David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

This structure allows for alignment on the front end, and real-time flexibility for performance metrics,” says Samira Salman , a family office investor and advisor. . Flexible VCs have created structures based on other company performance metrics than revenues, such as profits or founder salaries. Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Dividend Equity 78

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 4, 2015

Born out of Intel and then later fully actualized at Google with the help of John Doerr, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) have ushered in a new goal-setting framework that empowers every size business — but especially new ventures — to set out and stay on the right path to drive organizational success.

Agile 100

Agile Startup Cofounder Metrics 100

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

Over my career as a serial entrepreneur I observed that since the late 1990s, no early-stage Silicon Valley investor had used business plans to screen investments. Done informally as part of an accelerator, yes, but not with a framework based on a clear process and clear pedagogy. Even those who asked for them never read them.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

What metrics do we use to see if we learned enough in Customer Discovery ? I gave my boilerplate answer, “I’m a product guy and I tend to invest and look at deals that have measurable revenue metrics. Dave McClure has some great metrics…” It was an honest but vaguely unsatisfying answer.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

An investor had few hard metrics other than the actual financials, and little technology to make the process scaleable. Over the past few decades, better metrics became available, and investors could take a more analytical, data-driven approach. ” Historically, investing was a manual, artisan process.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

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. . So what is Revenue Based Investing?

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Warning – this assumes some basic knowledge of VC performance metrics. The three-question framework goes as such: Q: How much tech-related market cap will be created in the next 10-20 years? For context, seed-stage pre-money valuations are up 24% from H1 2020 to H1 2021. Ok, let’s jump in. State of VC: are we in a bubble?

Valuation 319

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 319

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

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. Get to Yes. Horizon 2 and 3 activities are not entirely separated from the corporate structure.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Warning – this assumes some basic knowledge of VC performance metrics. The three-question framework goes as such: Q: How much tech-related market cap will be created in the next 10-20 years? For context, seed-stage pre-money valuations are up 24% from H1 2020 to H1 2021. Ok, let’s jump in. State of VC: are we in a bubble?

Valuation 295

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 295

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

For example, if organic traffic is a priority for you, include a statement like this: From an SEO perspective, our primary goal in the early stages of this content strategy is to focus on low-volume, high-buyer intent keywords and queries related to specific pain points. This sets the intention for your early-stage priorities.

Audience 127

Audience Non-Compete Distribution Channel 127

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

Investors sitting through Incubator or Accelerator demo days have three metrics to judge fledgling startups – 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling PowerPoint slides, and 3) a world-class team. The Investment Readiness Level makes the stages of development for the business very tangible. Here’s John’s story. But the ‘ah-hah!’

Framework 306

Framework Sacramento Lean Customer Development 306

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

It’s a very personal topic and I’d like to offer you a framework to decide for yourself, based on the following factors: How Long is it Taking to Raise Capital at Your Stage in the Market? ” and if anybody gives you a specific number I would be a bit skeptical because there is no universal answer.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Valuation Software Review 150

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 23, 2021

Those experiences led me to refine my decision-making framework. The metrics from the dashboard are the key inputs for collective decisions. You can always instrument your business and gather metrics, but that doesn’t mean the data you gather will be useful. Just track metrics that help you improve the product.

Venture Capital 46

Venture Capital Metrics Investment Bankers Framework 46

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

That said, one limitation in early-stage investing particularly is that 2022’s growth sectors probably don’t fit neatly into a vertical we can define today. Many VCs focus on specific verticals, usually based on the sector in which a VC initially made her reputation. This model certainly makes sense. – Internal diversity.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

That said, one limitation in early-stage investing particularly is that 2022’s growth sectors probably don’t fit neatly into a vertical we can define today. Many VCs focus on specific verticals, usually based on the sector in which a VC initially made her reputation. This model certainly makes sense. – Internal diversity.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? Every board meeting, the metrics of success change. Time-to-complete-a-sale is not a bad metric for validated learning at this stage.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Warning – this assumes some basic knowledge of VC performance metrics. The three-question framework goes as such: Q: How much tech-related market cap will be created in the next 10-20 years? For context, seed-stage pre-money valuations are up 24% from H1 2020 to H1 2021. Ok, let’s jump in. State of VC: are we in a bubble?

Valuation 156

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 156

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

But here’s some examples or frameworks to consider. But even as a concept stage company there are ways to show progress with your business. A) Pre-Product Companies. You’re obviously not showing charts of user growth, number of customers, or revenue.

Seed Stage 149

Seed Stage B2B Seed Capital Revenue 149

Altgate

DECEMBER 17, 2009

it's up to the Board or CEO) One or more financial metrics Balanced scorecard For very early stage startups (e.g.  It is just too hard to see out 12+ months with any certainty to be able to pick meaningful metrics.  You probably have operating budgets for each department.

Metrics 47

Metrics Venture Capital Startup Software Review 47

The Equity Kicker

MAY 6, 2015

focus on real metrics rather than buzz among other VCs and the media. Because we are tightly focused on early stage ecommerce we have a lot of relevant learnings to share with our partners. We try to do all five of these at Forward Partners, whilst avoiding mistakes like these. Numbers 1 and 3 are where we are strongest.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage eCommerce Framework Metrics 60

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

“There was no real framework for a $15 million fund at the time so I had to make one up … it was really sort of an experiment … I invested across Funds I & II in 90 companies” Jeff then raised $55 million in 2010 and $85 million in 2014.

Seed Stage 150

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 150

Mucker Lab

APRIL 6, 2023

What should an early-stage startup founder focus on if they want to implement PLG? But for early stage founders, I think there are two particular scenarios where PLG can be really helpful. So for early-stage founders, those are the two scenarios where PLG might be a great fit. That's the foundation.

Product 78

Product CTO Hire Startup Fractional CTO 78

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

This leads to a set of questions: What is the role of a CTO in the early stages of a company, and does that role change later on as both the company and that individual matures? I've previously addressed the role of a CTO in early-stages in my post Startup CTO or Developer. How will I know when the need has arisen?

CTO Hire 231

CTO Hire Technical Review Developer Software Review 231

Ben's Blog

MAY 15, 2020

In normal times, every company operates against some hypothetical growth model—a data-driven framework that describes how your product grows and how you acquire new users. In normal times, every company operates against some hypothetical growth model—a data-driven framework that describes how your product grows and how you acquire new users.

Founder 36

Founder Conversion Technical Review Cash Position 36

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

This simple three-part framework underlies almost all discussions about technical design today, and it was clearly on display in the recent debates over technical debt. But in the early stages of a startup you are still trying to hone in on what exactly the problem is. August 9, 2009 2:54 AM Eric said.

Software Review 87

Software Review Design Software San Francisco 87

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

Provide the metrics you are trying to achieve. Generally I say that developers should be doing significant developer level testing, but in early-stage startups, testing falls back on the founders. Developers like to do things their way even when it doesn’t meet the needs of the business. Great question.

Technical Cofounder 280

Technical Cofounder Developer Fractional CTO CTO Hire 280

Hunter Walker

JULY 25, 2017

Heather Hartnett: Human Ventures is what is now called a startup studio—a hybrid of early-stage VC fund and company builder. Instead, we wanted to create a fertile framework for builders to build, and to help bring valuable companies into existence. HH: We’re very intentional about this.

Cofounder 71

Cofounder New York City Framework Startup 71

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

For most of my career, I’ve served startups and early-stage companies as an operating executive or advisor. I’d suggest using these questions as part of a framework or decision matrix with three other major dimensions: Skills and Experience. When should founders hire one? Based on what criteria?

Hiring 336

Hiring Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder 336

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. I used Ipreo heavily at one of my prior VC funds.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 29, 2013

But the information was critical for any early-stage company that hopes to reach that critical point and wants to be prepared when it comes. If you give people a framework on which to hang their experiences before they encounter them, it makes it much easier for them to digest them and understand them as they encounter [them].”

Lean 167

Lean Metrics Hiring Conversion 167

Hearpreneur

MAY 4, 2019

Truly new, cutting-edge ideas are too risky, too amorphous, too non-consensus to survive the metrics and evaluation process that “well-run” companies apply to capital investments. Corporate innovation is failing at a DNA level because the Big to Bigger machine has been engineered to be incompatible with New to Big.

Cofounder 66

Cofounder Founder Entrepreneur Venture Capital 66

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

In 2010, Alex Osterwalder published his book, Business Model Generation , where he created a framework for what Tim called “business identity.” You should also be reviewing your cash flow forecasts to understand how much money you need to take your business through its early stages.

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? This is the usual reason given for a marketing launch, but for most early stage startups, its a failure. Know what the success metrics are for the launch.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Investors sitting through Incubator or Accelerator demo days have three metrics to judge fledgling startups – 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling PowerPoint slides, and 3) a world-class team. And we can offer investors metrics to play Moneyball – with the Investment Readiness Level. We think we can do better. Here’s how.

Oakland 326

Oakland Incubator Lean Customer Development 326

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

1) It all starts from the Growth Hacking Funnel - in the early stages, startups should not just focus on top/bottom line metric like unique users and revenue. KISS Metrics – How to Run A/B Tests that Get REAL Results. Dave McClure’s presentation on startup metrics start here: A framework for thinking about stats.

API 167

API Viral Startup Retention 167

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

This is a common challenge for companies of all sizes/stages, but the tradeoff could be especially tricky for early-stage startups given the extremely limited engineering resources. I’ve previously written about a general framework for product prioritization, so I won’t take up too much space here rehashing.

Hiring 120

Hiring Bandwidth Product Early Stage 120

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

For early stage companies, it’s important to show that you’re on path, that you have prospects, and that you can get to your vision. Analogies are a conceptual framework, so they’re not going to be 100% accurate. And show that you’re focused on the metrics that matter: revenue numbers, engagement traction, etc.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111