YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2020

To begin again, to start anew, to have a fresh, blank slate — the corporate advantages of hiring entry level employees, strong professionals at their career beginnings, seem self-explanatory. In any economy, successful entry-level hiring is a crucial aspect of corporate success. Onboarding at the entry level can be resource intensive.

Hiring 264

Hiring Early Stage Non-Compete Salary 264

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. As an early-stage VC I love this phase. I always push companies to hire “an operationally focused CFO” during this phase because in order to systematize you need somebody who brings economic rigor to decision making.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Up and Running

MAY 9, 2017

Here at Palo Alto Software , we take hiring pretty seriously. I should know—we just wrapped up a lengthy hiring process within the marketing department. After months of searching, dozens of interviews, and sifting through countless resumes, we finally hired a new managing editor for Bplans.

Hiring 105

Hiring Employee Matching Software Review 105

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

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. Experienced leadership, well-funded, and hiring in engineering, product and operations. But these aren’t the discussions I enjoy most.

Early Stage 146

Early Stage Seed Stage Startup Software 146

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

Organizational debt is all the people/culture compromises made to “just get it done” in the early stages of a startup. While he kept bringing the conversation back to their big valuation I tried to steer the conversation back to how they were going to deal with: training the influx of new hires – in both culture and job specific tasks.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2019

It was an amazing gathering of some of the most ambitious early-stage CEO’s looking to make a dent in fields related to healthcare, biology, AI and other transformative fields. A Short Presentation I was invited to do a keynote presentation at the Khosla Ventures CEO Summit this week in Sausalito. link] Managing Your Startup Board?—?A

Management 234

Management Startup Dividend Early Stage 234

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. If the answer is “no”, why hire him/her at all? Refine Your Sales Process.

Sales 171

Sales Widget Sales Cycle Software Review 171

Hunter Walker

MAY 17, 2024

It’s also not an accident that, upon stepping back from being Textio’s CEO, I’ve built a sizable exec coaching practice working largely with early stage founders. I even love leading a really meaningful performance feedback conversation. HW: Textio is open to remote hires from a specific set of states which I found interesting.

Cofounder 102

Cofounder Founder Technical Review Seattle 102

VC Cafe

MAY 17, 2023

It can be read from cover to cover, or ad-hoc based on the need of the founder, for example, how to raise money for investors, firing and hiring and how to scale to a billion users. Educational Examples: While developing Waze, Levine initiated conversations with people about their experiences with traffic.

Founder 103

Founder Cofounder Technical Review Angel Investor 103

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. What’s Simply Hired, you ask? It will save everyone a lot of cost and time. On one hand, I get this.

.Net 89

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 89

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

” Sean is somebody widely respected in Silicon Valley (although he now lives in SoCal) for having helped many early-stage companies go through major growth periods by quantitatively testing features with audiences to help diagnose what led to growth. I recommend hiring or appointing a growth hacker.”

Technical Review 384

Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel 384

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

In product business it is often measured over multiple purchases and assumptions are made about the repeat rates and in the enterprise or services world LTV can be based on churn rates, which are notoriously hard to predict in an early-stage business. Poorly calculated LTVs can become BVs (bankruptcy values).

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But my conversations in the private corridors on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley is that many fund sizes will be smaller going forward. You don’t have to hire as many sales people because much can be sold online. There is also True Ventures that does early stage, seed investments. Others will, too.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. For starters, what is AngelList Syndicates?

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

Women Entrepreneurs Can

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Business funding can help entrepreneurs tackle some of the financial problems at an early stage. But after figuring out the budget and scale of the business, owners might need to consider the option of hiring professional web developers. How much budget to allocate for marketing strategies depends on the scale of the business.

Social Media 97

Social Media Marketing Analytics Web Development 97

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 15, 2018

It’s nearly impossible to fundraise, hire, or lead without it—but at the same time, founders don’t know everything. They also help switch the conversation from “This person is good or bad at X” to “This is how we’d like to do things here and here’s how you’re performing compared to that.” Being a founder means showing confidence.

Early Stage 410

Early Stage PR Founder Conversion 410

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

My internal compass has always steered me strongly toward the belief that founders who can scale with their startup companies are better to back that founders who eventually need to hire a CEO. His vision for social analytics and tracking the conversion funnel was better than any I had heard at the time (or since).

Technical Review 303

Technical Review Cofounder Analytics Founder 303

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

For example, I suggest it doesn’t make a lot of sense to hire a full-time team member who’s an SEO consultant. You might hire a really amazing designer, and perhaps even charge companies for their service for cost recovery purposes. Real Ventures , an early-stage, Canadian-based fund, runs a two-day Founder Camp every six months.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

The Startup Toolkit

NOVEMBER 10, 2012

Spoiler: You can’t hire out sales because in the early days it’s about learning, not selling, and hired guns can’t bring back bad news. As a tech founder doing sales, you’ll find yourself constantly fantasising about hiring in a sales guy to take all your pain away.

Hiring 51

Hiring Founder Viral Early Stage 51

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. Seksom Suriyapa ?—?he

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Austin Startup

MAY 8, 2018

Background reading: Founder Compensation: Cash, Equity, Liquidity Fatal Errors in Early Startup Hiring Early Hires: Options or Stock Given how deeply involved we are with early-stage startups hiring their first key employees, I figured it would be helpful to outline a few key principles to help entrepreneurs navigate the topic.

Employee 48

Employee Seed Stage Startup Equity 48

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? Eventually the company should graduate to hiring senior expertise across these functions.

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 48

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 12, 2015

It is my privilege to work with the next generation’s best and brightest in the early stages of their careers. It’s also important, particularly in the early stages, to hire people who can remain committed to the company through the ups and downs that startups experience. Leadership vs. Authority.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Leadership Early Stage Technical Review 100

View from Seed

DECEMBER 17, 2015

I recently chatted with Saurya about how he approaches hiring engineers at Google and what founders can learn. We hire generalists because the company wants to be able to dissolve one division one day if it’s not working, and then move those same people into something else that’s new or already working.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Engineer Software Review Founder 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

You never got around to agreeing exact equity splits but you had many conversations about it. I know he’s smart but you wouldn’t hire a Javascript developer to do your database design – would you? They want to lock in future clients at an early stage. Here’s a hack for you.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Recruits, hires, and retains the very best talent for the company. Hiring & Firing the CEO. This is the failure of many early-stage companies when they try to scale. As things got bigger we hired a head of European sales and a head of European marketing. Makes sure there is always enough cash in the bank.

Ireland 319

Ireland Sales Bankruptcy Germany 319

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

Because it can be hard to define or agree company objectives at an early stage I believe most people avoid them. per click on an SEM basis this is NOT your cost to acquire a customer – you need to add conversion rate. to $1.10) and you can focus on improving conversion (i.e. increasing conversion from 12.5%

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup Acquisition SEM 346

View from Seed

MARCH 3, 2015

Ellie Mirman was the first marketer hired by the CMO of HubSpot, the Boston-based marketing software startup that IPOed in 2014. Around the same time we were doing those webinars, we launched our first ebook, and that did much better in terms of conversions — click-through-rate on emails, conversions on landing pages, and so on.

Marketing 120

Marketing Sales Cycle Startup CTO Hire 120

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. million early-stage raise that involved pitching to over a dozen PE firms, which took months to negotiate. Capital investments are like gasoline on a startup business’s metaphorical fire.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Austin Startup

JULY 8, 2017

It usually takes experience in the market for business people to truly understand the realities of hiring and working with lawyers. Quickly hiring an “in house” lawyer won’t save you a dime. CEO: “We’re thinking about hiring an in-house lawyer to save some legal fees.” You’re not saving anything. Me: “Great.

Startup 48

Startup Salary Early Stage Software 48

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 22, 2021

However, early-stage companies often deprioritize proper talent management and place all their focus on the day-to-day operations of the business. Hiring and retaining the right talent for your organization is just as crucial as having a great service or product, especially in the early stages of building a company.

Management 158

Management Early Stage Startup Employee 158

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

I have conversations with entrepreneurs and other VCs on a daily basis about fund raising, the prices of deals, how much companies should raise, etc. 1 year in you stop catching early morning flights. And the CEO they would hire to come in and run the business when you go would always be a mercenary.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Austin Startup

JANUARY 25, 2020

This was my time at a Wall Street firm that had hired me after I applied for their Junior Stockbroker position, a little while after I graduated from college. So I have embraced it fully, and though we are still in the early stages (seed stage), it’s the hardest thing I have ever done yet it’s the most fulfilling thing to me.

Delaware 62

Delaware SEC New York City New York 62

Eric Friedman

JANUARY 23, 2022

I finalized my notes for the ODX Accelerator program, the early stage accelerator I am building at On Deck , and I wanted to summarize here. I love the start of programs, when teams are excited – all at the earliest stages of company creation. What equity you give early stage advisors matters. Fundraising.

Early Stage 78

Early Stage Equity .Net Vesting 78

JANUARY 9, 2014

I recently developed a more human framework for early-stage startups to define their startup DNA and lay some foundations for a sustainable business. Too much talking, not enough listening Perhaps it’s because funding is so important to early-stage startups that they soon get good at perfecting their sales pitch.

Early Stage 102

Early Stage Startup Cofounder Design 102

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

But the way the market values this early work can vary greatly. I’m often surprised by how much effort seed stage teams put into building an early product and how little credit that receives from investors. Conversely, I’m also often surprised how little can be built that still gets investors excited about an opportunity.

Seed Stage 181

Seed Stage Bootstrapping Demand Early Stage 181