The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Startups with a solid business plan and great pitch deck have a far greater chance of gaining investment. A cost/benefit analysis for customers can evidence how any competitive advantage is not easily surpassable. The post Investor Perspective: How to Write a Killer Business Plan appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

Business Plan 117

Business Plan Technical Review Initial Public Offering Due Diligence 117

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2014

With the recent apparent successes of several startups in taking their company public (initial public offering) and raising billions of dollars, I’m hearing a groundswell of enthusiasm from new entrepreneurs to follow in their footsteps to fund their companies and become billionaires overnight.

IPO 236

IPO Initial Public Offering Startup Small Business Administration 236

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger.

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

ReadWriteStart

JULY 20, 2023

The tech industry is witnessing a monumental shift in the dynamics of startup success. While venture-backed startups struggle to find relief amidst a backlog of richly priced ventures, some tech companies are defying expectations and going public with resounding triumphs. Startup success is not a one-size-fits-all equation.

IPO 107

IPO Startup Initial Public Offering eCommerce 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? Reverse mergers may not get your startup on the Nasdaq.

Merger 246

Merger OTC IPO Stock 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger.

Merger 198

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control. business entrepreneur exit founder IPO startup' Consider the recent example of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg.

IPO 224

IPO Founder Exit Strategy Investment Bankers 224

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of someday taking their startup public, and making it a multi-national powerhouse. According to an Ernst & Young report , the number of startups that have gone public in the US over the past decade is down about 75% from the previous decade, to about 10% of startup exits.

IPO 242

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 242

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

Different types of investors look for startups at different levels of maturity. If your startup is at the wrong stage for the investor you are approaching, fishing for money is a waste of time for both of you. You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Early or embryonic stage.

Investment Bankers 241

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 241

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control. companies made the IPO transition in 2009, out of thousands of startups. Only about a dozen U.S. Only about a dozen U.S.

Exit Strategy 235

Exit Strategy IPO Investment Bankers Entrepreneur 235

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2018

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to stay low, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. There are real ongoing costs of maintaining a public company. PwC estimates that public companies incur an average of $1.5

Exit Strategy 128

Exit Strategy IPO Initial Public Offering SEC 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2015

The visibility of Google, Facebook and a few others continues to propagate the myth that the ultimate objective of every entrepreneur should be to take their startups public via an initial public offering at the earliest opportunity. All strategy and operational moves become public.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering Entrepreneur Private Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

Different types of investors look for startups at different levels of maturity. If your startup is at the wrong stage for the investor you are approaching, the courting is a waste of time for both of you. You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Early or embryonic stage.

Investment Bankers 231

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 231

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

VC’s have just changed the ~50-year old social contract with startup employees. In doing so they may have removed one of the key incentives that made startups different from working in a large company. For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. Why Startups Offer Stock Options.

Stock Options 334

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 334

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2016

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to decrease, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. There are real ongoing costs of maintaining a public company. PwC estimates that public companies incur an average of $1.5

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering SEC Stock Options 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2015

With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the backdoor as a reverse merger. It takes real money to get into the game.

Merger 120

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2019

With the current strong economy I’m seeing a continued resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. There is additional encouraging news for aspiring entrepreneurs on many fronts, just in case you are thinking about joining the existing ranks: Valuations of successful startups have hit an all-time high.

North America 320

North America Incubator Initial Public Offering Exit Strategy 320

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control. Consider the recent example of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. After a record low of 39 U.S.

Exit Strategy 239

Exit Strategy IPO Investment Bankers Entrepreneur 239

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 2, 2012

The fact that a great deal of the content produced by tech news sites concerns startup companies might make an observer from another planet think America is a veritable nursery for brilliant business ideas. Doing so would reduce costs for companies while still adhering to the first principle of investor protection.".

IPO 121

IPO Startup Florida Seed Capital 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2011

It has been at least a decade since going public via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been considered a credible exit strategy for startups. Draper III, in his new book titled “ The Startup Game.” These can add millions to the cost of doing business.

IPO 223

IPO Social Media Media Exit Strategy 223

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2013

Since the recent recession, and at least partially sparked by it, I’m seeing a real resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. An unprecedented number of startups, easily 25 and possibly exceeding 40, are valued today at $1 billion or more, according to a recent NY Times article.

IPO 273

IPO Entrepreneur Social Media Startup 273

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

Since Angel investors put money into 60 times as many companies as venture capital funds, according to Wikipedia, early-stage startups need to focus first on the key thresholds that drive these investment decisions. Angel investors look for prior domain and startup experience. The same hold true for venture capital investors.

Cram Down 269

Cram Down Angel Investor Intellectual Property Venture Capital 269

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Different types of investors look for startups at different levels of maturity. If your startup is at the wrong stage for the investor you are approaching, fishing for money is a waste of time for both of you. You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Early or embryonic stage.

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital Investment Bankers Angel Investor Initial Public Offering 171

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

What are they, how do they differ and what can startup do to take advantage of them? Paths to Liquidity: a quick history of the four waves of startup investing. The Golden Age (1970 – 1995): Build a growing business with a consistently profitable track record (after at least 5 quarters,) and go public when it’s time.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. The startup process has become demystified – information is everywhere. 20th Century Tech Liquidity = Initial Public Offering.

Founder 269

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 269

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2015

Since the recession, and at least partially sparked by it, I’m seeing a real resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. The rate of new entrepreneurs increased about 10 percent, from 280 out of 100,000 adults in the 2014 Startup Activity Index, to 310 out of 100,000 adults in the 2015 Index.

IPO 120

IPO Angel Investor Startup Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2018

With the current strong economy, and sparked by the last recession, I’m seeing a real resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. An unprecedented number of startups, almost 200 at last count, are now valued above $1 billion, according to a recent Forbes article.

Entrepreneur 166

Entrepreneur Valuation Incubator Initial Public Offering 166

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

With this capital, the company propels itself to $50 million+ in revenues, and to either a sale to a strategic acquirer or to an initial public offering. Technical progress and market traction are much slower and cost a lot more than anticipated. There are a lot of dark, hard days.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 12, 2009

Almost all technology startup companies that I work with are C corps. I generally avoid LLCs as most technology startup companies need to grant options to employees and consultants, and there is no easy “off the rack&# method to do this. A C corp is also the easiest type of entity to take public in an initial public offering.

LLC 61

LLC Stock Options Preferred Stock Stock 61

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

They are looking for solutions that will reduce their costs by 20%, or double productivity, or cut traffic accidents by a third. Social value alone is not normally a sustainable advantage for a startup with limited resources, since big players can jump in with more money to replicate your social value and add more innovation.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Initial Public Offering Merger Acquisition 48

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

And from a financial perspective, any investor would be better off buying stock in Amazon than buying and share of a corner bookshop; if you invested $100 in Amazon’s 1997 initial public offering (IPO), those shares would have been worth about $120,000 in 2018. These companies didn’t blitzscale; they scaled sustainably.”.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

We expanded to Houston, San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles within months, and we were generally doing all the things and seeing all the things that a startup needed to do and see in order to feel good about VC funding prospects. startups with billion-dollar valuations) in recent years. It’s not my goal to bash anyone.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley Technical Review Venture Capital San Francisco 48

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 5, 2012

Treasury Department assembled 17 leaders of the startup business investment community, under the auspices of its Access to Capital Conference. The task force recommendations, titled, "Rebuilding the IPO On-ramp," presented stunning insight into the symptoms of the nation's startup problem. million per year just to stay public.

IPO 118

IPO SEC Silicon Valley Startup 118

VC Cafe

JANUARY 20, 2014

222 firms held initial public offerings last year, raising $55 Billion, the most since 406 companies went public for $97 million in 2000. Now the cost of entry to the Party is rising. In the next 12 to 24 months, brand budgets will encourage startups to address the scalability challenges of content creation.

Venture Capital 155

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation IPO 155