Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

So even within the “alternative class&# our LPs are looking at other asset investment choices such as distressed buyout funds, private equity or hedge funds. The best and most consistent funds in Silicon Valley (e.g. Revenue must come from a primary source (as opposed to advertising or other third party sources).

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

C-Corp largely because (i) VCs have historically favored C-Corps for nuanced tax and other reasons, and (ii) virtually all of the standardized legal infrastructure around startup finance and equity compensation assumes a C-Corp. But going in the opposite direction costs you significantly. However, times are changing.

Delaware 48

Delaware LLC Startup Silicon Valley 48

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

How They Make Money: Majority of Kayak’s revenue actually comes from advertising on their site (55%), not lead generation or referral fees to travel suppliers as you might think (more on this below). Financial Snapshot: 2010 Revenue: $170 million. Revenue growth: 51% YoY (2010), 1% YoY (2009), 131% YoY (2008).

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Don’t believe that Silicon Valley myth that all you have to do is sketch your idea on the back of a napkin, and investors will line up to give you money. For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. Project revenues, costs and investment needs.

Elevator Pitch 163

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Silicon Valley Revenue 163

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

If you’ve already soft launched, have a product available, are telling the world about your awesome company but don’t have revenue/user growth, you’re probably in the red zone. Pre-launch funding is pretty common in Silicon Valley, but that’s a unique case. In between those times it’s pretty tough. They’re betting on you.

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2021

Although the media has been full of inspiring stories about start-ups in Silicon Valley, the reality is that the rate at which Americans have been starting companies has been in decline for a long time. Without them, you cannot earn any revenue. That changed with the pandemic. This idea extends to the people you work with.

Limited Liability Company 167

Limited Liability Company Silicon Valley Business Model Stock Options 167

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. You get a situation whether investors are incentivized to put in more money into a company, not only to buy more equity, but also to fund the quick growth. And there absolutely are more investors than there are good deals.

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 117

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. You get a situation whether investors are incentivized to put in more money into a company, not only to buy more equity, but also to fund the quick growth. And there absolutely are more investors than there are good deals.

Venture Capital 105

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 105

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Instead of hearing from your long lost third-cousin, you will be inundated with an avalanche of ‘congratulatory’ emails, calls and letters from people who want to relieve you of the burden of your hard-earned equity round. Many such ‘congratulations’ will come from consultants. Performance-based deals are healthy for all parties.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder PR 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M.

Early Stage 253

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 253

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2011

Recently I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M. Super Angels.

Early Stage 231

Early Stage Seed Stage Angel Investor Silicon Valley 231

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 22, 2020

The Economic Antidote to COVID-19 Eric Ries & Ryan Beck In 2001, Apple's revenue fell by 33% in the depths of the dotcom bust. As revenue contracts, orders slow, and capital markets freeze, conventional wisdom drives business leaders to cut costs and shy away from new projects. The rest is history. That isn’t a coincidence.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Equity Stock Finance 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

There’s a line of thinking in Silicon Valley that you should build product businesses rather than services businesses. The founders could reinvest this in growth (0% tax, focus on future equity growth) or take the profits of $12 million and divide amongst the founding partners. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch.

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

They’re looking to be paid properly in the context of the overall salary structure, including cash, benefits, and equity, and to be paid commensurate with performance. That will keep the Silicon Valley wags buzzing for some time to come. Can you acquire them at a sustainable cost? How about your Investors ?

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177

ReadWriteStart

MAY 30, 2022

Sometime in your future, an investor will offer you money in return for equity. The cost of the money you receive may be more than you’re willing to give. One in particular from a famous VC in Silicon Valley. Stacking costs early in your entrepreneurial career makes you vulnerable to failure.

Bootstrapping 147

Bootstrapping Startup Equity Silicon Valley 147

Venture Chronicles

MAY 26, 2010

Back in March, Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz wrote a post called The Case For The Fat Startup, where he outlined some of the reasons why a fledging company might want to consider taking a large amount of funding — a strategy that contrasts with the ‘lean startup’ model that has become common in Silicon Valley.

Lean 40

Lean Early Stage Valuation Startup 40

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

I’ll focus for now on the business itself, there’s plenty of other info on the web if you care to understand the equity ownership or financing history of Facebook and frankly this has been fairly well known for awhile. ==. Financial Snapshot : 2011 Revenue: $3.71 2011 YoY Revenue Growth: 88%. Facebook, Inc.

IPO 100

IPO South Korea Venezuela Revenue 100

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 8, 2012

According to Paul most startups should look at revenue growth, but active users is a good proxy for companies that aren’t charging their customers (yet). Many of those milestones will be growth oriented, but they often centre on hitting round numbers – e.g. $10k or $100k per month in revenues or 1m active users. Sometimes not.

Silicon Valley 149

Silicon Valley IPO eCommerce Valuation 149

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. Great lifestyle, great cost of living, motivated people and only the crap weather on the negative side. They have the same trade-off decisions that you do about packing up and moving to Silicon Valley vs. staying and building locally.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

Lightspeed Venture Partners

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Revenue is driven by children’s parties, which cost $600-$4,000 for a two hour party for 15 kids, which apparently is the market price for kids parties in LA. The space can host 6-9 parties per weekend, and they generated $350,000 in revenue last year. As O’Leary said, this isn’t an equity investment.

Covenant 162

Covenant Warrant Southern California Los Angeles 162

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 20, 2023

12:22] Would you look at the value derived by digital technologies differently than by producing customer value or revenue? [14:23] Were showing positive return on equity, were showing positive growth per, in value per customer through their digital initiatives. 07:47): About 25% of them were actually making money.

Technical Review 65

Technical Review Silicon Valley Generative AI Arizona 65

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. We also got lucky and qualified for some startup benefits with companies like Rackspace, who covered our infrastructure costs for the first year,” continues Arsenault. “We Image source).

Sweat Equity 78

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 78

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 14, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. He is also struggling with the pricing structure, because until he can get to volume printing, the cost per unit is way too high.

Bootstrapping 114

Bootstrapping Marketing Angel Investor Silicon Valley 114

Eric Friedman

AUGUST 18, 2021

The opportunity cost of the money I have not made on crypto is insane because I first was talking about crypto in 2011 as I’ve been in financial services for a long time. They talk about] businesses which are not contractually recurring revenue in the parlance of recurring revenue run rates. On Leaving Silicon Valley Bank.

Silicon Valley 88

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Africa 88

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2023

The failure rate is just too high, and startups typically don’t have the assets or revenue stream to back up the loan. That’s why angel and equity investors are so sought after by entrepreneurs. Demonstrate an ability to repay from revenues, not collateral. The more conservative ask for two years of positive cash flow.

Silicon Valley 292

Silicon Valley CPA Small Business Administration Startup 292

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 24, 2012

As a result, commentators like Alan Patrick are asking whether we are seeing the end of Silicon Valley as we know it. The investment thesis for these specialist late-stage investors was to pay high valuations and then drive share price appreciation via revenue growth and hype, leading to an IPO. I think that is an over-reaction.

IPO 101

IPO Valuation Silicon Valley Venture Capital 101

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. We also got lucky and qualified for some startup benefits with companies like Rackspace, who covered our infrastructure costs for the first year,” continues Arsenault. “We Image source).

Sweat Equity 50

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 50

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

The failure rate is just too high, and startups typically don’t have the assets or revenue stream to back up the loan. That’s why angel and equity investors are so sought after by entrepreneurs. Demonstrate an ability to repay from revenues, not collateral. The more conservative ask for two years of positive cash flow.

Silicon Valley 431

Silicon Valley CPA Small Business Administration SBA 431

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

We should end the year with a few million in fully recurring revenue and we’re projected to double next year. But more spend = more viral opps = more revenue down the road. >50% of our revenue in now viral. Probably revenue based. I think a couple of million or revenues is probably a reasonable goal.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. The Proof Is In The Revenue. D&O insurance is a “cost of respect” for board members. Build Your Own Silicon Valley?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

www.thestartup.eu

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Let’s break down their costs: Logo design: a simple contest on 99designs with a $300 prize. Total cost: $5000. Total cost: $100. Sweat Equity: Juliette and Marco put in a bit of work during weekends as project managers, designers, developers, sysadmins, etc. Developers are in Argentina, Ukraine and Russia.

Bootstrapping 49

Bootstrapping Italy Sweat Equity Europe 49

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. He is also struggling with the pricing structure, because until he can get to volume printing, the cost per unit is way too high.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. He is also struggling with the pricing structure, because until he can get to volume printing, the cost per unit is way too high.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

I recruited a top-flight engineer and serial entrepreneur to build our MVP, on equity?—?and Our venture was selected for competitive accelerator spots & recognition from media and mentors from Austin, Chicago and Silicon Valley to work on this problem and capture the value its solution provided. It was a compliment.)

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2020

5:01) Brian's thoughts on the human dimension to his approach and how that sets him apart in Silicon Valley. (6:06) 59:03) The need for creativity, intuition and compassion in Silicon Valley and business. (1:00:23) 59:03) The need for creativity, intuition and compassion in Silicon Valley and business. (1:00:23)

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Hosting Cofounder Employee 60

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

There are two reasons to raise money: You have a killer idea that is only partially validated, that you think can get to $50M+ of revenue in 5 years with 80%+ gross margins (if margins are lower, you need a lot more revenue)and you need money to get to product-market fit, or. Revenue per customer? Revenue, Gross Margin?

Cofounder 431

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 431