Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

With the current volatile economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

Merger 261

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 261

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. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world?

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins. That includes us.

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Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 115

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

In September 2017, I spent 2 weeks in Austin, Texas to understand what makes this vibrant startup ecosystem tick. It follows up on my posts discussing why early stage startups should — or should not — move to Silicon Valley. Should Early Stage Startups Move to Austin because of Capital? Money is like gasoline during a road trip.

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Texas 48

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

I never implied that startups are all great and job hoppers are all at fault. Most of what I learned about operating startups I learned from the really tough years at my first company from 2001-2003. That is when no customers wanted to work with Internet startups because we as an industry had burned so many customers.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

Mike Stern (wasn’t sure which one so leave a comment if it’s you): Q: “is it possible to sell your startup without venture investment if the company has big traction and a large user base?&# I talked about the need to have a restricted stock plan for your earliest employees. This is minutes 8-11. Do it early.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

With the rise of startups and growing businesses , it has become more critical for investors to have a thorough understanding of equity to be aware of all of the advantages they are receiving from the companies they have invested in. The market regards equity as an ownership “share” in a corporation’s income revenue stream.

Valuation 108

Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

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. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

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. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

Merger 198

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. They’ve grown from nothing to >$2B in revenue in 30 months time, making the company among the fastest growing businesses in the histroy of the world. How They Make Money: Groupon keeps a share of the coupon value (typically 40-50%) as its net revenue (1). June 5, 2011.

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North America Chicago Boston Silicon Valley 100

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2021

The question for many entrepreneurs is, how do you start a business the right way with the right startup business structure? . Without them, you cannot earn any revenue. You have to have a clear and powerful value proposition in order to attract and keep customers and your startup business structure needs to reflect that.

Limited Liability Company 165

Limited Liability Company Silicon Valley Business Model Stock Options 165

Startup Company Lawyer

MAY 1, 2009

Data is analyzed by: founder/non-founder status, company revenue and headcount, geography, business segment, and number of financing rounds raised. CEOs or CFOs of startups in the US, China, India, Israel, or the UK in the technology or life science industry should consider taking the survey. Tags: Stock options.

Stock Options 31

Stock Options CTO Hire Equity 31

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

I get approached often by tech startups looking for their first outside funding. This article is based on my experiences and the typical mistakes I see every week in startup land. High growth startup companies need seed money to get things going. Without funding most tech startups will die. high growth. Capital = Growth.

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Revenue multiple? Less than you’ll probably grant your most junior employees in stock options? There are a million ways to do quick, easy, low-cost rounds with prices. Stock Option plans. They already locked in stock at a lower price. Startup Lessons' How will you price the next round?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

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. Is your startup really ready to play in the corporate world? These looming constraints can turn your startup dream into a nightmare, all to increase funding.

Merger 120

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 120

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Want to start a startup? A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. Few startups get it quite right. 1 ] A startups life will be more complicated, legally, if any of theinvestors arent accredited.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

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.” Of course, you’re going to have to perform well to make that stock useful in the acquisitions process.

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IPO Social Media Media Exit Strategy 223

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. 3]   However, if they are built bottom up, they demonstrate and make explicit a range of business model assumptions the entrepreneur is using to think about his business and its revenue model.   Pre-bubble Siliicon Valley deals were popularly valued at multiples of revenue.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

A detailed financial model that shows your anticipated revenue, costs and profits (Income Statement) as well as your balance sheet and cashflow statements. The buyer is shopping for equity in startups and the seller is looking for cash in exchange for equity and shared governing control of his or her company.

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Be The Beatles Not The Flock Of Seagulls John Greathouse’s Bio ConTraps Part 2 ConTrap Part 3 ConTrap part 4 Startup Children Pt 2 Startup Children Pt 5 Startup Children Pt 3 Startup Children Pt 4 Decision Making 101 Talks: Jason Nazar on how to Persuade. Hands-on startup advice for emerging entrepreneurs.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder PR 40

Gust

DECEMBER 8, 2011

In Part I , I gave a quick summary of the who, when and why of forming and documenting a new startup company. This week we’ll delve into what , exactly, is necessary or desirable to lay a solid legal foundation for a startup to build upon. Sales contracts accounting for significant revenue. Newco, Inc.”) Yes, it’s a mouthful.

Intellectual Property 139

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Delaware Stock 139

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. I recently wrote a post noting that while the growth cycle of startups has clearly accelerated in the last 5 years, the number of truly monster new businesses (a company ultimately worth $75-100B) remains about the same … it’s a once in a decade sort of thing. February 2, 2012.

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IPO South Korea Venezuela Revenue 100

Ben's Blog

APRIL 28, 2010

The conventional wisdom says a startup CEO should make way for a professional CEO once the company has achieved product-market fit. The new, professional CEOs were unwilling to let go of the most basic assumptions driving the cost structure of their businesses. Investments in innovation do not pay out in the current quarter.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 78

Eric Friedman

JUNE 11, 2019

Partnership Forcing Functions can be tricky because they typically don’t involve revenue, which drives most business decisions, but there are other reasons to do the deal. Typically a startup wants a POC with a LargeCo. and they move at a glacial pace.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Stock Options Early Stage Agile 68

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 15, 2012

Tech startups need more than a great idea and breakthrough technology - they need a team of committed developers who will stick with them through iteration after iteration. Most tech startups think they can attract developers with cool perks and a promise to ship great code. Too many startups are stingy with equity.

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Developer Equity Ruby Cofounder 130

ithacaVC

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

In “VC world” Rule 409A is best known for providing a safe harbor for private company valuations, and in particular the setting of strike prices for employee stock options. A whole cottage industry popped up, and the cost of a valuation is typically $4-8K. And the company will typically get it updated yearly.

Liquidation Preference 49

Liquidation Preference Common Stock Stock Options Valuation 49

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

That’s exactly my point is you’re up against either startups with funding or just entrenched names that have just been around a long time and have a ton of customers and brand value. That is always true for all startups until they get old, right? How do you split revenue? Jason: Exactly. That is always true.

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Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Problem was, I seemed to suck at the whole startup thing. Rather, I didn’t have anyone around me familiar enough with startups to tell me that I was doing it all wrong. One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Up and Running

JUNE 19, 2015

This week, we hear from Alex Blumberg from Gimlet Media and the Startup Podcast in our new Bcast Bytes segment. Click here to subscribe to the Startup Podcast on iTunes. Alex Blumberg at Internet Week in New York. Photo Credit: Insider Images/Andrew Kelly. Only have time for a Bcast Byte? Sabrina Parsons) – (:31).

Cloud 60

Cloud Small Business Silicon Valley Media 60

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

My boss and mentor from Open Market, Gary Eichhorn , made the entire management team read it in the 1990s to hammer home its important lessons as we stumbled through the chasm on our way to scaling from zero to nearly $100 million in revenue in a few years. At each stage, there are different problems. Anyone up for a rewrite?

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20

Ben's Blog

MARCH 17, 2011

Often when I meet with startups, the employees have no job titles. Should your company make Vice President the top title or should you have Chief Marketing Officers, Chief Revenue Officers, Chief People Officer’s, and Chief Snack Officers? Titles cost nothing. now what’s a title to fit me?

Employee 78

Employee Stock Options Engineer Management 78

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 23, 2019

John Jantsch: The term pivot is used quite often today in startups, in fact it’s sort of a joke that you’re expected to come out with your product, and then you realize nobody wants it, and so you now are this kind of company. Jenny Blake: At first, I started to ask, “How can people be as agile as startups?” So you pivot.

Programming 61

Programming Finance Turkey Stock Options 61