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. This is why many VCs are waiting and letting deals mature a bit before leaning into rounds. Why Has Seed Investing Declined?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

" Today I had two conversations with early stage startups (see Free CTO Consulting ). Vision Synching in a Lean Startup The Fallacy of Customer Development Entrepreneurs, Lower Investors’ Risk by Validating your Start-up Company’s Business Proposition Lessons Learned: What is customer development?

Customer 227

Customer Fractional CTO Viral Lean 227

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

In January, we introduced a new graduate course at Stanford called the " target="_blank">Lean LaunchPad. The Lean LaunchPad class was scheduled to meet for three hours once a week. For the past three months, we’ve run an experiment in teaching entrepreneurship. When I realized they were all for our class, I could start to relax.

Lean 303

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 303

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

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2014

As obvious as it seems I assure you that many projects I’m involved with don’t sit down and have hard enough conversations about the need to hit time-based deadlines – so dates slip. I am willing to cede my ship dates but I never let on to this fact early in the project or the creative tension and focus dissipate.

Software 344

Software Part-Time VPE Engineer Leadership 344

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

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 4, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. With five days remaining before The Lean Startup Conference , we wanted to lay out what we’re offering that’s unlike any other entrepreneurship conference and explain the different levels of participation available to you.

Lean 167

Lean San Francisco Conversion Startup 167

The Next Web

DECEMBER 4, 2013

As a startup, you’re working with limited resources and a lean business model. Maybe you identified your target audience and conversation through Twitter research, but discover a handful of forums or blogs that attract essential influencers. Ignore these pioneering risk-takers, and say goodbye to social channels of conversion.

Social Media 158

Social Media Media Viral Startup 158

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. It’s a conversation that creeps up from time-to-time. They might want you to start lean.

Early Stage 360

Early Stage Startup Venture Capital Seed Stage 360

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

And while I’m at it, a great post by Steve Blank No Accounting For Startups looking at early stage score keeping. Sunk Costs: An invisible, pervasive peril - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , February 15, 2010 I literally had this conversation yesterday with a startup. Good stuff from Jason.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 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. There is also True Ventures that does early stage, seed investments. This is producing a “boomlet&# or a bubble in early-stage investing. Others will, too. That’s OK.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

LEAN STARTUP MOVEMENT. ” is Eric Ries who wrote the must own, “ The Lean Startup ” *. Admitting that you will have limited resources and strong competition both in today’s market and in the markets you want to enter is the right start of the conversation.

Technical Review 401

Technical Review Startup Business Model Non-Compete 401

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

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

For early stage VC ‘s, Syndication is the process of sharing investments with other potential co-investors. These forces result in most early stage rounds being composed of investors that are already hanging around the hoop. The old process of syndication inevitably took several weeks in the past.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Term Sheet Cofounder 207

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

To draw titular inspiration from a New York Magazine article entitled Ellen Pao and the Sexism You Can’t Quite Prove (we’ll talk more about Pao later on), I entered into this topic less with the desire to try to “prove” a specific point, but rather to explore an issue that continues to rise to the top of conversation in the entrepreneurial space.

Venture Capital 82

Venture Capital Lean Cofounder Technical Review 82

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

This philosophy comes from The Lean Startup methodology , which relies on testing hypotheses to better understand your customers’ pain points and goals. But in the early stages of development, you might not have the quantitative data necessary to dig into these questions. Failing fast is different from failing often.

Marketing 115

Marketing Framework Metrics Channel 115

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

What Do Habits Have to Do with Conversion Rate Optimization? What I typically find is if people haven’t read about lean startup, then the way they make decisions on what we should build is what the highest paid person in the room says they should build. How can we spend less time and less waste guessing?

Conversion 48

Conversion Technical Review Software Review B2B 48

Up and Running

DECEMBER 17, 2020

And one question that many startups overlook at the early stages of formulating their business plans: do you have a well-reasoned, effective, and budget-savvy marketing plan? But particularly when you’re running lean and mean, you may not have native expertise in every aspect of managing a startup. Build your website.

Marketing 142

Marketing Technical Review SEO Hosting 142

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? Your presentation doesn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development.

Customer Development 266

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 266

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company). We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok. otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less).

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. Analytics spark more questions and discussion than almost any other aspect of the Lean Startup method. Alistair and Ben, co-authors of the book Lean Analytics, will help you sort it out in our next webcast, Lean Analytics for Non-tech Companies.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

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

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

I spent time talking to many mentors and friends, investors and founders alike, about what drives them, what makes an effective partnership, the evolution of early-stage investing, and what’s possible for the future of our industry. These reflections, conversations, side projects, and time with my newly expanded family gave me clarity.

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

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

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 22, 2015

A massive rain storm blew through San Francisco in the middle of last year’s Lean Startup Conference. Why You Should Join Us in 2015 Since 2011, The Lean Startup has helped countless ventures transform ideas into thriving businesses. We woke up to a city-wide power outage, and Day Two of the conference had stopped before it started.

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Startup Cofounder 60

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Finally, I’ll write about how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Just had a conversation today with a student taking Steve’s class. The board raises a collective eyebrow.

Customer Development 232

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 232

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

Customer Development/Lean Startups In hindsight startups and the venture capital community left out the most important first step any startup ought to be doing – hypothesis testing in front of customers- from day one. I have an idea for how to connect user social web conversations to 2-way search and contextual advertising.

Silicon Valley 200

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 200

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? If youre still very early stage, then you need to know what a true early adopter looks like. But all things are never equal.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Occam's Razor

APRIL 8, 2013

This thought was in my mind as I was reading Lean Analytics a new book by my friend Alistair Croll and his collaborator Benjamin Yoskovitz. In this post, we’ll look at each of the four steps in the Lean Analytics Cycle in more detail. If it's the number of people buying, the metric is conversion rate. But it is not routine.

Metrics 156

Metrics Analytics Lean Churn Rate 156

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

While the posts were theory I was a bit surprised when John Selep , an early-stage investor, approached me and said he was actually using the Investment Readiness Level (IRL) in practice. I would estimate that perhaps half of the applicants we see have heard of and use some form of Lean Startup or Customer Development methodology.

Sacramento 311

Sacramento Framework Customer Development Lean 311

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

crowdSPRING Blog

JANUARY 12, 2011

crowdSPRING’s latest small biz newsletter: lean marketing, social media, crowdsourcing & more – [link]. VC’s apparently are increasingly nervous about early stage investments – [link]. One-way, outbound, non-conversational messages still work – [link]. Wholesale Flowers – [link].

Social Media 95

Social Media Small Business Design Media 95

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Step 1: Start with a lean plan. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods. Introducing Lean Planning: How to Plan Less and Grow Faster. How to Write a Traditional Business Plan.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

As an early stage fund, often buying 10–15% of a company during its seed financing, this meant we were often being asked if we wanted to sell portions of our stakes to other approved investors (let alone the random pings from market-makers unaffiliated with the company). Much of success in venture is knowing what (and when) to buy.

Venture Capital 122

Venture Capital Cap Table LP Equity 122

Up and Running

MAY 3, 2012

Eric Ries , author of The Lean Start-up , puts it best: ‘ The grim reality is that most start-ups fail. And besides, obtaining early-stage investment is no guarantee of success, either. The signs to me are all too obvious from our conversations. Most products are not successful. Surely we can do better?

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Technical Review Silicon Valley Lean 82

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

Even though most of this message was already drafted, we also had a Hail Mary of a final acquisition conversation that closed the following morning. The Whole Enchilada For those of you interested in more than The Skinny, keep reading… Countless conversations have been had with key users, customers, advisors, mentors, family and friends.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. Results from a Survey of Early-Stage VC Funds.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78