Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Future unproven projections don’t set today’s valuation.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

How They Make Money: Majority of Kayak’s revenue actually comes from advertising on their site (55%), not lead generation or referral fees to travel suppliers as you might think (more on this below). Financial Snapshot: 2010 Revenue: $170 million. Revenue growth: 51% YoY (2010), 1% YoY (2009), 131% YoY (2008).

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 18, 2015

They have everything: money, brand, momentum, existing customers, press, product teams, distribution channels, expertise, market insight, analysts, sales offices, product features, and, by definition, a working business model. The insight is: The profitable revenue stream is a prison. But David has a clear path to slaying Goliath.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Valuation Flash Revenue 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

LPs have been feeling great about venture capital due to holding valuable paper positions in companies like Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Dropbox, all of which they feel confident will drive large cash distributions in the future. LPs See The Over-Valuations and Don’t Like It. The Biggest Area of Concern is Late Stage Investments.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Without revenue, your investors are largely limited to friends, family and fools.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

We realized that operating a business in distributed markets presented multi-city coordination efforts that we weren’t prepared for. were more distributed. An example of the systems companies build are pricing & revenue management tools to best help to optimize yield.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Gust

OCTOBER 16, 2012

This summer I conducted our third annual survey of the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies recently funded by angel groups in North America. Access to our 2010 and 2011 surveys can be found at 2011 Valuation Survey of North American Angel Investor Groups. Pre-revenue life Science, biotech and medical device deals.

Angel Groups 169

Angel Groups Valuation Pre-Money Valuation North Dakota 169

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

VC Cafe

JANUARY 27, 2021

As teams become increasingly distributed, video communication is important for both internal alignment and external business development. But within two weeks its Israeli founders managed to pivot their product into the virtual events world and have concluded 2020 with 100% growth and tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

Vertical 148

Vertical Video Technical Review Europe 148

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Without revenue, your investors are largely limited to friends, family and fools.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.] The Valuation Question.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Future unproven projections don’t set today’s valuation.

Due Diligence 308

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 308

Gust

DECEMBER 6, 2011

This graphic shows that the distribution of funding is not uniform across the spectrum of rounds size in dollars. Milestones are accomplishments that demonstrate the viability of the business; hence, they increase the valuation of the company. So, generally, these three major sources of capital are complementary, not competitive.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Venture Capital Valuation Software Engineering 179

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

You are sure to be happy when your business reaches a Series B financing round because it usually means your company has a higher valuation. Before your financial statements can be filed with the SEC or distributed outside of your business, an external auditor must ensure your records adhere to GAAP. Revenue Recognition.

CPA 154

CPA Stock Options Valuation Stock 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Without revenue, your investors are largely limited to friends, family and fools.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 29, 2012

The company sought to raise $125,000 for 25% of the comapny, implying a $375,000 pre money valuation. Unsurprisingly, all the sharks passed, based on market size and valuation expectations. The company was started six weeks ago, had no sales and no retail distribution yet.

Pre-Money Valuation 97

Pre-Money Valuation Offshore Valuation Cofounder 97

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Companies horde cash and squeeze the most revenue and margin from the money they use. Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter. The companies that can show “startup-like” growth rates of 50% plus per year will get stratospheric market valuations.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 23, 2017

PC and mobile interfaces dynamically display portfolio valuations and exposures, along with system-generated investment recommendations tailored to a specific client’s financial goals and risk appetite. According to research from JP Morgan, revenues from investment banking peaked in 2009 at $207.7 Transaction Processing.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Software Review IPO 131

VC Cafe

APRIL 28, 2021

And elsewhere creator monetisation tools and revenue streams continue to expand: Ads and bran deals – Youtube reported $6 billion in revenue for Q1 2021 , a 50% growth rate from the equivalent period last year. The sum is equivalent to the combined annual revenue of Snap and Twitter for 2020. — ??????

Audio 167

Audio Valuation Stealth B2C 167

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

He had been at it for 6 months and had no sales or distribution lined up yet. They won a design award at a trade show, but have no revenue and no orders. They are seeking $40k for a 33% stake and want investors who can provide introductions for distribution and licensing on their behalf. The last company was a bit of a puzzler.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

ReadWriteStart

JULY 17, 2023

In the financial year ending in March this year, the startup generated a revenue of $18.5 For Furlenco, the acquisition will provide access to Sheela Foam’s extensive distribution network and marketing expertise. For Furlenco, it provides access to Sheela Foam’s extensive distribution network and marketing expertise.

India 104

India Acquisition Merger Curation 104

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 15, 2017

What seems to be the best way to create customers and revenue may result in a business model that is out of vogue with the investment world and shortchanges you on enterprise valuation. A good example is the marketing technology sector. You don’t normally get to dictate the decision as to how your customers want to buy.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Nevada Silicon Valley 48

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

You may be able to generate revenue, but VCs want exponential growth. The market for our product was global, and we had unique advantages in terms of our product and how we distributed it to customers. Have a reasonable attitude about your early-stage valuation, and don’t get too hung up on it. Be ready when it counts.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 118

VC Adventure

MAY 5, 2022

How many of those valuations will hold remains to be seen, but that kind of market clearly advantaged funds that deployed capital very quickly. Both were valued at greater than 50x revenue (one was, I think, 70x revenue). But in any event, the life of a fund is at least 10 years, and increasingly 15 years or more. But not now.

IRR 116

IRR Metrics Valuation LP 116

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Founded in November 2007 in New York City by Alexis Maybank and Kevin Ryan (co-founder of DoubleClick); CEO is Susan Lyne (ex-CEO Marta Stewart Living Omnimedia) Revenue estimates: $50mm in 2008; $170mm in 2009 (versus budget of $150mm); $450mm forecasted for 2010. Note that these are “gross” revenue numbers. OTHER DEALS: 1.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Then, about two weeks before launch, I distributed a survey to those 256 partners. But when I ran the numbers, the revenue from just the first three months from the 150 who were interested in premium would cover the investment and more. It wasn’t a scalable solution, but it was a start. 60 percent of respondents chose premium!

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5 Scorecard Valuation Methodology. Such comparisons can only be made for companies at the same stage of development, in this case, for pre-revenue startup ventures. million, indicating a somewhat normal distribution.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

Potential investors love to see gross margins in the fifty percent range or greater, with recurring revenue through subscriptions, follow-on sales, or services. Five-year financial projections of revenue and expenses. Of course, you wouldn’t include this data in your customer product pitch.

Product 145

Product Intellectual Property Liquidity Event Exit Strategy 145

ConversionXL

JULY 16, 2021

By collating key information in a framework, you’ll reduce internal feedback loops, improve collaboration, and empower consistency—which can increase revenue by 33%. . Make sure to update and re-distribute them as needed. Your messaging strategy guidelines are a playbook for how your marketing team should create materials.

Audience 127

Audience Framework Differentiation Software Review 127

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Five Quarters of Profitability During the 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s startups going public had to do something that most companies today never heard of – they had to show a track record of increasing revenue and consistent profitability. There was now a public market for companies with no revenue, no profit and big claims.

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 21, 2013

to fund the company at a $6M post money valuation from a number of investors including Selena Gomez. Despite having over 500k downloads and making $450k in revenue over the last 21 months, he had only $185k left in the bank, which meant that he would be out of business in 90 days if he didn’t raise more money.

Pre-Money Valuation 162

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Distribution 162

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

Many of the creator economy startups have conjured different ways for creators to generate revenue outside of advertising, which has been the bread and butter of ‘influencer’ platforms like Instagram, Youtube, TikTok etc. This is where new startups can help. The 2021 Creatorscape by Influence ( source ). I’d love to chat!

Startup 207

Startup Social Media Venture Capital Audio 207

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. VC’s worked with entrepreneurs to build profitable and scalable businesses, with increasing revenue and consistent profitability – quarter after quarter.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

ConversionXL

MAY 1, 2017

Reporting in the Harvard Business Review on a major study of growth stalls they conducted, Olson and his colleagues cite the case of the iconic brand Levi Strauss, which hit a historic high mark of sales in 1995, reaching revenue of $7 billion, but then, starting in 1996, saw a decline in sales so precipitous that by 2000, revenue was down to $4.6

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Algorithm Channel Analytics 127

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Future unproven projections don’t set today’s valuation.

Due Diligence 120

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 120

Ben's Blog

JUNE 18, 2011

If they have, then we should be able to see some evidence that the dominant public technology companies are moving towards bubble valuations. Apple’s valuation is now a case for business historians to discuss because I don’t think there are modern precedents. Ex-cash it’s 13.5. Horace Dediu, Asymco.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Software Review Valuation Internet 76

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

is an elegant way to model any service-oriented business: Acquisition Activation Retention Referral Revenue We used a very similar scheme at IMVU, although we werent lucky enough to have started with this framework, and so had to derive a lot of it ourselves via trial and error. The AARRR model (hence pirates, get it?)

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167