Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger. In summary, a reverse merger, or going public through the “normal” IPO process should never be seen as just a way to fund your startup.

Merger 303

Merger OTC Due Diligence IPO 303

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 7, 2014

You can read Krager’s article for all the figures (many of which are from Hubspot’s S1 SEC filing and from Moz directly), but here are some of the key differences: Hubspot spends $11,233 to acquire a new customer. Moz spends $131 to acquire a new customer. Hubspot’s average revenue per customer: $8,670 per year. Moz made $72.5

Initial Public Offering 148

Initial Public Offering IPO SEC Valuation 148

ReadWriteStart

JULY 20, 2023

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. These strategies include: Customer-centric Approach : Prioritize understanding and fulfilling customer needs to build a loyal user base.

IPO 107

IPO Startup Initial Public Offering eCommerce 107

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested.

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger. In summary, a reverse merger, or going public through the “normal” IPO process should never be seen as just a way to fund your startup.

Merger 198

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 7, 2014

You can read Krager’s article for all the figures (many of which are from Hubspot’s S1 SEC filing and from Moz directly), but here are some of the key differences: Hubspot spends $11,233 to acquire a new customer. Moz spends $131 to acquire a new customer. Hubspot’s average revenue per customer: $8,670 per year. Moz made $72.5

Initial Public Offering 78

Initial Public Offering IPO SEC Valuation 78

SiliconHills

OCTOBER 23, 2017

SailPoint Technologies, founded in 2005, filed papers with federal regulators on Friday to raise $100 million in an initial public offering. The company plans to use the proceeds of its offering to expand operations and add additional customers. […].

Private Equity 69

Private Equity Initial Public Offering Venture Capital Equity 69

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested.

Angel Investor 232

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 232

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

A reverse merger is the acquisition of an already public company (usually a dormant shell) to avoid the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process and cost, to quickly get your startup on a public exchange for fund raising through visibility and selling stock.

Merger 246

Merger IPO OTC Stock 246

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

Most retail and commercial banks offer investment services to their customers, but these services have nothing to do with investing in your business. So unless your business is well established, and ready to sell or go public (Initial Public Offering - IPO), you should steer clear of investment banks.

IPO 205

IPO Silicon Valley Private Equity Startup 205

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

For instance, if your company is only a few weeks old and you have zero customers and your product offering is still in design, don’t expect someone to hand over $10 million to fund your efforts. 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.

Investment Bankers 241

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 241

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested.

Matching 120

Matching Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers 120

Growthink Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Try these statistics on for size, from 1999 to today Asia’s share of the world’s Initial Public Offerings grew from 12% to 66%. How easy / possible is it for global customers to buy your product – to purchase your service? • 7 Companies in China have raised more than $1 billion in an IPO this year. Your India strategy? •

Africa 104

Africa Brazil China India 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2015

Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the backdoor as a reverse merger. In summary, a reverse merger, or going public through the “normal” IPO process should never be seen as just a way to fund your startup.

Merger 120

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

For instance, if your company is only a few weeks old and you have zero customers and your product offering is still in design, don’t expect someone to hand over $10 million to fund your efforts. 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. Growth stage.

Investment Bankers 231

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Initial Public Offering Startup 231

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2011

Today, the signs of the new bubble are the Linked-In initial public offering (IPO), Facebook’s stratospheric valuation and the rapid rise of early-stage startup valuation. Obviously, some of these companies will have hundreds of millions of customers, unprecedented revenue growth and great profits.

Silicon Valley 327

Silicon Valley Stealth Valuation Mississippi 327

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

They taught you about customers, markets and profits. The reward for doing so was a liquidity event via an Initial Public Offering. Startups needed millions of dollars of funding just to get their first product out the door to customers. The IPO offering document became the playbook for startups.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2011

Most retail and commercial banks offer investment services to their customers, but these services have nothing to do with investing in your business. So unless your business is well established, and ready to sell or go public (Initial Public Offering - IPO), you should steer clear of investment banks.

Silicon Valley 211

Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering Startup 211

Berkonomics

JULY 8, 2021

It was an Internet CEO roundtable in early 2000 (almost a year before the crash of the stock market) where it became obvious before the public was aware, that the bubble was just beginning to burst for such tech businesses. Every leader has stories to tell.

Initial Public Offering 62

Initial Public Offering Angel Investor Stock Email 62

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

For instance, if your company is only a few weeks old and you have zero customers and your product offering is still in design, don’t expect someone to hand over $10 million to fund your efforts. 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.

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital Investment Bankers Angel Investor Initial Public Offering 171

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

At the other extreme, I don’t condone greedy and unethical business practices to unjustly shake down customers and employees alike. Shows positive value for both the customer and the business. Customers and investors are looking for quantifiable specifics, not just social value or “eco-friendly.”

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Initial Public Offering Merger Acquisition 48

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

20th Century Tech Liquidity = Initial Public Offering. In the 20th century tech companies and their investors made money through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Twenty-five years ago, to go public you had to sell stuff – not just acquire users or have freemium products. The founders.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

For years, the most desirable exit strategy for startup companies was to go public through an initial public offering. This 10-year-old company offers shoes and other apparel on-line at competitive prices. They had a phenomenal obsession with customer service and offered free shipping and returns.

IPO 162

IPO Exit Strategy San Francisco Startup 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2010

Most retail and commercial banks offer investment services to their customers, but these services have nothing to do with investing in your business. So unless your business is well established, and ready to sell or go public (Initial Public Offering - IPO), you should steer clear of investment banks.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Private Equity Startup Initial Public Offering 120

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 31, 2014

It was an Internet CEO roundtable in early 2000 where it became obvious before the public was aware, that the bubble was just beginning to burst for such tech businesses. And it happened again in early 2008, as CEOs reported the first evidence of order slowdowns and issues with customer payments – right before the ‘great recession.’.

Initial Public Offering 70

Initial Public Offering Angel Investor Stock Email 70

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

But in today’s world, speed-to-scale entrepreneurship is what we need to improve society, transform industries, and create massive value for customers, employees, and investors. Customers value and benefit from the convenience, price, and selection of Amazon, which is why the company is, by a wide margin, America’s largest bookseller.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

We slept under the tables, and pulled all-nighters to get to first customer ship, man the booths at trade shows or ship products to make quarterly revenue – all because it was “our” company. And the bet worked. It drove the relentless “do whatever it takes” culture of 20 th century Silicon Valley.

Stock Options 333

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 333

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

With this seed capital – more often than not totaling between $100,000 and $1,000,000 - the company accomplishes a number of key technical milestones, gets a beta customer or two, and then goes on a "road show" to venture capitalists around the country for capital to “scale” the business.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

That is, you'll use the funding to build a product or service and prove that customers want to buy it. Stage #5: Mezzanine Financing Mezzanine capital, often provided by private equity firms, is capital provided either as equity, debt, or a convertible note that is provided to a company just prior to its Initial Public Offering.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Growthink Blog

JULY 23, 2012

Try these statistics on for size, from 1999 to today Asia’s share of the world’s Initial Public Offerings grew from 12% to 66%. How easy / possible is it for global customers to buy your product – to purchase your service? • And with their capital and confidence, China and India are stretching their wings.

Africa 76

Africa Brazil India Intellectual Property 76

Version One Ventures

JUNE 7, 2016

However, in the case of marketplaces, it’s much harder to leverage existing distribution or find synergies between the acquirer and acquired company: A marketplace’s technology/product is often custom and proprietary, making it tough to replace with existing technology and save costs.

IPO 60

IPO Distribution Channel Business Model 60

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2011

Focus maniacally on customer experience. And for you, it’s just easier. Iterate as rapidly as possible, and worry less about the organizational build out required for a permanent stand-alone company. Keep capital expenses and long term obligations to a minimum.

IPO 87

IPO .Net Social Network Mobile 87

VC Cafe

JANUARY 15, 2024

M&A/ Exits – This situation is compounded by a narrowing window for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings (IPOs). Those who survived the last two years learned a great deal about proper management and also saw the other and less pleasant side of investors and customers.

IPO 88

IPO Valuation Private Equity 88

online.wsj.com

JULY 11, 2012

Customer Center. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com. Customer Jitters Hit Applied Materials. Customer Jitters Hit Applied Materials. Ran gold Resources Ltd. Technology.

Silicon Valley 42

Silicon Valley Founder Software Review Technical Review 42

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com. Back to Top « Customer Service. Customer Center. Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. SMALL BUSINESS.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island South Dakota 107