Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The line of reasoning goes, “Services businesses are not scalable and the market won’t reward this revenue so make sure that third-parties do your implementation or clients do it themselves. We only want software revenue.” If you’re an early-stage enterprise startup services revenue is exactly what you need.

Technical Review 403

Technical Review Software Review Startup Churn Rate 403

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

by Bruce Cleveland, Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners and author of “ Traversing the Traction Gap “ As we continue our exploration of the Traction Gap Framework® – a step-by-step approach that startup teams can use to go from ideation to preparing to scale – I will walk you through the principles.

Framework 101

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 101

View from Seed

OCTOBER 24, 2019

Or, if you can’t skip a round, when should you try to work extra hard to minimize dilution and when should you be prepared to take more dilution for the right partner/situation? Also, the benefit of raising a pre-seed from great partners probably outweighs the cost. Founders with limited experience. should be avoided.

Dilution 149

Dilution B2B Burn Rate Early Stage 149

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

One question that keeps coming up when speaking with early stage entrepreneurs when it comes to funding, is what metrics the company needs to hit to raise seed/series A/B etc: What’s a good conversion rate? In SaaS the main benchmarks being measured are revenue growth, sales efficiency (unit economics), churn and burn rate.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. His work on VC and small communities can be found at greatercolorado.vc/blog. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5%

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1 We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins. So what does an early-stage company do to avoid the doom and gloom plaguing the world of startups? That includes us. And you know what we found?

Early Stage 105

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 105

VC Cafe

JULY 21, 2022

Investment bank Drake Star Partners published a report on the gaming investment and M&A activity in the first half of 2022. Private financing market continued to see strong deal activity with $3.6B in total financings in Q2, surpassing Q1 total through 169 deals. While mobile game revenue was down 6.6%

Forecast 190

Forecast IP Mobile Acquisition 190

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. In his tenure as CEO of DataSift we have never missed a monthly revenue figure. Growth like this, this early in a company’s lifecycle rarely happens.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. This question gets to the heart of what bank financing is and isn't supposed to accomplish. Money from other sources.

Equity 303

Equity Silicon Valley Finance Early Stage 303

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. Partners leave the industry. Here’s my take: 1.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

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. how much energy to put into channel partners vs. direct sales. Experience.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

. $100M is a meaningful increase from our $50M third fund, though it’s still quite small in the grand scheme of venture, especially amid the recent wave of late stage financings and SPACs. We believe that this fund is the perfect size for us to be the best possible partners to early-stage entrepreneurs today.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. This question gets to the heart of what bank financing is and isn't supposed to accomplish. Money from other sources.

Silicon Valley 406

Silicon Valley Equity Startup Finance 406

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 has grown recurring revenue by more than 500% and deal-size by 276%.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2020

If you are building a startup, you’ll find no shortage of people who are willing to give you advice, particularly when it comes to raising financing. For some entrepreneurs, raising financing can seem like a full time job, particularly in these trying times. He is also a venture partner at several VC firms.

Finance 168

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 168

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical VC thesis: “we invest in tech startups in Europe at an early stage” However, our experience shows that in many cases: . Thirty-four VC firms in OpenVC call themselves “early-stage” Yet, 30% of those don’t actually invest in pre-revenue startups. The phrase is quite ambiguous.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital B2B 78

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2016

by Gadiel Morantes , chief revenue officer at Early Growth Financial Services. Speaking intelligently about your company’s current (and future) performance means regular check-ins with your finances. A Jenga tower is a precariously built one. Think of a tech startup the same way. Read your books from cover to cover.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Burn Rate Intellectual Property IP 103

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. Satisfaction comes from the gains you get from highly engaged teams, and the revenue and brand scaling to new marketplaces.

Metrics 272

Metrics Early Stage Finance Programming 272

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

They will often run all of the daily reports into them covering off for finance, sales, marketing, biz dev & HR. In an early stage start I believe it’s the CEO’s job to manage these functions. For now, if you’re early stage, I’m not convinced.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Due Diligence 325

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began. The “big boom” in startup financing started around March 2009?—?more more than 5 years ago?—?and and hasn’t abated.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

02:06] Can you share your experience starting with an early-stage company (Hubspot) that eventually went public? [07:11] In fact, when Brian and Dharmesh were actually creating it and wrote the book Inbound Marketing, that's when Duct Tape Marketing was really around and I had a lot of conversations with them early on.

Metrics 73

Metrics Analytics Forecast Software Review 73

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. – Build out low-cost force multipliers such as scouts , Advisors, Entrepreneurs in Residence, Venture Partners, and so on. So we think about scaling a lot.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

× At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. we had no revenue. In a single year, the classic general partner in a venture firm is exposed to around 5,000 pitches; decides to look more closely at 600 to 800 of them; and ends up doing between 0 and 2 deals. Reid Hoffman.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

But in business, you want a lot of partners. In the private equity universe, most Partners have primary training as deal-makers, not as managers. See Bessemer Venture Partners’ A comprehensive guide to security for startups. Cobalt for General Partners helps GPs to optimize their fundraising strategy. 1) Manage the firm

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 13, 2010

On July 27th, 2001 Accenture IPO’s and many of the partners grew fabulously wealthy. Since that date the S&P 500 is up 2.45% while Accenture stock is up 206% with revenue of $23 billion and a market cap of $32 billion. Arthur Andersen was embroiled in the Enron scandal and forced out of business.

Turkey 302

Turkey Differentiation IP Technical Review 302

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? Did the partner have a good or bad day, etc. Did the VC’s like your team ? Do they believe you have a big enough vision and market.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2009

My firm GRP Partners recently funded a young LA based company named Ad.Ly We’re clearly in the early stages on Twitter monetization but let me offer some views on why we find Ad.ly Finance and a host of other wonderful services brought to you by their sponsors. Listen, it’s the first inning. We think we know.

Technical Review 286

Technical Review Advertising Early Stage Internet 286

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Or should they look to one of the new wave of Revenue-Based Investors? Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. But should they?

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

how it will work, the financial terms, the types of customer leads expected from each partner, etc.). Detail all revenue streams. Be sure to include all revenue streams. From an investor’s perspective, what partnership you have with whom is not nearly as important as the specific terms of the partnership. Concept vs. reality.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

One of the most important decisions a new business owner can make is how they’re going to finance their venture. . What advice do you have for entrepreneurs in the early stages who are considering their funding options? Additionally, I found some trusted partners who had solid backgrounds to join me.

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

There are two reasons to raise money: You have a killer idea that is only partially validated, that you think can get to $50M+ of revenue in 5 years with 80%+ gross margins (if margins are lower, you need a lot more revenue)and you need money to get to product-market fit, or. Not all startups need outside investment to grow.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 14, 2016

forward revenue in February 2016 (the low), they appreciated by 6% each month for the following six months. This can set up a perfect storm if early-stage companies don’t manage their expectations and reality properly. We expect that the financing scene in 2017 will look very similar to 2016. for the last two years.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Early Stage Portfolio Valuation 60

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, an educational, business development and incubation program that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond. And today, we have a group of early adopter premium members who are making good use of the program.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley India San Francisco Entrepreneur 118

ReadWriteStart

MAY 5, 2011

The smart home business is still in the very early stages in India, and it will take some time before Evolutech ramps up. Bill has been following the 1M/1M project and would like to connect his partners to our team. These resellers buy devices from the U.S.

Costa Rica 115

Costa Rica Incubator Silicon Valley India 115

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

Most of those industries are fee-based and are competing on revenue growth. Scott pointed to B-round SaaS valuations in excess of $100 million in $15m+ financing rounds with companies with very limited proof of customer traction or revenue. He said that a16z prefers to invest earlier stage in these types of businesses.

Valuation 309

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Later Stage Non-Compete 309