Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

These days you can create a C-corp or LLC online quickly at a low cost, to serve you well in signing partners, intellectual property, investors, and revenue. A good team will likely consist of a mix of remote employees, freelancers, and contractors. Prepare a pitch deck to document and share your plan.

Technical Cofounder 184

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I have experienced many first-time entrepreneurs with too much hubris if fund-raising came easily and press was fawning and employees joined in droves and customer adoption has been rapid. Silicon Valley itself was built on the sciences with a foundation of trial-and-error and then improving the model and trying again.

South Korea 261

South Korea Silicon Valley Los Angeles Japan 261

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 16, 2016

Every year, companies lose 20 to 30 percent in revenue due to inefficiencies. HR – new employee development, a leavers process, vacation request. Based in Silicon Valley, Progressly helps companies document, collaborate and analyze business processes — all in one central place. Banking – customer onboarding, credit check.

Silicon Valley 100

Silicon Valley Cofounder Software Review Technical Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2020

If your US-based business is adversely affected by Covid-19 such that you would need to lay off employees imminently and having access to capital would enable you to keep more employees on the payroll then you might be eligible. Am I eligible for the PPP Loan? One thing that is clear. shouldn’t I? The short answer is “no.”

Programming 279

Programming Affiliate SBA Government 279

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Read part one on the Evolution of Corporate R&D , part two on Innovation Outposts in Silicon Valley , and part three The 6 Decisions to Make Before Setting up an Innovation Outpost. Silicon Valley, Boston). Successful Innovation Outposts typically develop over a period of time through three stages.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Incubator Acquisition Business Model 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2023

The failure rate is just too high, and startups typically don’t have the assets or revenue stream to back up the loan. Demonstrate an ability to repay from revenues, not collateral. They actually prefer to see that you have a revenue stream to repay the loan, since they don’t want to own another home.

Silicon Valley 292

Silicon Valley CPA Small Business Administration Startup 292

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2014

their burn rate (the amount of money they’re spending monthly minus any revenue coming in) and. If you’re a founder, there’s a constant gnawing fear in the pit of your stomach that it will all end badly; running out of money, having to fire all your employees and failing publicly.

Customer Development 335

Customer Development Design Developer Customer 335

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). So why did Larry need to return?

Founder 309

Founder CTO Hire Silicon Valley Leadership 309

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

With fewer than 10 employees but almost $2-billion dollars in the bank, they plan on jumping right in. Tech IPO prices exploded and subsequent trading prices rose to dizzying heights as the stock prices became disconnected from the traditional metrics of revenue and profits. But NewTV doesn’t plan on testing these hypotheses.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

YoungUpstarts

JULY 16, 2019

Vancouver has a situated tech market with a direct line to Silicon Valley. Information and communications technology include 4,600 companies and 45,000 employees. This generated $16 billion in annual revenues in 2015. Tech sector employees earned on average approximately $67,000 per the Brookfield Institute report.

Canada 167

Canada Hiring Artificial Inteligence Software Developers 167

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

— Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. Typically, this caliber of bankers wouldn’t talk to you unless your company had five profitable quarters of increasing revenue.

Founder 274

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 274

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. They have the same trade-off decisions that you do about packing up and moving to Silicon Valley vs. staying and building locally. The ingredients are all here. Stating the obvious but you can’t will a region into success.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

YoungUpstarts

MAY 20, 2019

Today, more than one-quarter of all software revenue is derived from the SaaS model, and it is growing twice as fast as traditional software growth. Let’s explore why India is set to grow in the SaaS sector, what it means for both employers and employees and what the rest of the world needs to know about it. Take it back to the 90s.

India 113

India Silicon Valley Global Software 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

The failure rate is just too high, and startups typically don’t have the assets or revenue stream to back up the loan. Demonstrate an ability to repay from revenues, not collateral. They actually prefer to see that you have a revenue stream to repay the loan, since they don’t want to own another home.

Silicon Valley 431

Silicon Valley CPA Small Business Administration SBA 431

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

For much of 2014 and 2015, I banged my head against a plane window flying back and forth between Austin and Silicon Valley while trying to raise institutional VC money for Localeur. Are there amazing Silicon Valley VCs out there with whom entrepreneurs should work to partner? but it’s true. Most definitely.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley Technical Review Venture Capital San Francisco 48

ReadWriteStart

MAY 30, 2022

One in particular from a famous VC in Silicon Valley. Your employees and cofounders deserve their stakes since they’ve helped you scale to an exit. Money makes things feel easy, but it can be a false economy: What’s the point in growing revenue if it doesn’t come with profits? I turned them down. Pimp out my office?

Bootstrapping 147

Bootstrapping Startup Equity Silicon Valley 147

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. We’re hitting record revenue months, weeks, and margins. That includes us.

Early Stage 135

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 135

Hippoland

JULY 6, 2018

From that perspective, things have been mostly rosy in the Silicon Valley for startups! except for 2008-2009, which is another story) But, I think we’re in trouble, Silicon Valley. This is probably just after the series A in my opinion – where you’re doing perhaps $300k-$1m per month in revenue.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley San Francisco Portugal Ireland 48

Hippoland

JULY 6, 2018

From that perspective, things have been mostly rosy in the Silicon Valley for startups! except for 2008-2009, which is another story) But, I think we’re in trouble, Silicon Valley. This is probably just after the series A in my opinion – where you’re doing perhaps $300k-$1m per month in revenue.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley San Francisco Portugal Ireland 48

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. The MVP took around four months to build, during which time the company earned no revenue. They then spent the first year qualifying the product and testing out their revenue model.

Sweat Equity 78

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 78

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

In theory when you went public, everyone’s shares were now tradable on the stock exchange, but usually the underwriters required a six month “lockup” when company insiders (employees and investors) couldn’t sell. While there was an occasional bad apple, the public markets rewarded companies with revenue growth and sustainable profits.

Silicon Valley 235

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 235

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

With four hospitals, 22 physician locations, and over 5,000 employees, ThedaCare managers spent 10,000 hours a year to build their budget, and another 10,000 hours to explain, manage, and argue about it. According to ThedaCare’s chief financial officer, Tim Olson , top management viewed it as a significant waste of time.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

It follows up on my posts discussing why early stage startups should — or should not — move to Silicon Valley. In terms of access to capital, Austin is not Silicon Valley or New York — but it is Austin. If you’ve just exited or realised stock options from a Silicon Valley success story, moving out of state is worthwhile.

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Texas 48

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

Was the sales revenue model based on actually testing the hypotheses outside the building? The responsibility for validating the founders original hypotheses is delegated to employees – the sales and marketing team. Look at the early Silicon Valley companies – Homebrew Club =>PCs.

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

Department Mission Statements – What am I Supposed to Do Today It wasn’t that we somehow had inherited dumb employees. And it was going to mention the two words that SuperMac marketing needed to live and breathe: revenue and profit. Titles are not the same as what your job is. This is a big idea. Two paragraphs, Five bullets.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 269

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

whether that’s partners or employees that you bring on. Being in Ohio, which lacks the startup ecosystem of an entrepreneurial cluster like Silicon Valley, made it difficult for Will to get funding for his first startup, Huddlewoo : The type of business that we were building needed an investment of capital ahead of revenue.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Ohio Columbus Entrepreneur 120

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 11, 2011

One theme seems to come up over and again, especially from geographies outside Silicon Valley: lack of a reliable pipeline of deals. The challenges of bootstrapping a venture that is dependent on ad-revenue is, however, also quite significant. The company has been generating revenues for the past three years and is profitable.

Silicon Valley 105

Silicon Valley Columbus Ohio Incubator 105

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

By now you have many smart people around your board but probably people who don’t totally understand the nuances of your employees, customers, sales reps, marketing messages, technology challenges, competitors and strategic choices. when to build out our offices in Silicon Valley, New York & Los Angeles.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. The MVP took around four months to build, during which time the company earned no revenue. They then spent the first year qualifying the product and testing out their revenue model.

Sweat Equity 50

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 50

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

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

This form of planning condensed the business model onto one page and is most useful for high-growth, technically focused startups (think Silicon Valley). Finally, while the Business Model Canvas asks for a basic list of expenses and revenue streams, it doesn’t help entrepreneurs determine if their company is truely financially viable.

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

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. Employees: 20.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

For the deputy secretary, such a dialogue in Silicon Valley is not a matter of charity, but necessity. At the same time, it’s a chance to expose some career State Department employees to Silicon Valley thinking.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

For the deputy secretary, such a dialogue in Silicon Valley is not a matter of charity, but necessity. At the same time, it’s a chance to expose some career State Department employees to Silicon Valley thinking.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The best and most consistent funds in Silicon Valley (e.g. But my conversations in the private corridors on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley is that many fund sizes will be smaller going forward. Revenue must come from a primary source (as opposed to advertising or other third party sources). Others will, too.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 11, 2020

Sam is one of the most prolific company builders in Silicon Valley. 16:07) We discuss the importance of facilitating people's ability to do work, especially for leaders who have the flexibility to offer employees the chance to help. (18:12) In the first episode of Out of the Crisis, I talk with Sam Altman (transcript below).

Silicon Valley 68

Silicon Valley Technical Review Government .Net 68

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2018

The failure rate is just too high, and startups typically don’t have the assets or revenue stream to back up the loan. Demonstrate an ability to repay from revenues, not collateral. They actually prefer to see that you have a revenue stream to repay the loan, since they don’t want to own another home.

Silicon Valley 210

Silicon Valley CPA Small Business Administration SBA 210