Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

VC’s have just changed the ~50-year old social contract with startup employees. In doing so they may have removed one of the key incentives that made startups different from working in a large company. For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. Why Startups Offer Stock Options.

Stock Options 334

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 334

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

I recently wrote a blog post in which I pointed out that many investors & advisors discourage enterprise startups from having a professional services (PS) business and I think this is a big mistake. I think it’s important for enterprise startups to layer in professional services into your revenue stream.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I recently wrote a post about why I didn’t think early-stage startups should have COOs. What a luxury in a startup to have the number one person in the business get to focus on just strategy? Still, I’ll bet that functionally you divide areas of competence like sales & marketing, product, engineering, biz dev, etc.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Gust

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. It is one of the useful methods for establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup ventures. OK…let’s split the difference.

Venture Capital 161

Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation 161

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

by Arsalan Sajid, startup community manager at Cloudways. Life is not a box of chocolates and startups are not always easy to start. There is a complete process that governs the startup lifecycle including inception to exit. This startup stage starts from the day you decide to work on a startup idea. Early Stage.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

It’s easy to say “yes” to one more feature request after another, until the potential for real impact gets diluted. Obsessive sales – must meet revenue goals. Otherwise, your most innovative and disruptive product thinking will be diluted and lost, killing your dream of a better world.

Dilution 334

Dilution Metrics Acquisition Revenue 334

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Aligning the Startup Team Strategy with the Capitalization Strategy. The single most important factor to raising capital for any tech startup is the management team. Furthermore, a startup works differently than a large corporation. Having too many co-founders will only lead to your eventual dilution. Early Stage.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. That’s the deal you get when you’re raising in a good market for startup financing.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

There’s been a lot of digital ink spilled around the various types of capital available to startups today. As a startup grows, venture debt becomes a viable option to continue that growth. Glen is an active contributor to the local tech ecosystem and well-versed in how and when startups can use venture debt to their advantage.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

L to R: Tiara Zolniez (Co-Founder & Sales), Dr. Roshawnna Novellus (Co-Founder & CEO), Alisha Griffey (COO) The Forrest Four-Cast: February 4, 2019 Fifty diverse startups will aim to impress a panel of judges and a live audience with their skills, creativity and innovation at SXSW Pitch Presented by Cyndx.

Startup 50

Startup Cofounder Technical Review Equity 50

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Startup strategy is like Kung Fu. All startups are screwed up. HT Mike Maples Jr ) Corollary: A startup has to be so excellent at one or two key things, that they can screw up everything else up and not die. Fermi estimation is a good way to figure out whether a startup or product could even theoretically be viable.

Restful 202

Restful Founder Revenue Acquisition 202

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

There is a telltale sign of an inexperienced startup entrepreneur. As a startup you shouldn’t focus on buying other companies until you’ve figured out your own business. A close friend of mine in LA who is 3 years into his startup called me about 2.5 How much dilution should I take for it?

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

The Startup Magazine

JULY 1, 2022

Technology startups are all the rage these days. But what many people don’t realize is that starting a technology startup is not as easy as it seems. This article will discuss some things that experts like Mark Stifler think technology startups should know about the business. Financing Your Startup.

Technology 141

Technology Venture Capital Finance Startup 141

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ the politics of startups ” in which I asserted that all companies have politics, which in its purest sense is just about understanding human psychology. – while the other might want a quick sale and pocket some bucks while the tech market is hot. Those are the easy cases.

Founder 340

Founder Sacramento Cofounder Technical Review 340

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 2, 2017

And the narrative for 2017 is OLD ECONOMY COMPANIES WANT TO BUY YOUR STARTUP. When Satya and I started Homebrew in 2013 one of our bets for the coming decades was that non-traditional acquirers would become more aggressive in their pursuit of technology startups. Next Level: Buying Customers/Revenue/Distribution. So, is it true?

Technical Review 115

Technical Review Cap Table Acquisition Startup 115

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Startups don’t raise all the money they are ever going to need to achieve the end goal in the Seed or Series A round. What’s critical for entrepreneurs to understand is that valuations for startups do not increase at a linear rate; they increase geometrically based on achieving the right milestones. Think baby steps.

Valuation 100

Valuation Dilution Chicago Technical Review 100

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. Flexible VC: Revenue -based. Of the Inc.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Up and Running

JULY 1, 2020

You may grow to tap new markets or increase sales in your current markets. It starts with a high-level strategy and continues all the way to market analysis, sales plans, operations planning, and financial modeling. Once again, the components of a startup business plan are useful for these expansions.

Business Plan 152

Business Plan Forecast Operations Dilution 152

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

For a more elaborate explanation of the deal, please read my blog post 1M/1M: Alternative Financing For Startups Using A Sales Channel Partner. I have discussed at length why revenue sharing channel deals may serve as perfectly fine alternatives to raising equity (or even complements) because of their non-dilutive nature.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 4, 2023

From paying attention to fees to balancing what works for you, here are 13 answers to the question, “Is crowdfunding for startups a good idea? While these fees may seem reasonable at first glance, they can add up quickly and significantly impact the amount of capital that the startup receives from the crowdfunding campaign.

Startup 141

Startup Campaign Cofounder Venture Capital 141

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2021

These are usually characterized as owner-operated, with five employees or less, and less than $250,000 in sales. 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. Do you love antiquing?

Entrepreneur 304

Entrepreneur United States Dilution .Net 304

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 15, 2016

I wish I could claim I deftly foresaw this, but I was just seeking recurring revenue to to cover OneMatchFire’s office expenses. By the end of 2004 I had brought on two co-founders: John Vars – who is now the Chief Product Office at TaskRabbit, and Steven Reading took over Sales and Revenue.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Startup Cofounder SMS 48

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Large companies can be strange sometimes. Sometimes it actually does.

Warrant 298

Warrant Dilution Startup Stock Options 298

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

This article is part of our Business Startup Guide —a curated list of our articles that will get you up and running in no time! Startup expenses are those expenses incurred before the business is running. Many people underestimate startup costs and start their business in a haphazard, unplanned way. What are startup costs?

Cost 150

Cost Balance Sheet Startup Intellectual Property 150

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Want to start a startup? You need three things to create a successful startup: to start withgood people, to make something customers actually want, and to spendas little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it becausethey fail at one of these. Most startups that fail do it becausethey fail at one of these.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

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. Outside funding is not a startup entitlement. Flaws in a business plan are often masked by money, but ultimately will kill any startup. Startups need to stay nimble and adapt to change.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Exit Strategy 120

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

I work with a lot of startups. Because at least while the VC spigot is open and flowing for high-potential individuals that fit a pattern that some VCs seem to favor they can access cheap capital that isn’t terribly dilutive and can use the to fund development and swing for the fences with limited focus on monetization.

Burn Rate 412

Burn Rate Dilution Revenue Valuation 412

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues. You can get cash without diluting your ownership in the company. Because customer financing equals revenue, not equity. That's why, I advised Gio to keep going with further execution on his business and build more revenue traction.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

Austin Startup

MARCH 26, 2019

I frequently see promising startups with a great product and strong initial economics hit a wall due to the piling up of problems relating to these questions, or what I like to call the ‘DTC death by a thousand cuts’. You’ll usually get assigned a contact in the ad sales organization at Facebook or Google once you start spending big bucks.

Technical Review 49

Technical Review Software Review China Acquisition 49

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2018

These are usually characterized as owner-operated, with five employees or less, and less than $250,000 in sales. 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. Do you love antiquing?

United States 244

United States Dilution .Net Small Business 244

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

For startups and entrepreneurs, a podcast can be especially attractive due to their low production cost. One of the great things about podcasts is that they can be a very low-risk way to bring a potential lead into your sales funnel. That value is diluted if there are strings attached. Offer a Lot of Value for Free.

Dividend 195

Dividend Audience Dilution Incubator 195

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2013

These are usually characterized as owner-operated, with five employees or less, and less than $250,000 in sales. 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. Do you love antiquing?

United States 246

United States Dilution Startup .Net 246

Austin Startup

JANUARY 11, 2020

Capital Factory’s Saturday Startup Spotlight series, where we chat with an exciting new startup and get to know their story, returns this week with the co-founder and CEO of TaxTaker : Ari Palmer. In doing so, we also aim to improve startups business’s financial health. link] Can you pitch your company to us?

CPA 62

CPA Startup Non-Compete Cofounder 62

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

Clavier spoke last week at the International Startup Festival in Montreal on the topic of raising money - with a special emphasis on the numbers that a startup should keep an eye on. Clavier began his presentation at the beginning of a company's lifecycle, asking how many co-founders a startup ought to have.

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 12, 2017

If you have a sales model that involves relationship selling to high-level decision makers, you can be sure they would prefer a detailed proposal from you with a request to “sign here.” Is third-year revenue of $10M good or bad? There’s no baby step analogy to the pilots discussed above for a sales situation.

Term Sheet 48

Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Merger 48