Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Use crowd funding. Apply for contests and business grants. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Use crowd funding. Apply for contests and business grants. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? There was no money train.

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. This question gets to the heart of what bank financing is and isn't supposed to accomplish. Bankers do not contribute equity.

Equity 303

Equity Silicon Valley Finance Early Stage 303

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 8, 2024

Equipment Financing: Leveraging Assets for Growth Equipment financing allows businesses to purchase or lease equipment needed for expansion without tying up capital or resorting to large upfront payments. They offer flexibility for short-term expenses or help in unexpected opportunities.

Finance 121

Finance Technical Review Metrics .Net 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2020

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, it still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. With this model, a startup pre-sells their product early, at a cheaper price, in exchange for a pledge. In the U.S.,

Accredited Investor 324

Accredited Investor Entrepreneur SEC Equity 324

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Join a startup incubator.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Use crowd funding. Apply for contests and business grants. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

I’ve recently advised a number of emerging private equity and VC funds who are wrestling with the question: What are the highest impact steps they can take to support their portfolio companies? . Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

When I first read Paul Graham’s blog post on “High Resolution&# Financing I read it as a treatise arguing that convertible notes are better than equity. Either would be fine with startups, so long as they can easily change their valuation. Photo credit: D. Blanchard/O’Reilly Media. rings true to me.

Finance 286

Finance Term Sheet Technical Review Warrant 286

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business. Bootstrapping.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One.” The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Partner 258

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Equity 258

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Marty Zwilling.

Bootstrapping 252

Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Technical Review 252

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 24, 2020

So, you’re preparing to launch a startup of your very own: congratulations! Before you start earning profits and making an impression on the startup market, you’ll want to learn from your colleagues’ common startup mistakes. If you’re committed to making your startup a success, be sure to read this guide first.

Software Review 143

Software Review Startup Technical Review Hiring 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Use crowd funding. Apply for contests and business grants. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 16, 2020

If the situation is dire, you may also consider recapitalizing the business through a debt refinancing or by selling equity. See if you and your finance staff can answer these questions: When did my business become unprofitable, and what caused the change? What are my top 3 costs? What if my Startup Runs Out of Cash?

Recapitalization 200

Recapitalization Forecast Software Review Finance 200

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 19, 2018

When you’re looking for extra funds, there are typically two options: debt financing and equity financing. It’s important to understand the difference between debt financing and equity financing so when it comes time to get additional funding, you know which is the right fit for your business and how to get it.

Finance 157

Finance Equity Vesting Dividend 157

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

. – Build out low-cost force multipliers such as scouts , Advisors, Entrepreneurs in Residence, Venture Partners, and so on. Sophisticated VC and private equity funds have a wide array of options for leveraging outside operating executives. All of the strategies above have very modest fixed cost. Photo credit: Wikipedia).

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 14, 2019

It is estimated that at least 80% of all startups rely on personal funds from their founders for operations, albeit in their formative stages. If you have been self-employed, you probably have had episodes where you cannot clearly differentiate between work and personal finances or time. Set up a legal entity for your business.

Balance Sheet 126

Balance Sheet Limited Liability Company Bootstrapping Startup 126

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

TEC is one of Canada’s largest and most experienced private credit firms, specializing in providing asset-based capital solutions to companies that are underserved or overlooked by traditional sources of financing, primarily banks. The firm has made more than $4.5

Technical Review 132

Technical Review Due Diligence Bankruptcy Intellectual Property 132

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 31, 2020

Venture capital investment is one of the top places startups look out for when seeking funding for their business alongside other popular options like angel investing and crowdfunding. Therefore, startups can expect investors to make significant adjustments based on lessons learned last year, which are rather harsh.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Startup Term Sheet 175

Gust

DECEMBER 15, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals.

Bootstrapping 183

Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Technical Review 183

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2017

As an advisor to startups, and a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m still surprised at the number who are determined to go it alone. Unfortunately, some are so in love with themselves (narcissistic), that they can’t be convinced that anyone else could possibly run their finances, or take on marketing.

Startup 165

Startup Technical Review Partner Finance 165

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. From traditional equity VC, Flexible VC borrows the option to pursue and reap the rewards of an outsized exit. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. Equity Ownership. Yes, typically preferred equity. Funder Category.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 7, 2016

With countless roadblocks along the way, it’s not uncommon for a startup to falter to the point of folding before it has ever reached even the simplest of business goals. The rub is that a startup likely has the ideas to take it straight to the top, but it’s also likely that the company lacks the business skills to make it truly successful.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Incubator Asia 100

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. How should I finance my new venture? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup? « Leaving a Trail | Main. |

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 9, 2020

Online loans are forms of personal and startup financing which are broadly categorized as alternative financing. Furthermore, it has been made much easier to acquire this kind of financing by overlooking a majority of the steps which were previously applied to make the process lengthy and tiresome.

Finance 80

Finance Equity Technical Review Cost 80

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 4, 2023

In a perfect world, small businesses would have an endless stream of revenue coming in and there wouldn’t be need to worry about financing. Sometimes businesses have to get creative when it comes to their small business financing, especially when revenue is low. However, we all know that’s not the case.

Finance 108

Finance Revenue Small Business Bootstrapping 108

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Capital investments are like gasoline on a startup business’s metaphorical fire. If you’re like most startup CEOs, your startup has been your personal fiefdom and baby. When you accept outside money, particularly a private equity (PE) investment, however, that changes. Rule 1: Bootstrap until you have a viable product.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Join a startup incubator.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

With extremely limited resources and time, one wrong step could cost you 6-9 months of runway. Once you talk through the roadmap and milestones, it sets the stage for the final slide (and the reason you’re meeting with investors) – how much you’re raising and what you plan to accomplish with this round of financing.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2022

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, costs, and tasks you don’t like. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. Most startups can’t afford that. It usually doesn’t work.

Partner 351

Partner Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup 351

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

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

Of course, not every equity compensation story is a David Choe Story. If you’re thinking about extending equity to an employee or a vendor (as in the example above), you should know that the topic is multi-faceted. In this article, I’m going to examine: What equity compensation is. Different types of equity compensation.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Marty Zwilling.

Sweat Equity 239

Sweat Equity Technical Review Bootstrapping Equity 239

YoungUpstarts

MAY 27, 2019

Inexperienced people are misled when it comes to startup funding and what is needed to begin and grow a business. Often young founders don’t think about basic concepts like unit economics, which is selling something for more than what it costs to make. Even some very well funded startups tend to ignore this.

Cofounder 170

Cofounder Private Equity Software Review Equity 170

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

I’m fully convinced that both inspiration and perspiration are always required in a startup. Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Success is the right balance of both for fun and profit.

Sweat Equity 400

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup Viral 400