YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 21, 2014

2014 will be a formative year for new business owners and early-stage entrepreneurs. More non-professional investors will become angel investors and entrepreneurs will benefit from their domain expertise. The first consists of core focus areas and try to focus 95% of your time and effort; your core competency.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Startup Balance Sheet Non-Compete 210

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 3, 2020

That’s okay, if the point of departure is about defending our values internationally, as opposed to better competing internationally, which was the Trump administration’s core focus in the national security strategy. They need to start making bigger bets on a smaller subset of non-prime companies.

Technical Review 235

Technical Review Technology China Taiwan 235

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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Early-stage VCs have realized that they need to capitalize on this trend, which is why many traditional VCs have set up “opportunity” funds that sit alongside their core funds as a means of capturing more private-market (pre IPO) value. Of course strongest industry players don’t stand still.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 29, 2016

Ironically, though, many early stage cyber security companies initially target their offerings to the Fortune 500 and look to move down market to SMBs much later in their product life-cycle – and, sometimes not at all.

Differentiation 100

Differentiation Security Intellectual Property Non-Compete 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

In product business it is often measured over multiple purchases and assumptions are made about the repeat rates and in the enterprise or services world LTV can be based on churn rates, which are notoriously hard to predict in an early-stage business. Poorly calculated LTVs can become BVs (bankruptcy values). The first input is CAC.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

VC Cafe

JUNE 30, 2022

We’re excited to partner with early stage founders who see the future in the same way, and are working on the technologies that will help bring this vision forward. James Gwertzman ended his post with “There has truly never been a better time to be a creator”, and I couldn’t agree more.

Cloud 200

Cloud Venture Capital Cofounder Non-Compete 200

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As an early-stage VC I love this phase. We have well financed competitors whom despite competing with we respect deeply and when you see your competition launching in many markets it’s tempting to follow suit. What Happens When Startups Turn from Their Innovation Stage to Operational Excellence?

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2020

Even the IT sphere, well known for entry-level hiring and a never-ending search for talent, has shed a number of early stage positions in response to the COVID-19 virus. Instead of connecting with competent workers on a global level, companies have adapted their recruitment strategies to contend for local senior talent.

Hiring 264

Hiring Early Stage Non-Compete Salary 264

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. Didn’t have employees sign non-solicitation agreements? And I have seen inefficient early-stage CEOs staying up late working through QuickBooks entries.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

My first job out of school was at one of the early bioinformatics companies in Silicon Valley, working as the head of technical services. In some ways it is similar to early stage incubators such as Y Combinator, although FI is even earlier stage, focusing on developing the founders themselves as entrepreneurs as opposed to actual companies.

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

David Teten

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

The first and primary role of a government is to provide basic public goods competently. You can see preliminary results of this value creation study below. - Encouraging non-US companies to set up operations in the US. To the extent that the government fails to do that, it will retard job creation.

Government 146

Government Technical Review New York Offshore 146

View from Seed

DECEMBER 17, 2015

We also talked about how he’d want to be interviewed if approached by a non-technical startup founder. (I’ve There are also a few things a founder, especially a non-technical one, should be doing in the room to better convince an engineer that their startup is a great place to work. Seek to match new hires to that.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Engineer Software Review Founder 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 9, 2020

The NDS observed that we not only faced non-nation states (terror organizations,) but going forward we have to plan for 2+3 adversaries (China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and the non-nations states.) Next, we introduced the National Defense Strategy (NDS) which describes how the military supports the overall National strategy.

Russia 326

Russia North Korea Technology China 326

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

We both agree that the later-stage valuations are being driven up to a point that feels irrationally priced [he uses b-round SaaS valuations as an example and I am willing to be even more broad based]. Most of those industries are fee-based and are competing on revenue growth. I don’t totally agree with that view.

Valuation 309

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Later Stage Non-Compete 309

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

During the Q&A I was asked about how I make investment decisions in early-stage businesses. I know that sounds trite but it’s the best way I can describe my early-stage investments. But I have a strong preference for: Non obvious ideas. I prefer to compete more with other startups than with giants.

Early Stage 254

Early Stage Non-Compete LP Later Stage 254

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2009

We’re clearly in the early stages on Twitter monetization but let me offer some views on why we find Ad.ly not all the other applications that were competing for user attention in Facebook). But 70% of my investment decision in early-stage companies is the team. The initial data we are seeing at Ad.ly

Technical Review 286

Technical Review Advertising Early Stage Internet 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

In just over a decade, new firms like USV, Foundry, Spark, True Ventures, First Round, Greycroft (I might add Upfront) have made names for themselves from a non-traditional Silicon Valley stance. But both seed investors and LPs alike agree that as long as these programs are managed sensibly, their existence is useful.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

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. If you can just execute competently , you will outperform a lot of people who might have a theoretically superior strategy. . This model certainly makes sense.

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. If you can just execute competently , you will outperform a lot of people who might have a theoretically superior strategy. . This model certainly makes sense.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

I spent time talking to many mentors and friends, investors and founders alike, about what drives them, what makes an effective partnership, the evolution of early-stage investing, and what’s possible for the future of our industry. Together, we’ve co-invested and competed, commiserated and celebrated.

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 28, 2012

One of the worst things I’ve seen are very non-technical VC’s teaming up and opening tech companies. Software programmers are in extremely high demand - you’re competing with Facebook, Google and thousands of other startups. Caitlin McCabe , Real Bullets Branding. Give up equity in your company. Learn to build the product yourself.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Cofounder Founder Software Review 131

David Teten

JULY 25, 2017

For each of these, there is a human element (non-scaleable) and the possibility of a tech layer (which any one VC will only have implemented to varying extents). We have insight on the competencies of our companies’ personnel, and who is hiring or shrinking.

Portfolio 60

Portfolio Technical Review Private Equity Database 60

View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

On the heels of our research on HBS entrepreneurs , NextView’s Dimitri Dadiomov (HBS ’15) interviewed several top founders on the early stages of their companies. On Launching and Finding Early Traction. It can help you be a strong athlete, which makes you an attractive early-stage player.

Founder 120

Founder Las Vegas Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Austin Startup

JUNE 27, 2017

When Austin Ventures got its start in 1979, the venture capital industry was nascent nationally and almost non-existent in Texas. Access to capital is important for scaling companies and competing in active markets. As the local capital base grows the opportunity to attract non-local funding sources increases.

Venture Capital 54

Venture Capital Austin Texas Private Equity 54

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 28, 2012

One of the worst things I’ve seen are very non-technical VC’s teaming up and opening tech companies. Software programmers are in extremely high demand - you’re competing with Facebook, Google and thousands of other startups. Caitlin McCabe , Real Bullets Branding 5. Give up equity in your company.

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Cofounder Founder Software Review 79

View from Seed

MAY 27, 2015

But we noticed that while the information in these podcasts is interesting, many are often far removed from the actual day-to-day challenges of very early stage founders that are just trying to go from nothing to something. Is This Practical If The Stories Are Inherently Non-Scalable or Not Repeatable? Are we in a tech bubble?

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Early Stage Non-Compete Silicon Valley 120

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2015

C Corp versus LLC, non-competes, liquidation preferences, preferred versus common stock, and so on). This can be particularly important for founders with “non-traditional” career backgrounds. Make sure you still pay attention to the overall brand of the MBA program.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor eCommerce 60

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2018

However, you’ll also need a steady flow of funds, especially in the early stages, to turn those ideas into reality. For example, Bluestone , an online jewelry startup from India, was trying to compete with the traditional brick and mortar jewelry business market. Your business model should support your growth goals.

SBA 84

SBA Angel Investor Technical Review Startup 84

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 9, 2020

The NDS observed that we not only faced non-nation states (terror organizations,) but going forward we have to plan for 2+3 adversaries (China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and the non-nations states.) Next, we introduced the National Defense Strategy (NDS) which describes how the military supports the overall National strategy.

Russia 125

Russia North Korea Technology China 125

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

I still wanted K9 to be the first institutional money in a company and work with “frighteningly early-stage” companies. Reflect on the stage you’re investing at and be sure that you’re staying within the bands of your competency (and ergo not riding the spiral up to a level of incompetency). Implications for LPs.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Early stage entrepreneurs will also still likely value experienced advice on company-building from seasoned venture capitalists. In short, token sales allow early stage companies to skip the series B round and beyond. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders. Fuzzy Governance.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Early stage entrepreneurs will also still likely value experienced advice on company-building from seasoned venture capitalists. In short, token sales allow early stage companies to skip the series B round and beyond. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders. Fuzzy Governance.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 8, 2020

Many of a small business’ troubles scaling result from being overburdened and not being able to afford competent help. If you make quitting non-negotiable you will succeed. That’s the mentality you need to have in order to succeed in the early stages of business. Eliminate, Automate, Standardize. Problems are inevitable.

Startup 90

Startup Early Stage Non-Compete Equity 90

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

I’ve made a few grammatical and non-substantive updates for clarity. It’s my hope that some of it can be useful to others, specifically other under-represented founders or non-traditional markets. (I There’s a particularly acute leak in the pipeline for non-traditional founders. Several folks asked that I share our story here.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

David Teten

AUGUST 8, 2011

Fred is not a fan and argues that evaluating and aiding early-stage companies is not a core competency of government organizations. A few weeks ago, Fred Wilson discussed the role of government grants in helping launch tech companies. He concludes by asking his readers to look into grant programs available for startups.

Government 144

Government Southern California SBIR Non-Compete 144

Steve Blank

MAY 26, 2009

Competing with such companies is pure pleasure – just harp on their mis-understandings of the market. Non-linearity is approaching. Non-linearity is the constant. Non-linearity is the change that you must be ready for. We’ll talk about the implications of what vertical market you’re entering in the next few posts.

Vertical 149

Vertical Silicon Valley Intellectual Property RSS 149