations will show you what people are most interested in, which is useful for “seeding” your content research. Collect data sources for quantitative insights.

Audience 127

Audience Non-Compete Distribution Channel 127

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

A lot of early-stage companies have a hard time identifying their sales, which lead to marketing campaigns that do not align with their target market. Your conversation should be creative, intentional, relevant, and straightforward. Can they hold a conversation without cracking under pressure? Refine Your Sales Process.

Sales 171

Sales Widget Sales Cycle Software Review 171

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

If you’re part of a conversion optimization team, a big part of that job is communicating treatments to other specialists on your team (analysts, designers). After you briefly sketch out some ideas, they say, you set the stage with the wireframe. Depending on the scope of the changes, you could use a few different tools and methods.

Conversion 48

Conversion Design Web Early Stage 48

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Using buyer personas works well in the early stages of contact, but once the person gives you details, create their experience based on specifics. Artificial intelligence (AI) gives companies the ability to have a one-on-one conversation with potential clients 24/7.

Customer 118

Customer Marketing Artificial Inteligence Technical Review 118

VC Cafe

MAY 17, 2023

Educational Examples: While developing Waze, Levine initiated conversations with people about their experiences with traffic. It is a valuable resource that can help you improve your chances of success, especially for first time founders in the early stages.

Founder 104

Founder Cofounder Technical Review Angel Investor 104

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

we have big tech (AAPL, AMZN, FB, GOOG ,TSLA), big early stage bets ( Restream’s $50M Series A ), big late stage bets ( RigUp’s $300M Series D ), consumer tech , fintech , insuretech , healthtech , CPG , DTC … the list goes on. The Austin ecosystem today is large and diverse?—?we

Austin 63

Austin Technical Review Software Review Early Stage 63

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 9, 2019

Sputnik ATX Three rules to avoid getting scammed by advisors As an early stage VC, one of the saddest things I observe from meetings with founders is the toxic and pervasive influence of what I call the start-up industrial complex (the SIC). Originally published at [link] on December 9, 2019.

Vesting 72

Vesting Early Stage Seed Capital Equity 72

The Next Web

DECEMBER 4, 2013

Maybe you identified your target audience and conversation through Twitter research, but discover a handful of forums or blogs that attract essential influencers. Building your brand presence on specialized outlets holds immense value for your business – especially in early stages. million people in 24 hours as a result.

Social Media 158

Social Media Media Viral Startup 158

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

It follows up on my posts discussing why early stage startups should — or should not — move to Silicon Valley. Should Early Stage Startups Move to Austin because of Competencies? Should Early Stage Startups Move to Austin because of Competencies?

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 48

Austin Startup

JULY 15, 2019

Capital Factory has been the most active early stage tech investor in Texas since 2013. Do you have an understanding of venture capital terminology and common structures such as convertible notes, SAFEs, stock options, warrants, and early stage equity transactions? We did 70 transactions in 2018 alone!

Texas 56

Texas Technical Review Silicon Valley Venture Capital 56

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Seed-stage compatible: Like traditional equity VC investors, Flexible VCs accomodate early-stage investment risk within their portfolios better than a traditional RBI funder. Flexible VC: Compensation-based.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

This is accomplished through aggregated, anonymized competitive benchmarking, market-level performance data across the major social and ad platforms, and curated news and conversation from industry leaders. join the Trust waitlist here.

Founder 424

Founder Product Cofounder Acquisition 424

The Next Web

OCTOBER 29, 2014

An inherent challenge for all early stage startups is deciding whether to focus on growth or product/market fit. Recently I had two very positive but very different customer interactions that demonstrated the types of conversation that can help you focus on both. This post originally appeared on the Intercom blog.

Conversion 131

Conversion Product Early Stage Design 131

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We back very early stage companies and work alongside executive teams as their build their teams, launch their products, announce their companies and raise their first downstream capital rounds. The biggest change for us in early-stage investing is that we now need to commit earlier.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

Governance Moreso than a lot of actual VCs, a lot of high-net-worth folks tend to ask for board representation—even in the super early stages of a company where boards tend to be a little less formal. It will save everyone a lot of cost and time. On one hand, I get this. That’s why I normally ask for a Board Observer seat.

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88