VC Cafe

MARCH 1, 2024

Small fine-tuned models as an alternative to giant generic ones – when finely tuned with appropriate data, smaller, specialised LLMs can yield comparable results at a fraction of the cost. Artificial Intelligence – Scaling global intelligence and redefining work: AI training costs should continue to fall 75% per year.

Artificial Inteligence 176

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Generative AI 176

David Teten

DECEMBER 16, 2015

I review a lot of board decks with a beautifully hand-crafted page with metrics for the company. Good metrics are comparable across industries; comparative ; readily understandable; and help drive decisions. Comparative means that you can compare a metric across time periods, groups of users, or competitors. So how do you do it?

Metrics 60

Metrics Analytics Balance Sheet .Net 60

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

According to Mark Hauser, the rising costs of healthcare and growth of the aging patient demographic in the region made the company well-positioned for growth within the market, and in researching the company he found that it had a very favorable reputation and was in line with Hauser Private Equity’s mission to invest in stable, quality companies.

Private Equity 126

Private Equity Equity Technical Review Software Review 126

The Startup Magazine

JULY 21, 2021

Not only do SEO and CMS skills stand out on a resume, but they can also be demonstrated in a portfolio to further impress recruiters. With PPC, impressions cost nothing. Ideally, digital marketers can optimize PPC marketing campaigns so the conversions (sales) from the ad nets more revenue than the cost of the campaign.

Technical Review 146

Technical Review PPC SEM Marketing 146

Up and Running

MAY 10, 2021

In this article, we will talk about the trends and the cost of mobile app development with a forecast for 2021. We will see an increase in cloud platforms and a reduction in the cost of sensors. The only thing that prevents smart clothes from becoming a popular trend at the moment is their high cost. Trillion by 2025.

Artificial Inteligence 150

Artificial Inteligence Developer Development Team Review United Kingdom 150

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Metrics like Return on Net Assets, Return on Capital and Internal Rate of Return are the guiding stars of the board and CEO. As Harvard professor Clayton Christensen noted, these efficiency metrics provided wise guidance for times when capital was scarce and raising money was hard. Ultimately this is not just another staff function.

Private Equity 326

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 326

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Tech IPO prices exploded and subsequent trading prices rose to dizzying heights as the stock prices became disconnected from the traditional metrics of revenue and profits. Massive liquidity awaited the first movers to the IPO’s, and that’s how they managed their portfolios. The result? Carpe Diem – Seize the Cash.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

The Startup Magazine

JULY 21, 2021

Not only do SEO and CMS skills stand out on a resume, but they can also be demonstrated in a portfolio to further impress recruiters. With PPC, impressions cost nothing. Ideally, digital marketers can optimize PPC marketing campaigns so the conversions (sales) from the ad nets more revenue than the cost of the campaign.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review PPC SEM Marketing 78

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 1, 2018

Understand which one is right for you by learning about their reputation, taking a look at their website and examining their portfolio. If there’s a business in their portfolio that could be a direct competitor to your product, you’ll be better off avoiding them. It Always Costs More Than You Think.

Startup 95

Startup Portfolio Software Review Technical Review 95

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Instead of budget approvals, monitor key metrics and give managers more flexibility. Inevitably, things cost more and take longer than expected. So here’s the solution I have recommended to some of my portfolio companies: “ agile budgeting ”, i.e., monitoring a few key variables while giving managers significant flexibility.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 19, 2022

We redesigned our organization to take advantage of lower labor costs. 11- Paying attention to metrics. Metrics do not lie, and metrics over a longer time period are much more useful to study. Although your company's analytics are vital, simply investigating your own metrics is insufficient. 15- Rankings of sites.

Entrepreneur 118

Entrepreneur Metrics Technical Review North America 118

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 25, 2023

You'd only need your iPhone to manage this content and analyze these metrics so you can work anywhere else in the world as long as there is an internet. You can help your clients create cover letters and portfolios they’ll be confident to share. Aside from that, you can also make video content and upload it to Youtube.

Software Review 116

Software Review Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur 116

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

This structure allows for alignment on the front end, and real-time flexibility for performance metrics,” says Samira Salman , a family office investor and advisor. . Flexible VCs have created structures based on other company performance metrics than revenues, such as profits or founder salaries. That said, nothing is cost-free.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

When I started my last company, we were focused on developing technology to lower the cost of detecting and diagnosing Type 2 diabetes. If the companies in their portfolio don’t have much in common with yours, it’s usually better to look elsewhere. You may be able to generate revenue, but VCs want exponential growth.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Designing startup metrics to drive successful behavior Great companies are almost always run by great management teams. Good metrics should also be actionable, and drive successful behavior. In a follow up post, I will use this technique to walk through the design of a set of metrics for a SaaS company.

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 30, 2015

Google will amplify total advertising revenue volume as a means to counter the effects of declining cost-per-click as new competitors emerge in mobile ads.

Advertising 100

Advertising Revenue Mobile Intellectual Property 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Lately I’ve been having to say things I thought I’d never have to remind people, like, “getting to positive gross margin in several territories is a very low bar to claim success” or “profitable excluding marketing costs” is not actually a real thing. But not doing basic research makes no sense.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Occam's Razor

JULY 24, 2018

work (collection, processing, reporting, analysis), processes, org structure, governance models, last-mile gaps , metrics ladders of awesomeness , and… so… much… more. Remember, tools, work, processes, org structure, governance models, last-mile gaps, metrics ladders of awesomeness, and… so… much… more. The Implications of Complexity.

Analytics 93

Analytics Framework Metrics Algorithm 93

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 6, 2020

Throwing $300k at something that “feels right” could have huge opportunity costs. choosing an investment portfolio mix, whether to change tax rates, inventory planning for next year, etc.). If you’d like to purchase the site, opportunity cost of investment may be the way to go. Labor requirements and costs? over time?

.Net 69

.Net Net Present Value Cost Metrics 69

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

What metrics do we use to see if we learned enough in Customer Discovery ? I gave my boilerplate answer, “I’m a product guy and I tend to invest and look at deals that have measurable revenue metrics. Dave McClure has some great metrics…” It was an honest but vaguely unsatisfying answer. It’s an impressive portfolio.

Customer Development 223

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 223

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

Some VCs have identified a number of new advantages that distinguish them in the marketplace: – Portfolio acceleration. I saw “ portfolio operations ,” i.e., levers to enhance the operations efficacy of portfolio companies, become a standard part of the private equity toolkit. – Portfolio company diversity.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

Some VCs have identified a number of new advantages that distinguish them in the marketplace: – Portfolio acceleration. I saw “ portfolio operations ,” i.e., levers to enhance the operations efficacy of portfolio companies, become a standard part of the private equity toolkit. – Portfolio company diversity.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

An investor had few hard metrics other than the actual financials, and little technology to make the process scaleable. Over the past few decades, better metrics became available, and investors could take a more analytical, data-driven approach. ” Historically, investing was a manual, artisan process. 9% (1 / 12).

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

Years later Clavier's name now comes up all the time when one of his portfolio companies finds success; his exits include Mint, Tapulous, and UserPlane, other investments include Mashery (a ReadWriteWeb sponsor), Rapleaf, Fitbit, bitly, GroupOn, Twitter and many more. That will come at the cost of another 20 to 25% of the company.

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

As more investors have more touch points with a “Softbank round” in their portfolio, a picture emerges — rounds here often take a long time to close. During this time, there’s financial leverage used in the transaction to help buffer the firm’s cost of capital (e.g. 1/ Social Network Interference.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

Innovation and improvement occurs in Horizon 1 on process, procedures, costs, etc. To help Horizon 2 and 3 organizations navigate all the processes, procedures and metrics the company has built to support Horizon 1 activities, individuals from support organizations (legal, finance, procurement, etc.) Get to Yes.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

One of our portfolio investments, a B2B SaaS company, was a pre-product startup at the time of the seed round. If in the long run your B2C business is likely to have an ad-based revenue model, the ability to acquire a large number of users at zero or extraordinarily low cost is critical.

Seed Stage 149

Seed Stage B2B Seed Capital Revenue 149

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 11, 2011

I love watching our portfolio companies iterate on their products, especially when they are in the early days. The BigDoor team believes strongly that gamification should be a profit-center for web publishers and app developers, not a cost-center. As a result, they don’t charge for the usage of their API or their widgets.

Cost 130

Cost Widget API Advertising 130

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Good whitepaper on advertising measurement metrics | by Ben Kunz – crowdspring.co/HsVIMR. Good whitepaper on advertising measurement metrics | by Ben Kunz – crowdspring.co/HsVIMR. Commuting’s Hidden Cost | NYT - crowdspring.co/1aR15fY. Good whitepaper on advertising measurement metrics – crowdspring.co/HsVIMR.

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

ConversionXL

MARCH 19, 2020

Yet in expansionary periods, successful leaders spent significantly less on [selling, general, and administrative costs] than did their former peers. A focus on cost cutting—every decision is viewed through a loss-minimization lens. As the authors found, “Firms that cut costs faster and deeper than rivals don’t necessarily flourish.

Marketing 121

Marketing Campaign Non-Compete Lean 121

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Warning – this assumes some basic knowledge of VC performance metrics. Q: What is going to happen to the cost of capital? Q: What is the opportunity cost of not being in tech? For a primer, I would recommend refreshing yourself here. Ok, let’s jump in. State of VC: are we in a bubble?

Valuation 319

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 319

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 16, 2012

The passengers compensate the driver for the gas and toll costs, making it a fair trade. For example, a trip from Paris to Lyon (290 miles) would cost €25-30 compared to €100+ for the train. Portfolio. (3). SaaS business metrics: why are they different? McKinsey highlight #1: the art of cost cutting or.

Software Review 95

Software Review Europe Technical Review Spain 95

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 13, 2022

They may also target ads to specific audiences and track real-time metrics like views, clicks and demographics. As the travel industry rebounds from the pandemic, partnerships between these various entities will become more common, creating one-stop shops to meet all needs, reduce costs and improve current services.

Artificial Inteligence 108

Artificial Inteligence Software Review Technical Review Entrepreneur 108

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 11, 2013

Across our portfolio and in my own entrepreneurial experience, I have seen three main sales models work successfully in scaling B2B sales: 1) Enterprise; 2) Telephone; and 3) Developer-driven. customer acquisition cost or CAC). To that point, a well-run telesales operation will be super metrics-driven.

Sales 50

Sales Technical Review Software Review B2B 50

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Warning – this assumes some basic knowledge of VC performance metrics. Q: What is going to happen to the cost of capital? Q: What is the opportunity cost of not being in tech? For a primer, I would recommend refreshing yourself here. Ok, let’s jump in. State of VC: are we in a bubble?

Valuation 295

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 295

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Over the summer, based on feedback from our portfolio and the broader startup community, NextView created pre-formatted board deck templates for seed-stage startups — part of our Growth Guides series. A seed-stage mobile startup’s housekeeping section might look something like this: Section 3: Core Metrics.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. During the Q&A I was asked about how I make investment decisions in early-stage businesses. Innovator’s Dilemma.

Early Stage 254

Early Stage Non-Compete LP Later Stage 254