This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

They might not understand how a pre-revenue startup could be worth anything, let alone be valued at $5mm. I would e-mail Paul and Rony from Indeed regularly with feature ideas and get super frustrated that they implemented zero of them—especially in the face of stiff competition from Simply Hired. What’s Simply Hired, you ask?

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 9, 2022

The SoStereo firm that Salo helped build not only streamlines the way Fortune 500 Brands use music on their ads, but also helps indie artists build a musical middle class and earn extra revenues. One of the most underrated jobs of a leader in a scaling organization is making sure the culture doesn’t get diluted. Quality control?

Cofounder 148

Cofounder Founder Miami Marketing 148

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

One great solution I see is to hire an outstanding CFO who runs both. I know it’s much sexier to race around talking about buying up companies than it is tweaking your business operations to accelerate revenue, reduce churn and grow faster. Dilute your cash, equity or both. But they aren’t the COO. What will it do?

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

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 can dilute a business’s culture and customer value proposition and put the business in a different competitive space.

Dilution 209

Dilution Virginia Management Washington 209

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

How much dilution should I take for it?&# My friend’s company was pre-revenue. Me: “Zero dilution. But to be clear the overwhelming majority of deals involve one company driving the cultural integration, establishment of uniform processes, hiring / firing decisions, etc. They often involve big hugs on stage.

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2021

According to the Voice of Microenterprise (AEO) website, if one in three micro-enterprises in the United States hired an additional employee, the US would soon be at full employment. This allowed him to learn enough from all his early mistakes to hit it big ($10 million revenue) with a global beauty tools company called Tweezerman.

Entrepreneur 304

Entrepreneur United States Dilution .Net 304

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

How much revenue are you generating on an annual basis? If you are getting funded for the first time, which means that you have not diluted the shares of your company, you will be receiving Series A funding. Hiring more resources. So, hire more people or go for outsourcing to remote workers. Is there an exit strategy?

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Instead, watch payback period for acquisition efficiency, watch retention for product/market fit, watch expansion revenue for long-term growth, and watch gross margin for long-term profitability. Find and focus on one reliable distribution mechanism before diluting your time diversifying. One-on-ones are never a waste of time.

Restful 202

Restful Founder Revenue Acquisition 202

Mike Michalowicz

JANUARY 16, 2023

If you’re like me, you may be inundated with emails and ads for TED talks, keynote speeches and small business books from thought leaders offering to help your small business increase revenue. It increases your small business revenue by leaps and bounds too.). Thought sharing is serving. And I think we all want to do that.

Small Business 60

Small Business Audience Revenue Dilution 60

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 13, 2011

years, and had reached an average revenue level of $60 million with the range being from $5 million to $350 million. They end up trying to do too much for too many, which dilutes their focus and often the quality of their product or service. Hiring smart. The problem is that too many entrepreneurs never learn to say ‘NO!’

Indianapolis 219

Indianapolis Minneapolis Kentucky Virginia 219

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

If you hire 6 senior sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business 6 months. If you don’t have a strong balance sheet and can’t hire more people that’s fine — but understand this may lead to slower growth.

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Don’t hire people with skills and qualifications similar to yours. Hire based on functionality and avoid having too many C’s. This helps to better divide the work, make people accountable, and show investors just why each founder/hire is key to the organization. Hiring the right people at the right time is key.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Up and Running

JULY 1, 2020

I needed to determine whether we could profitably hire an additional advisor to properly manage this emerging marker to allow the current advisor more time to manage their own. The investment expenses precede the revenues they will ultimately produce and may lead to cash or profitability constraints.

Business Plan 152

Business Plan Forecast Operations Dilution 152

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 30, 2022

Thanks to Adam Wood, Revenue Geeks ! #7- 15- Study supply chains and hiring trends. Businesses, in order to function, will have to study supply chains as well as hiring trends to determine pricing, promotions and service offerings, adjusting to current conditions. 7- Start outsourcing. Photo Credit: Jim Pendergast.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Green Technical Review Social Media 124

Austin Startup

MAY 8, 2018

Background reading: Founder Compensation: Cash, Equity, Liquidity Fatal Errors in Early Startup Hiring Early Hires: Options or Stock Given how deeply involved we are with early-stage startups hiring their first key employees, I figured it would be helpful to outline a few key principles to help entrepreneurs navigate the topic.

Employee 48

Employee Seed Stage Startup Equity 48

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

In many instances, you raise an institutional round to either fulfill a product strategy or go-to-market strategy or you’re increasing sales and marketing hires, so you have better visibility into what needs to happen in the next six, 12, 18 months. Traction and revenue? NVV: Is there any dilution? Business model?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

YoungUpstarts

MAY 31, 2016

Hire smart, ambitious, get-it-done employees and lead them with emotionally intelligent innovation leadership skills. The single biggest reason that the average company struggles or even fails is due to their lack of focus and dilution of their greatest resource, which are people. Is a marketing plan important? Is high yield important?

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Leadership Early Stage Initial Public Offering 100

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 16, 2016

But entrepreneurs face other concerns that compete with this growth focus, including hiring, maintaining current revenue sources and distinguishing themselves from the competition. But take it from what a good friend and advisor once said to me: “Ego is dilutive to net worth.”. Don’t expand for the sake of your ego.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Balance Sheet Small Business Administration Technical Review 100

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula. First, a caveat. x $125k which is equal to $31.25k.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2018

According to the Voice of Microenterprise (AEO) website, if one in three micro-enterprises in the United States hired an additional employee, the US would soon be at full employment. This allowed him to learn enough from all his early mistakes to hit it big ($10 million revenue) with a global beauty tools company called Tweezerman.

United States 244

United States Dilution .Net Small Business 244

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Plus, any other non-standard items here should be called out, too, like non-dilutive grants, as applicable. The former can include expected burn and runway, guideposts on hiring, and resource allocation. develop and launch X product, reach Y number of users, generate $Z amount revenue).

Cap Table 211

Cap Table Seed Stage Valuation Dilution 211

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

But the reality is that you’re faced with two problems: 1) the earlier the stage the riskier and thus more write-offs so you need to have enough ownership percentage in your winners to make up for the losers and 2) the earlier stage your check the more likely the company will need many more funding rounds behind you and thus you face dilution.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

This can be helpful when you are hiring a COO for the company, and the candidate asks to get percentage ownership in the company. It is attractive for seed-stage companies that have not had time to show much traction in terms of their product or revenue. Add details of possible dilution when bringing on investors.

Cap Table 112

Cap Table Pre-Money Valuation Stock Options Option Pool 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2016

According to the Voice of Microenterprise (AEO) website, if one in three micro-enterprises in the United States hired an additional employee, the US would soon be at full employment. This allowed him to learn enough from all his early mistakes to hit it big ($10 million revenue) with a global beauty tools company called Tweezerman.

United States 242

United States Dilution .Net Small Business 242

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Founders typically get their equity in a company once — at the time of founding and then get diluted with each subsequent round of financing. The rush to hire results in a relaxation of “hire only A players rule.” This situation is not always in the best interest of founders.

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 117

The Startup Magazine

JULY 1, 2022

Production or service is the business’s core activity, which generates revenue. Equity financing can give you a lot of cash upfront, but it can also dilute your ownership stake in your company. This includes hiring employees, marketing your business, and expanding your operations. How To Manage And Grow Your Company.

Technology 138

Technology Venture Capital Finance Startup 138

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Founders typically get their equity in a company once — at the time of founding and then get diluted with each subsequent round of financing. The rush to hire results in a relaxation of “hire only A players rule.” This situation is not always in the best interest of founders.

Venture Capital 105

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 105

Duct Tape Marketing

OCTOBER 11, 2023

But what the dilution, if you bring it down to it that even creator entertainers and educators have in common is it's this human element. Christie Horsman (05:43): Yeah, I think the only pitfalls I see when looking for, I think hiring creator influencers to represent your brand is great. Is there a better way?

B2B 80

B2B Marketing B2C Community 80

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. Not necessarily the entire business, but at some point, something will fail and you’ll either learn from it and grow or it will be the beginning of the end.

Strategic Investors 49

Strategic Investors Austin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 49

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Sure, our revenue is growing, but is that enough to raise an internal round? Dilution / valuation. I hate when companies publish too much information about the total stock option allocations, the company valuations, the dilution faced in every round, etc. I wasn’t expecting this much dilution this quickly.”

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2013

According to the Voice of Microenterprise (AEO) website, if one in three micro-enterprises in the United States hired an additional employee, the US would soon be at full employment. This allowed him to learn enough from all his early mistakes to hit it big ($10 million revenue) with a global beauty tools company called Tweezerman.

United States 246

United States Dilution Startup .Net 246

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

" Revenue doesn't pay your bills, GM does  —  @msuster 2/ Founders obsess with revenue as a vanity metric. Some even grow "bad" revenue just to show growth. But if you want to add some in the comments section on Medium and I’ll make sure to read them.

Founder 242

Founder Dilution Software Review Later Stage 242

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

From the start we said that we would never make a decision as to what features to build or what products to sell based on revenue alone, rather we would focus on things that make our customers smile and by doing so lots and lots of revenue will fall out over time. The most important hiring criteria for your executives is cultural fit.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Would I hire a broker? Arthur: The usual royalty revenue sharing funding agreement is for an agreed period – and commences on the generation of revenues by the royalty issuer (company licensing the IP.) He’s bought the royalty, an intangible, entitling him to a percentage of your revenues. Investment banker?

IP 54

IP Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Product 54

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 12, 2017

Is third-year revenue of $10M good or bad? Those milestones may be revenue, profit, product release, signed partner agreements, key hires, or any other steps that show a venture is achieving liftoff and is ready to scale. A price of $2 per share means nothing in itself. Ownership of 1.222% means nothing.

Term Sheet 48

Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Merger 48

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2017

With limited resources, you can sell via ecommerce, but it’s much tougher to support retail as well, or hire a direct sales team. Consider a subscription model for a repeatable revenue stream, or full-purchase model, but not both. Pick a business model that you can best support. Define no more than 3 to 5 goals and priorities.

Entrepreneur 159

Entrepreneur Channel Angel Investor Dilution 159

Austin Startup

MARCH 26, 2019

Discounts too early can also have the adverse effect of diluting a brand when targeting a more affluent customer segment. Many DTC brands eventually hire someone to specifically focus on reducing the impact of credit card errors. Are you prepared for continued investment in customer service?

Technical Review 49

Technical Review Software Review China Acquisition 49