ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

This partnership speaks to a core philosophy of the program where we encourage entrepreneurs to get as much customer validation as possible before raising too much money, use other people's channels if you can get to them, don't burn too much cash, and all that good fiscal conservative stuff. million in revenue. LetsGiftIt.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. Resilience is one of the tell tale signs of an entrepreneur. We got their commitment and our existing investors bridged us until the new financing round could close.

Germany 298

Germany Entrepreneur Merger Los Angeles 298

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5% raised from angels.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 19, 2012

When not approached carefully, growth can destroy value as it outstrips a company’s managerial capacity, processes, quality, and financial controls, or substantially dilutes customer value propositions. Growth requires the entrepreneur to install more processes, procedures, controls, and measurement systems. Growth overwhelmed them.

Dilution 209

Dilution Virginia Management Washington 209

Up and Running

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner with questions about funding your small business? Bates: Good morning and welcome to our CEO panel, “How to Fine-Tune Your Small Business Finances From Funding to Growth” which I think is the direction that we would all like to be going. My name is John Bates.

Small Business 95

Small Business Finance Forecast Metrics 95

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

This is the fourth article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). avoid being diluted). And if you’re not busy being crushed (diluted) you might not notice that the people above you in the cap table (e.g. Companies ultimately go through multiple rounds.

Cap Table 283

Cap Table Angel Investor Liquidation Preference Deal Flow 283

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

I thing I’ve learned over the years is that technology purists hate advertising even when it is that revenue stream that truthfully drives much of our industry. Too many entrepreneurs focus on dilution. But over-optimizing for dilution is a bad attribute relative to focusing on creating a big & winning company.

Product 350

Product Tuvalu Dilution Incubator 350

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

During this week's roundtable we discussed an area that deserves a serious look from entrepreneurs: Rural BPO. Today, I invited entrepreneurs to come up with ideas, apply the 1M/1M methodology to it, and come discuss with me at these roundtables. I call it drip-financing. In 1M/1M, our preferred financing strategy is customers.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Or should they look to one of the new wave of Revenue-Based Investors? Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Less or no dilution.

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

Life Beyond Code

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

One Million by One Million is a global initiative that aims to nurture a million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars each in annual revenue and beyond by 2020, thereby creating a trillion dollars in global GDP and ten million jobs. SM: In September 2008, when the first Entrepreneur Journeys book was released, D.D.

Programming 116

Programming Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 116

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 13, 2011

Growing a business presents a whole new group of challenges for entrepreneurs. There is no need for any entrepreneur to reinvent the ‘growth wheel.’ years, and had reached an average revenue level of $60 million with the range being from $5 million to $350 million. For a business to grow, the entrepreneur must grow.

Indianapolis 219

Indianapolis Minneapolis Kentucky Virginia 219

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Rather, give titles such as VP of Engineering, Product/Technology, Sales, Marketing, Finance, etc. Having too many co-founders will only lead to your eventual dilution. With little to no revenue, many early stage entrepreneurs turn to the Co-Founder model to build credibility for their startup when raising seed capital.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

In my experience as an advisor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often encounter the myth that an initial startup requires investors. The media tends to highlight experienced entrepreneurs who succeed with early new venture funding, like Uber’s Garrett Camp , but fail to point out the more common bootstrapping successes.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Exit Strategy 120

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

A finalist in the Social and Culture category , which will pitch at 11 am Saturday, March 9, EnrichHER Funding , based in Atlanta, is fueling the growth of women-led businesses by enabling women founders to secure capital in an affordable and non-dilutive way. Walk us through your process for applicants. Investors of EnrichHER get no equity.

Startup 50

Startup Cofounder Technical Review Equity 50

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

I have conversations with entrepreneurs and other VCs on a daily basis about fund raising, the prices of deals, how much companies should raise, etc. These are not scientific, just anecdotal and just trying to provide some transparency for entrepreneurs on what I’ve seen the market. million post-money valuation with no revenue.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Your A round?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Austin Startup

MARCH 26, 2019

25 questions that DTC entrepreneurs should ask themselves before scaling customer acquisition So you run a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand. To help with that, I’ve created a non-exhaustive list of questions to serve as a lightweight reference sheet for any new DTC entrepreneur. What happens at 3X?

Technical Review 49

Technical Review Software Review China Acquisition 49

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Huge downturns have a real impact on the revenue line of start-ups and therefore the pressure on valuations. They also make M&A activity more difficult and with lower outcomes.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Please see later version of this post on May 16, 2010 Entrepreneurs are often not experts in the area of term-sheet negotiations and all of the surrounding issues.   Investors sometimes “present” the terms they’d like and expect the entrepreneurs to react. Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. Although it certainly doesn’t feel that way when you’re an entrepreneur trying to raise money for your own company. The question most entrepreneurs keep asking themselves is why isn’t that capital chasing me?

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 117

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Either way, if you know you’re going to fail, it’s much better to do so with your own money on the line than money that also costs you in dilution, perpetuity or more. Consider convertible debt Before diving into a seed round, you may want to consider convertible debt over equity financing. I speak from experience.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. Although it certainly doesn’t feel that way when you’re an entrepreneur trying to raise money for your own company. The question most entrepreneurs keep asking themselves is why isn’t that capital chasing me?

Venture Capital 105

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 105

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Last week , we took the plunge and began dissecting an example term sheet for a convertible debt financing round piece by piece. In Part II, we looked at the mandatory conversion language that is at the heart of any convertible debt financing. Same, except at the option of the noteholders (per the term sheet example above).

Finance 107

Finance Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 107

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

Two essential lists: Startup costs normally include startup expenses and startup assets: Startup expenses: These are expenses that happen before you launch and start bringing in any revenue. If your cash balance drops below zero then you need to increase your financing or reduce expenses.

Cost 150

Cost Balance Sheet Startup Intellectual Property 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. They have created two internal technology “products&# and wanted to figure out how they could turn their services business into a product business that could be financed. You’re a small fish. This team is talented. They wanted advice.

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

This is typically in conjunction with an upcoming financing or pending takeover offer. A competitive commodity business, or a “me too” story , will be less demanded, and hence, will require a lower valuation to close your financing. Freshman are a piece of paper to beta site (bootstrap financed—raise $50K to $500K).

Valuation 167

Valuation Forecast Seed Stage .Net 167

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 4, 2023

Bridget Reed, Co-founder and VP of Content, The Word Counter Yes, but Look for Restrictions Crowdfunding is an efficient and cost-effective way to raise money to finance the development of a startup. For example, artists on Patreon can solicit members of their fan base to donate in appreciation and support of their work going forward.

Startup 141

Startup Campaign Cofounder Venture Capital 141

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

What I want to talk about today is one of the insider baseball discussions of our industry this past week: The odd fact of the $500 million financing round completed just before the company sold for a B. ” In this week’s discussion with entrepreneurs I think the word impending wasn’t used often enough. Hang on, Mark.

Valuation 316

Valuation Balance Sheet Dilution Term Sheet 316

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Why the Unicorn Financing Market Just Became Dangerous…For All Involved. A high performing, high-growth SAAS company that may have been worth 10 or more times revenue was suddenly worth 4-7 times revenue. By the first quarter of 2016, the late-stage financing market had changed materially.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Up and Running

APRIL 18, 2013

Specialty finance structures have been around since the beginning of finance, but in the last several years, as bank lending remained frozen following the financial crisis, alternative financial product offerings have exploded. Equipment finance. Equipment finance is one of the most common forms of specialty finance.

Small Business 89

Small Business Finance Dilution Equity 89

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs.

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Berkonomics

JUNE 5, 2014

One entrepreneur has a company which appears to be scalable to a $30 million exit value in five to eight years, and a second entrepreneur’s venture seems to be scalable to $200 million in exit value in the same time frame. Yet, at the pre-revenue stage of development, angel investors price both companies at a pre-money valuation of $1.5

Pre-Money Valuation 92

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Angel Investor Dilution 92

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

There are a number of factors that have contributed to the rise of pre-seed rounds, but the strongest have been the frothy late-stage financing market, coupled with both the scaling-up of some of the early winners in the institutional seed ecosystem and the scaling-down of some larger funds that retrenched after the financial crisis.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

The entrepreneurs had made $150k in revenue running classes for four months at a gym in New York, selling out the classes at $35/class. it also means less dilution, something that entrepreneurs should be very mindful of. Alpha M is a personal image consulting business trying to turn a consulting service into a product.

Pre-Money Valuation 163

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 163

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs try to do things on the cheap. Let’s assume that the $2 million buys 25% of your company, which is the norm in an equity financing. Your revenue will take longer to ramp then you think. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Raising Venture Capital Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Silicon Valley Warrant 319

Ben's Blog

MAY 24, 2021

Small” IPOs — companies with less than $50m in annual revenue at the time of IPO – have declined from more than 50% of all IPOs in the 1980-2000 timeframe to about 25% of IPOs from 2001-2016; Companies are staying private much longer — the median time to IPO from founding hovered around 6.5

SEC 36

SEC Accredited Investor IPO Technical Review 36

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2015

He has written numerous books and articles for entrepreneurs and investors, and was the publisher and editor-in-chief of Venture Magazine. Mr. Lipped addresses the issue of exits, and whether entrepreneurs should take the long view or cash out quickly when the opportunity arises. By Arthur Lipper.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Balance Sheet Stock Options Valuation 48