Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

The companies I spoke to all agreed that the community there was extremely supportive, especially in the critical ulta-early-stage. Then, create an encouraging environment for early-stage companies. You dont need massive amounts of capital available for VC investment - modest amounts will do.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Continuous Deployment 113

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 12, 2016

What stops a majority from moving ahead to the execution stage is funding. Most businesses – online or offline, need seed capital to get established and without access to these funds, launching a business can seem like an improbable dream. That seems like a lot of capital. That does not have to be the case however.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup Seed Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

The second is that the retailers were constrained by their high costs of local real estate and service staff relative to the costs of centralized warehouses where goods could be stacked high, sorted by robots, managed by RFIDs and then shipped via overnight to eager, cost-conscious customers across the US. 10x the experience.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review Cofounder CTO Hire 380

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 12, 2011

Feeling overwhelmed, Dick emailed his friend Josh, the CEO of an early-stage startup in Boulder, to see how they figured out all of this stuff. While John was trying to be helpful, his advice missed the mark because he didn’t have a lot of experience at the early stages.

Balance Sheet 136

Balance Sheet Forecast Cap Table Early Stage 136

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). It super charges a business that is closer to product delivery.

PR 319

PR Venture Capital Hiring Seed Capital 319

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

When seeking equity investments, the source of capital is, for the most part, tied to the stage of capital being raised. You see, equity capital is raised in stages or rounds. The five main stages include the following: 1. Pre-Seed Funding 2. Seed Funding 3.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Software By Rob

JANUARY 8, 2019

Hundreds and hundreds of tweets, re-tweets, likes, Hacker News upvotes, email responses…it was immediately obvious that there is pent up demand for this kind of alternative early-stage startup funding. 2: We Focus on Early Stage SaaS. We’re a SaaS accelerator, and accelerators focus on early-stage companies.

Early Stage 46

Early Stage Valuation Seed Capital Revenue 46

Steve Blank

JULY 20, 2015

Today he is the founder of M34 Capital , a seed capital fund that focuses on early-stage projects being spun out of academic and corporate research labs. Yet we all [anyone teaching who actually had founded a company] knew that in all honesty no business plan survives first contact with customers.

Government 120

Government Channel Southern California Lean 120

The Next Web

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Here’s the problem: this opportunity doesn’t exist for early-stage startups, because, by definition, they have no users or customers. Worrying about “scale” in the early days of your startup is simply a bad investment. Many of these techniques can gather some useful market information.

Cofounder 155

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 155

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

. • Repeatable: Startups may get orders that come from board members’ customer relationships or heroic, single-shot efforts of the CEO. Does our product or service solve a customer problem (product-market fit)? How do we attract, keep and grow customers? But to achieve scale, startups need risk capital.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 333

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Books that Shape Common Early Stage (Startup) Culture – crowdspring.co/1fLefAN. Raising Seed Capital – crowdspring.co/MX18CE. don’t return investors’ capital” – crowdspring.co/1dhuwIO. How To Turn Your Online Visitors Into Customers Without Them Even Knowing – crowdspring.co/1fLcnYW.

Social Media 95

Social Media Small Business Design Media 95

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

. • Repeatable: Startups may get orders that come from board members’ customer relationships or heroic, single-shot efforts of the CEO. Does our product or service solve a customer problem (product-market fit)? How do we attract, keep and grow customers? But to achieve scale, startups need risk capital.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 225

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

Outsourcing is something a big company, with a known customer / problem (that has revenue & traction) does to save cost. Talk to your customers. The right people are potential customers – ask them if they have the problem. When it comes to early stage investing – it’s all gut. How do I stay motivated?

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Feld Thoughts

JULY 14, 2015

The feedback is “come back when you’ve made more progress with customers.” But instead of adding it on to the note or doing an equity round with a price, which could still be an early stage price but below the cap, they make the argument that since the company couldn’t raise a round, the company is worthless.

Recapitalization 70

Recapitalization Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Angel Investor 70

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

Note: When I say “seed stage startup,” I’m specifically referring to software/app startups that are eitherpre-product or early product. Startup X launches with XX millions of dollars of seed capital from a star-studded list of investors”. … Traction: The new way of raising seed funding. It’s called traction.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 100

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Here’s an overview: Mitch Kapor: Kapor is founding partner of Kapor Capital , a firm that invests in seed and early stage startups. Brad Feld: Feld is co-founder and managing director of Foundry Group, a Boulder, Colorado venture capital firm that focuses on early stage investments ranging from $250,000 to $500,000.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80