Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Your goal is that magical breakeven point and hockey-stick profit-growth curve. The best entrepreneurs manage cash flow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. Raising money from professional investors, even friends and family, takes time.

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Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Having delivered hundreds of pitches myself (and bombed a few), as well as coaching dozens of entrepreneurs on how to pitch, I’ve definitely seen some doozy pitches. Present a “hockey-stick” financial growth model without sharing your numbers behind your numbers (a.k.a. I like to say that success is a terrible teacher.

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Hockey Stick Technical Review Due Diligence Seattle 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Smart entrepreneurs never outsource their core competency, and never rely on intellectual property they don’t own. Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale.

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Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 339

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Not facing these dilemmas squarely and honestly is one of the biggest pitfalls facing every entrepreneur. Marty Zwilling.

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Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2020

Here are the key principles I recommend as an advisor to many entrepreneurs: Start your business in your own home. Most successful entrepreneurs take only a very minimum salary during the formative business years and reinvest all profits back into the business for organic growth. Practice living on a shoestring budget.

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Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 423

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Successful entrepreneurs and successful companies never stop re-inventing themselves. This S-Curve, with no correction, can quickly lead to disaster.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 15, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, January 15, 2010 Two Ways to Hold Entrepreneurs Accountable (for Harvard Business Review) The next part in the series I am writing for Harvard Business Review is online. This time, Im discussing the challenge for corporate CFOs and VCs alike in holding entrepreneurs accountable. Read the rest here.

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Up and Running

MARCH 14, 2018

I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs think, “Oh, I know my business inside and out—pitching will be a breeze!” I’ve seen many entrepreneurs crash and burn when delivering their investor pitch—and ramble on and on. If your financial chart shows “hockey-stick growth,” be sure to explain what happens to cause those inflection points.

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Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Angel Investor 164

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2015

All investors want to see real evidence that the dogs will eat the dogfood before they give any credibility to your hockey-stick projection curves. It’s amazing to most entrepreneurs how fast their little startup can become a battleship, hard to turn in a storm. Maximum agility for required pivots.

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Small Business Force

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

Virtually, every business plan that's ever been presented to the investor community, invariably, has that fabled "hockey stick growth" period where suddenly revenue jumps exponentially. Few entrepreneurs really take the time to fully grasp this. Hockey stick growth" is like going viral � good luck with that!

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

“Growth hacking perpetuates this myth that you can magically achieve hockey-stick growth by using short-term “hacks.” “ I have always encouraged teams to think about growth as daily blocking-and-tackling rather than a dark art. I laughed as I did at much of his rant. He even used some terminology near and dear to my heart.

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Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel 384

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

By then, I had become a venture capitalist at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and found myself talking to a lot of entrepreneurs who were proclaiming their great technology yet were struggling with little revenue, and claiming they were “crossing the chasm”. Maysee now enjoys hockey stick revenue growth.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2020

Smart entrepreneurs never outsource their core competency, and never rely on intellectual property they don’t own. Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale.

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Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Startup Non-Compete 386

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Not facing these dilemmas squarely and honestly is one of the biggest pitfalls facing every entrepreneur. Marty Zwilling.

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Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 268

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Not facing these dilemmas squarely and honestly is one of the biggest pitfalls facing every entrepreneur. Marty Zwilling.

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Hockey Stick Cofounder Entrepreneur Liquidity Event 144

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Why do entrepreneurs sometimes resort to the “hockey stick forecast,” especially when they pitch to investors? I first heard the term in the 1980s, at lunch with a venture capitalist friend, when he said he was “tired of all those hockey stick forecasts” he was getting from startups.

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Forecast Hockey Stick Angel Investor Sales 114

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Not facing these dilemmas squarely and honestly is one of the biggest pitfalls facing every entrepreneur. Marty Zwilling.

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Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

Up and Running

JANUARY 2, 2013

I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs think, “oh, I know my business inside and out – pitching will be a breeze!” I’ve also seen many entrepreneurs crash and burn when delivering their investor pitch – and ramble on and on. ” Good luck!

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Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Due Diligence 164

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Traction is evidence that your product or service has started that “hockey- stick” adoption rate which implies a large market, a valid business model, and sustainable growth. A graph that shows a hockey-stick “up and to the right” curve with at least three data points per key indicator is a great visual assist.

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The Next Web

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

We asked these companies to tell us the data backed story on how key decisions were made, which growth hacks led to the much loved hockey stick curve, and how this impacted their company. Today, Typeform’s Director of Growth Pedro Magriço shares the story of how Typeform built a Saas-tool that went viral.

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David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

As a result, unfounded hockey-stick graphs and unicorn promises give way to financial fluency, realistic expectations, frank conversations about what a business can credibly achieve, and transparency. . See Why Are Revenue-Based Investors Investing in Women & Diverse Entrepreneurs? Less established regulatory framework. .

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Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

We asked these companies to tell us the data backed story on how key decisions were made, which growth hacks led to the much loved hockey stick curve, and how this impacted their company. Today, Typeform’s Director of Growth Pedro Magriço shares the story of how Typeform built a Saas-tool that went viral.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Successful entrepreneurs and successful companies never stop re-inventing themselves. business Dave Power entrepreneur s-curve startup'

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

Smart entrepreneurs never outsource their core competency, and never rely on intellectual property they don’t own. Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale. Marty Zwilling.

Hockey Stick 278

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Startup Non-Compete 278

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Not facing these dilemmas squarely and honestly is one of the biggest pitfalls facing every entrepreneur. Marty Zwilling.

Founder 245

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 245

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2018

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Successful entrepreneurs and successful companies never stop re-inventing themselves. This S-Curve, with no correction, can quickly lead to disaster.

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Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 130

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 10, 2020

Generally speaking, as investors and entrepreneurs, you want to go after ideas where, if you succeed, it transforms an industry or even the world. For a long time, when you looked at the graph, it was almost like a classic exponential “hockey stick” curve, where it’s flat for a long time, then hits the bend and takes off.

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Hosting Hockey Stick IPO Silicon Valley 69

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

Good insight … Navigating The Make-Or-Break Years As You Create Hockey Stick Growth [link]. Which of the 4 types of entrepreneurs are you? The post Twitter Link Roundup #308 – Terrific Reads for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Marketers, and Designers! – [link]. Or football. pic.twitter.com/89dXWIY4Aj.

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Artificial Inteligence Hockey Stick Small Business Design 48

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

Good insight … Navigating The Make-Or-Break Years As You Create Hockey Stick Growth [link]. Which of the 4 types of entrepreneurs are you? . — Rachel Thompson (@BadRedheadMedia) September 6, 2017. — Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) August 27, 2017. – [link].

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Artificial Inteligence Hockey Stick Small Business Design 48

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2016

Here are the key principles I recommend as an advisor to many entrepreneurs: Start your business in your own home. Most successful entrepreneurs take only a very minimum salary during the formative business years and reinvest all profits back into the business for organic growth. Practice living on a shoestring budget.

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Bootstrapping Hockey Stick Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 120

Up and Running

JUNE 26, 2013

An anonymous tech entrepreneur—who at his height in the startup world “hit the top of TechCrunch” and landed a prestigious spot in a startup accelerator—has predicted the demise of his fledgling business, and is blogging the collapse as it happens. We listened to our investors. Still, I had this nagging feeling eating away at me.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Successful entrepreneurs and successful companies never stop re-inventing themselves. This S-Curve, with no correction, can quickly lead to disaster.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Guerilla Startup Acquisition 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Smart entrepreneurs never outsource their core competency, and never rely on intellectual property they don’t own. Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 120

The Next Web

APRIL 22, 2016

With the advent and proliferation of “growth hacking”, many products are launching with hopes of leveraging data, A/B tests, and viral loops to manufacture a hockey stick growth curve. It’s easy to think you can growth hack your way into an overnight success, but in practice it rarely works out that way.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2015

Smart entrepreneurs never outsource their core competency, and never rely on intellectual property they don’t own. Organic growth (reinvesting profits only) will not allow you to build the “hockey stick” growth curve desired by premium buyers at exit, or financial analysts positioning you for public stock sale. Marty Zwilling.

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Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 120

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 11, 2010

But when you're an entrepreneur, it's particularly important that you can craft a story to share with others, one that really encapsulates what you do and why you do it. The "Hockey Stick" is a Great Story, Don't Get Me Wrong. The "hockey stick" is a pretty familiar visualization for startups. We know the story.

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thebarefootvc

DECEMBER 16, 2011

Discovery, in contrast to search, took center stage as Pinterest displayed hockey stick growth (and raised VC money near a $200M valuation in late 2011). This will continue as more role models, mentors and capital are created from the resulting success stories, thereby creating more support for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

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Technical Review India Mobile Hockey Stick 110