David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. As a result, unfounded hockey-stick graphs and unicorn promises give way to financial fluency, realistic expectations, frank conversations about what a business can credibly achieve, and transparency. .

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. An expanding customer base demands better support. This S-Curve, with no correction, can quickly lead to disaster.

Hockey Stick 263

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 263

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. That’s not an attractive statistic if you crave control and power.

Hockey Stick 268

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2018

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. An expanding customer base demands better support. This S-Curve, with no correction, can quickly lead to disaster.

Hockey Stick 130

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 130

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. That’s not an attractive statistic if you crave control and power.

Hockey Stick 144

Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. That’s not an attractive statistic if you crave control and power.

Founder 245

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 245

thebarefootvc

DECEMBER 16, 2011

In places where international diplomacy had failed, citizens around the world found their individual and collective voices to topple dictatorships and demand better lives for themselves and future generations. What comes next remains to be seen but these revolutions even empowered individuals not touched directly by the uprisings.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review India Mobile Hockey Stick 110

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. An expanding customer base demands better support. This S-Curve, with no correction, can quickly lead to disaster.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Guerilla Startup Acquisition 120

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

The Economist thoughtfully reassures us that while AI will unquestionably take over certain jobs, the use of AI will demand specific job creation. Good insight … Navigating The Make-Or-Break Years As You Create Hockey Stick Growth [link]. Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto! Sorry – I couldn’t resist). – [link].

Artificial Inteligence 48

Artificial Inteligence Hockey Stick Small Business Design 48

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

The Economist thoughtfully reassures us that while AI will unquestionably take over certain jobs, the use of AI will demand specific job creation. Good insight … Navigating The Make-Or-Break Years As You Create Hockey Stick Growth [link]. Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto! Sorry – I couldn’t resist). – [link].

Artificial Inteligence 48

Artificial Inteligence Hockey Stick Small Business Design 48

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

Not only did their sales curve look like a textbook case of a VC-friendly hockey stick, but their Lessons Learned funding presentation was an eye-opener.). A scalable startup typically requires external “risk&# capital to create market demand and scale.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

More than likely the revenue projection would resemble the hockey stick like the graph on the right. It affects timing of revenue, timing of spending to create demand, etc. This meant that their revenue plan had been a fantasy from day one. New Market Revenue Curve. Lessons Learned. Customers don’t read your revenue plan.

Revenue 230

Revenue Balance Sheet Hockey Stick Burn Rate 230

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 30, 2015

I have a feeling that a lot of these "on demand" companies aren''t going to be as gamechanging as we think--and will come back down to earth with valuations that look more like temp agencies than the next big thing. Instead of paid acquisition fueling an up and to the right hockey stick, these companies would grow organically.

Hockey Stick 60

Hockey Stick Valuation Startup Maryland 60

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 21, 2010

Since we often invest before the big “hockey stick” traction that bigger VCs wait for, a lot of times the company is still trying to tweak exactly what service or application will take off in a given market. Think about what your product and market will demand of you. At First Round , I often hear the term “product-market” fit.

Product 68

Product Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Syndicate 68

Small Business Force

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

This has caused such success for the company that it has taxed their manufacturing capacity and they have been unable to meet market demand. Sure, you've got a business plan and it shows the proverbial "hockey stick" of growth. Their potential solutions? They have become a victim of their own success.

Hockey Stick 37

Hockey Stick Dilution Viral Demand 37

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

With that implicit assumption, startups hire a VP of Sales with a great rolodex and call on established mainstream companies while marketing creates a brand and buzz to create demand and drive it into the sales channel (web, direct salesforce, etc.) Even more serious, startups can have radically different cash needs.

Customer Development 196

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 196

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

Forget about traction and hockey stick growth. Unit economics are something I’ve found most entrepreneurs (and investors!) don’t think about at all. It’s hard to get there without ideal unit economics.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

Forget about traction and hockey stick growth. Unit economics are something I’ve found most entrepreneurs (and investors!) don’t think about at all. It’s hard to get there without ideal unit economics.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

For tax and finance professionals, managing spikes in demand – and making sure that seasonal business cash flow remains stable – is a year-round exercise. In the accounting business, your revenue chart basically looks like a hockey stick,” says Ernie Mayhorn, owner of Capital Tax Solutions in Carson City, Nev.,

Hockey Stick 113

Hockey Stick Small Business Private Equity Denver 113

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 11, 2010

Each time a new set of docs get released, I don’t cringe because it means I then have to remove the hockey stick from my revenue projections. There will always be demand for good counsel. When an issue like this occurs at your startup, you’ll be glad your documents are “complicated.&#.

Delaware 49

Delaware Hockey Stick Preferred Stock Open Source 49

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 11, 2010

Each time a new set of docs get released, I don’t cringe because it means I then have to remove the hockey stick from my revenue projections. There will always be demand for good counsel. When an issue like this occurs at your startup, you’ll be glad your documents are “complicated.&#.

Delaware 45

Delaware Hockey Stick Preferred Stock Open Source 45

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

You already have the hockey stick and exponential growth. Just like catching a bug in development is cheaper than fixing it once it has been released, confirming lack of customer demand prior to ramping up a sales engine is cheaper than finding out once you have a paid sales team. The rest is just fluff.

Venture Capital 209

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 209

Duct Tape Marketing

JULY 26, 2017

Though I would say based on the numbers that I see it’s not like a hockey stick growth, but the growth in people’s desire to listen to the content and people’s desire to create terrific podcast content has really never been higher. It’s really turned radio into an on-demand medium is what it has.

Audio 39

Audio Programming Software Review Hosting 39

Up and Running

AUGUST 16, 2017

For example, missing crucial deadlines for finishing the business plan, or drawing hockey stick profit projections can repel potential investors. By focusing on the needs of the end-user, the developers of The Embrace—who were also students at Stanford—were able to create a highly demanded and successful business plan.

Business Plan 127

Business Plan Hockey Stick Cofounder Salary 127