Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2017

It takes focus to resist adding a long list of features that seem to make the opportunity larger, but dilute to focus of both you and potential customers. Marketing and sales chasm. Marketing and sales chasm. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Marketing costs can be a deep hole.

Customer 191

Customer Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 191

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Make sure the government waits for a stock sale to collect taxes. To retain control, the original founder must reserve the right of first refusal to buy shares back at cost from a partner who decides to leave early or stop working. This is called stock dilution control. At that time the original split makes all the difference.

Stock 240

Stock .Net Vesting Founder Vesting 240

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2013

It takes focus to resist adding a long list of features that seem to make the opportunity larger, but dilute to focus of both you and potential customers. Marketing and sales chasm. Marketing and sales chasm. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Marketing costs can be a deep hole.

Entrepreneur 252

Entrepreneur Marketing Technical Review Dilution 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2021

Make sure the government waits for a stock sale to collect taxes. To retain control, the original founder must reserve the right of first refusal to buy shares back at cost from a partner who decides to leave early or stop working. This is called stock dilution control. At that time the original split makes all the difference.

Vesting 298

Vesting Dilution Stock Founder Vesting 298

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

So if your costs are $500,000 per month and you have $350,000 per month in revenue then your net burn (500-350) is equal to $150,000. Gross margin (GM) is the amount of profit you make per sale of your product or service taking into account your total costs of selling that product or service. Startup Lessons'

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

deliver profitable revenue that while on gross margins of 50% vs. software at 85-95% it is still profits to help you cover fixed costs. So when I meet with GRP portfolio companies that do enterprise sales I try to emphasize the following: 1. Often your sales engineers can do the customizations without bugging the core eng team.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

What will it cost to start that business? Many people underestimate startup costs and start their business in a haphazard, unplanned way. Estimating realistic startup costs is one of the key elements of your financial plan. What are startup costs? And it interferes with the estimates and dilutes their value.

Cost 150

Cost Balance Sheet Startup Intellectual Property 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2012

It takes focus to resist adding a long list of features that seem to make the opportunity larger, but dilute to focus of both you and potential customers. Marketing and sales chasm. Marketing and sales chasm. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Marketing costs can be a deep hole.

Startup 254

Startup Technical Review Dilution Early Stage 254

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

MakeSpace (as he named it) would help you get your excess goods into low-cost warehouses. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer? and we were met with weak demand, slow growth and high costs.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

It takes focus to resist adding a long list of features that seem to make the opportunity larger, but dilute to focus of both you and potential customers. Marketing and sales chasm. Marketing and sales chasm. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Marketing costs can be a deep hole.

Marketing 238

Marketing Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 238

Up and Running

JULY 1, 2020

You may grow to tap new markets or increase sales in your current markets. It starts with a high-level strategy and continues all the way to market analysis, sales plans, operations planning, and financial modeling. Doing so helped us avoid mistakes that could have cost us substantial time and money. Planning for new regions.

Business Plan 152

Business Plan Forecast Operations Dilution 152

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2010

It takes focus to resist adding a long list of features that seem to make the opportunity larger, but dilute to focus of both you and potential customers. Marketing and sales chasm. Marketing and sales chasm. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Marketing costs can be a deep hole.

Startup 227

Startup Technical Review Dilution Early Stage 227

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

You’re not allocating enough costs to gross margin or the cost to acquire a customer. Find and focus on one reliable distribution mechanism before diluting your time diversifying. Sales” is not a dirty word. The customer should derive 10x more value than it costs them. Priority depends on your goals (e.g.

Restful 202

Restful Founder Revenue Acquisition 202

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

How much dilution should I take for it?&# My friend’s company was pre-revenue. Me: “Zero dilution. It is best not to buy your competitors – they’ll always want an unreasonable price and think of the sale as failure. how to cut redundant costs. - BUT … it’s your company.

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

Boards are not appointed to be founder-friendly lapdogs for the 1–3 founders who start companies and usually own the largest equity positions in the company.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 30, 2022

Face-to-face engagement is important, especially at vital points in the sales cycle or while creating relationships. Many businesses are discovering that the key to successful marketing is interacting two-way with customers, not simply shouting marketing messages at increasingly dilute audiences. . 21- Make more money from sales.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Green Technical Review Social Media 124

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

It can be lower cost and can either buy more time or accelerate growth. It’s generally got a lower cost compared to equity capital and can help support growth. But the costs are definitely there. Today, we wanted to share some basics of another source of capital: venture debt. What are some pros and cons?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 21, 2017

Once a company founder has tapped the funds available from his or her resources and from friends and family, if the company needs more cash for growth, the most obvious next step is to look for money from angel investors and venture capitalists, typically in the $300,000 TO $3,000,000 range.

Covenant 97

Covenant Cost Angel Groups Angel Investor 97

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Benefits: Non-dilutive, flexible credit offerings that fit SMB or enterprise SaaS. Repaid 12-36 months with ability to prepay at reduced cost. The mode purpose for funding is (in order of frequency) Sales, Marketing, Market Expansion, Product Development, and Hiring Employees. Capital need of up to $1.5M over next 12 months.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 senior sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business 6 months. COGS” represents the amount that each sale costs you.

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

That said, nothing is cost-free. More complex cost of capital calculation. This causes the cost of capital for Flexible VC, often calculated through IRR (similar to an interest rate), can be higher than that of venture debt or traditional RBI. Flexible VC can allow Impact VCs to thread this needle.”. Typical business model.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2023

This can cost you sales and your reputation. Even if the other business does not have a registered trademark, they may still be able to sue you for unfair competition or dilution of their brand. But there are some things you can do to avoid these issues: Use online business name generators.

Naming 139

Naming Cleveland Social Media Dilution 139

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

It is going to cost a lot of money just to get the initial batch of products to test the market and would definitely require external funding. Instead of funding, you pay the investors a structured royalty, which is a portion of the sales. Raising higher capital at an early stage means more equity to be diluted to the investors.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 22, 2023

This can cost you sales and your reputation. Even if the other business does not have a registered trademark, they may still be able to sue you for unfair competition or dilution of their brand. But there are some things you can do to avoid these issues: Use online business name generators.

Naming 123

Naming Cleveland Social Media Dilution 123

Berkonomics

JANUARY 27, 2022

Because the first rule for raising money is to do it on good news – right when sales are increasing at an accelerating rate. Raising too much too early dilutes the founder interest to unacceptable levels. Why is this important advice? Or when a major customer signs a significant deal. What if you have no good news to offer?

Dilution 62

Dilution Strategic Investors Early Stage Hosting 62

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

For startups and entrepreneurs, a podcast can be especially attractive due to their low production cost. One of the great things about podcasts is that they can be a very low-risk way to bring a potential lead into your sales funnel. That value is diluted if there are strings attached. Offer a Lot of Value for Free.

Dividend 195

Dividend Audience Dilution Incubator 195

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Three reasons: There is a relative valuation between the price a VC pays and their expectations of what it will exit for in an IPO or trade sale. Also, it’s harder to pay a $30 million pre-money value on an unproved company when you see public companies with $100 million in sales trading for less than $20 million.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

A year ago I blogged about one of my most common mantras that applies to sales, biz dev & fund raising alike: “ Time is the Enemy of all Deals.&#. For many businesses you should keep your costs low & your capital raises low until you discover whether you are really on to a big idea where there is market demand.

Pre-Money Valuation 303

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation PR 303

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

At this stage, the founders pay for the dilution of the shares and the funders will take 20 to 25% of the company. That will come at the cost of another 20 to 25% of the company. VCs need to figure out the people side of the company and raising money is a sales job. The next stage is seed funding, and you should raise $500k-$1.5m

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

The Startup Magazine

JULY 15, 2023

Make it so that they don’t need to combine services – something that could dilute your brand and offering. Walking clients through what you will do in various scenarios is an excellent way to get them interested in your services, funneling them through your sales pipelines.

Security 137

Security Artificial Inteligence Differentiation Dilution 137

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

If new investors get better rights in a future equity financings (such as registration rights, price-based anti-dilution, redemption rights, etc.), Anti-dilution protection. Deleting anti-dilution rights saves several pages of text in the Certificate of Incorporation. Co-sale rights. Future rights. Self-explanatory.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

When you imagine a new business, you think of what it would cost to make the product, what you could sell it for, and what the profits per unit might be. We are trained to think of business as sales minus costs and expenses, which equal profits. Diluted priorities. Here’s how we suggest creating your sales forecast.

Business Plan 128

Business Plan Hockey Stick Lean Dilution 128

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 1, 2019

The market as a whole is expected to increase to $523 billion in sales in the next year, showing promising gains from years past. There is an option to increase the pricing of products to ensure the cost of quick shipping is covered, even when it is offered at no additional expense to the customer. Understanding Load Boards.

Matching 113

Matching Dilution Small Business Partner 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2015

Make sure the government waits for a stock sale to collect taxes. To retain control, the original founder must reserve the right of first refusal to buy shares back at cost from a partner who decides to leave early or stop working. This is called stock dilution control. At that time the original split makes all the difference.

Stock 120

Stock Vesting Common Stock Founder Vesting 120

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

It is clearly a ploy by hotels to cut costs but it also benefits the environment. Because I built two SaaS companies and sold my second one to Salesforce.com (where I then took on the role of VP Products) I am often asked to look at SaaS and/or sales-oriented deals for others.

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 4, 2023

These fees are charged to cover the costs of operating the crowdfunding platform, including marketing, payment processing, and customer support. Bridget Reed, Co-founder and VP of Content, The Word Counter Yes, but Look for Restrictions Crowdfunding is an efficient and cost-effective way to raise money to finance the development of a startup.

Startup 141

Startup Campaign Cofounder Venture Capital 141

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

Because at least while the VC spigot is open and flowing for high-potential individuals that fit a pattern that some VCs seem to favor they can access cheap capital that isn’t terribly dilutive and can use the to fund development and swing for the fences with limited focus on monetization. And the dilution that goes with it.

Burn Rate 412

Burn Rate Dilution Revenue Valuation 412