article thumbnail

One of the Biggest Mistakes Enterprise Startups Make

Both Sides of the Table

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. But the “no sales people” mantra isn’t what I’m here to take on. I believe it’s flawed.

article thumbnail

How to Configure Your Startup Team

Both Sides of the Table

it’s the most expensive dilution you’ll ever face. Your first sales people should be consultative sellers who can fuel evangelical sales. Don’t hire “relationship management” sales people too early. Quick summary: Be careful not to have too many co-founders. Limit the number of VCs.

Cofounder 388
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Remind Me Why I Love You? (Why “In Person” is Everything)

Both Sides of the Table

I also had to negotiate a follow-on round at a portfolio company because new investors were trying to force a bit option-pool top-up that would dilute the founders and existing shareholders and existing investors were fighting over prorata rights. I always tell people that fund raising is a sales process.

article thumbnail

A Different Path To Startup Success: How To Avoid Taking Money And Losing Control

YoungUpstarts

If you are having any issues with cash flow, you always have the option of opting for alternate business finance. Investing more money in stage one won’t really help, as spending twice as much on sales won’t produce twice the sales. Both the choices tend to take away a few options. Plan, Plan and Plan.

Cofounder 124
article thumbnail

How to Make Sure Professional Services Don’t Take Over Your Software Company

Both Sides of the Table

So when I meet with GRP portfolio companies that do enterprise sales I try to emphasize the following: 1. Often your sales engineers can do the customizations without bugging the core eng team. Integrate PS Work Into Sales & Marketing Processes. Referenceability is the lifeblood of sales.

article thumbnail

How do the sample Series Seed financing documents differ from typical Series A financing documents?

Startup Company Lawyer

After the recent announcement of the Series Seed Financing documents by Marc Andreesen, Brad Feld points out that there are now four sets of “open source&# equity seed financing documents: TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents (by Cooley). Y Combinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents (by WSGR). under $500K).

Finance 70
article thumbnail

Financing with grants, not equity or debt

Berkonomics

First, an example of grant-based financing . The company was funded entirely by grants from the National Institute of Health, amounting to millions of non-dilutive dollars in all. No dilution to shareholders or the founders. The post Financing with grants, not equity or debt first appeared on BERKONOMICS.

Equity 62