Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Running a company is distinctly different from simply having operating experience – (working in bus dev, sales or marketing.) Every potential early-stage Venture Capitalist should take a year and do it before he or she makes partner. Board skills (Startup coaching, mentoring, strategy, operational/growth).

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 332

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1 So what does an early-stage company do to avoid the doom and gloom plaguing the world of startups? When we set-up our next business our first decision was to operate with a remote workforce. That includes us. It wasn’t a decision we took lightly.

Early Stage 112

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 112

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

The functions of an early-stage board are pretty obvious and well understood: Providing introductions to customers, biz dev partners, recruits, the press, other investors, etc. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions. Reviewing financial & operational performance. Mentorship. Experience.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

How much you raise determines valuation I know it sounds crazy but at the earliest stages of a company your valuation often is determined by how much money you raise. There is a general guideline of how much investors want to own in order to invest in your company and the norm is 15–30% with the most common range 20–25% per early stage round.

Pre-Money Valuation 292

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Early Stage Startup 292

YoungUpstarts

MAY 27, 2019

Implementation is different to theory and ideas, so you need to be able to bring operational performance and many other skills to the table. This is an especially dangerous pitfall for early stage startups and new entrepreneurs. Christopher founded two companies, Crestridge Investments and Third Wave Partners.

Cofounder 170

Cofounder Private Equity Software Review Equity 170

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5% return cap.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

We help founders through difficult moments, we help coach, we act as sparring partners, we help them resolve conflicts when they’re fighting with co-founders and we help them deal with adversity as well as successes. The role of VC is sparring partner. It’s the executives who trust you to join the early-stage startups you’ve funded.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

David Teten

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Before making the decision to join ff Venture Capital , I did some research on early-stage tech investing as an asset class and how it’s evolving. Although any given early-stage company is quite risky, when aggregated across a large portfolio, returns are very attractive. They’re also inflation-hedged.

Early Stage 148

Early Stage Private Equity Portfolio Aggregator 148

ReadWriteStart

MAY 22, 2023

Europe’s Metaverse Market: Niche Operators and Start-ups While the US and Asia dominate the Metaverse market , Europe has yet to establish a major presence in the industry. Europe has also lagged behind the US in venture to finance. Talent retention is one of the biggest challenges facing Europe’s Metaverse industry.

Finland 187

Finland Europe Estonia Silicon Valley 187

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Does the traditional VC financing model make sense for all companies? Though RBI will displace some traditional equity VC, its much bigger impact will be to expand the pool of capital available for early-stage entrepreneurs. . However, only recently have early-stage companies started to use this model at any scale. .

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2016

Speaking intelligently about your company’s current (and future) performance means regular check-ins with your finances. Whether it’s burn rates, balance sheets, or P&L and cash flow statements, financial documents say a lot about your operations — and you need to be able to speak the language. Read your books from cover to cover.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Burn Rate IP Intellectual Property 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Growth like this, this early in a company’s lifecycle rarely happens. Growth like this, this early in a company’s lifecycle rarely happens.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Since 2017 we’ve managed $3 million in revenue-based financing, which helps cash-strapped technology companies grow. In 2019 we partnered with several revenue-based lending providers, effectively creating a marketplace. “. The average monthly operating expenses is $70,335. Bigfoot Capital. Decathlon Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing. What Has Changed in Financing? The biggest change for us in early-stage investing is that we now need to commit earlier. Of course we can’t. dot-com bonanza.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

by John Vrionis, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. This article highlights their advice on issues ranging from financing to patent trolls: While startups may believe lawyers are too costly, working with one early on avoids potentially serious problems later. ” The Cost of Financing. Incorporation.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

After many years in business, I’m convinced that none of us has the strengths and interest in all the areas needed for success, including solution changes, finance, marketing, and operations. Trying to do everything is a sure way to maximize stress, lower job satisfaction, and minimize productivity.

Metrics 272

Metrics Early Stage Finance Programming 272

YoungUpstarts

MAY 7, 2019

If followed, we believe it can help startup teams navigate the critical early stages of development – and avoid joining a majority of early stage companies that end up on the entrepreneurial scrap heap. Read on to discover why successfully traversing the Traction Gap is critical to early stage companies.

Cleveland 217

Cleveland Early Stage Framework Startup 217

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

There was a lot of consumer internet activity again…resurgence of things, but it was still mysterious, venture capital was still kind of closed, 1st time entrepreneurs had a lot of questions that were unanswered, and there was still some sort of hand waiving around all the financing stuff and so we took it on….”. Is that when it became big?

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

David Teten

MAY 9, 2012

We are in the midst of two great disruptions to American business: the internet’s ongoing disruption of most traditional industries: finance, healthcare, retail, finance, fashion, etc. Founded in 1970, NAIC firms invest in venture (early stage/later stage) and private equity (growth/buyout/mezzanine/distressed/secondary funds).

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Programming Accredited Investor New York 154

VC Adventure

JANUARY 4, 2021

Recognizing that smaller operations were at a huge disadvantage because they didn’t have access to the legal and financial resources that larger firms do, we wanted to do something to help them. Most of these came from early-stage startups.

Finance 62

Finance Networking Arizona Colorado 62

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

My Partners at HOF Capital are younger than I am, which means that we have a half-century horizon for the franchise we are building. I’ve listed them below in *very* roughly descending order of efficiency, measured by increased dollars one can put to work, divided by the operational dollars required to implement each strategy. .

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 2, 2021

You can sign up to Angels Partners today and connect with 40,000+ investors. Consequently, they rule out themselves as a source of financing. If your new venture is in the early stages of operating, you can choose to forfeit the earnings from your business. Invoice financing . Reinvesting Your Earnings.

Due Diligence 125

Due Diligence Startup Finance Early Stage 125

Up and Running

OCTOBER 1, 2019

A mentor or partner who can share their power of experience. There’s a lot to be said for youthful energy, but early-stage small businesses and startups can leverage the value of experience as well. Traits and skills to look for: Find a mentor or partner with direct experience with startups. The right attitude.

Hiring 77

Hiring Technical Review Small Business Forecast 77

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

how it will work, the financial terms, the types of customer leads expected from each partner, etc.). Operations Plan Goal of the operations plan: Present the action plan for executing on your company’s vision. The operations plan transforms the business plan from concept into reality. Concept vs. reality.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

The NextView Accelerator Doesn’t Operate in Strict Cohorts. . Most accelerators operate in class cohort “batches.” But the emphasis of our program is the direct one-on-one interaction with NextView partners to help push the company forward. These engagements don’t need to be constrained to a strict timetable.

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Entrepreneur Homepage Startups Starting a Business Home How-To Guides Startup Basics Business Ideas Business Planning Startup Financing Success Stories Home-Based Business Starting a Business Play Video How to Take a New Product from Just an Idea to a Business (Video). Financing Some Jobs Act Proposals Make Headway.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 14, 2016

This can set up a perfect storm if early-stage companies don’t manage their expectations and reality properly. Likewise, early-stage investors may not appreciate just how much follow-on support their portfolio companies will need. We expect that the financing scene in 2017 will look very similar to 2016.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Early Stage Portfolio Valuation 60

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 22, 2012

Let’s start out with the basic functions of a tech company: 1) Engineering 2) Marketing 3) Sales 4) Business development 5) PR 6) Design 7) Product Management 8) HR 9) Operations 10) Finance Ok, that's just overwhelming. When the product is early and still pivoting, these are kind of the same thing. Ready to start simplifying?

PR 144

PR Technical Review Seed Stage Design 144

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 29, 2013

In short, you’re going to want to look for the best funding partner (or collection of partners) possible, rather than just focusing locally. At the end of the day, you’ll want to find the best partner(s) that meets your specific needs and situation. Look global and local.

Silicon Valley 161

Silicon Valley Global Finance New York City 161

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

Companies pursuing innovation can Buy, Build, Partner or use Open Innovation. The first time a few brave corporate innovators tried to overlay the Lean tools and techniques that work in early-stage startups in an existing corporation, the result was chaos, confusion, frustration and ultimately, failure. Lessons Learned.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

As an entrepreneur himself, founding and operating printed circuit board factories in Taiwan, my father was debating between two places to immigrate to and build his next new venture: Los Angeles (“The Valley” aka San Fernando Valley) and Santa Clara (“Silicon Valley”).

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership at all levels. I spent a ton of time with the CEO and VP Finance understanding the businesses, its customers and its operational challenges.

CTO Hire 308

CTO Hire Management Technical Review Part-Time VPE 308

ReadWriteStart

MAY 5, 2011

Satya is evaluating various go-to-market models such as franchising, and I advised him to focus on direct selling to major builders and working with industry value-added resellers (VARs) that already operate in the smart home segment in India. Bill has been following the 1M/1M project and would like to connect his partners to our team.

Costa Rica 115

Costa Rica Incubator Silicon Valley India 115

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Like many established finance & media companies, GLG knows that the tech startup sector is a growing part of the economy. We’re backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake Partners, and individual investors like Ron Conway, among others. Or, you can go straight to the source.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

A Venture Capital Firm is a firm that invests in startups and early-stage companies. Early-Stage Investments vs. Mid-Stage Investments. Investing in a startup company carries a high degree of risk, particularly at the early stage. However, not all firms are venture capital firms. Pre-Seed Investments.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

Other angel investors and smaller funds also copied this innovation, and many of these new Micro-VC fund managers (like me) came from operational backgrounds at companies like PayPal/eBay, Yahoo, Amazon, or Google, rather than finance backgrounds from investment banking or Wall Street. They are operators, through and through.

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Generally speaking in venture capital financings the legal documents will specify that only “major investors” (a threshold set in the agreement – which can be $500,000 investor or more). There are now so many new early stage investors and many of these are new it’s not so obvious whom you can trust.

SEC 352

SEC Venture Capital Early Stage Cofounder 352