Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

For the full year 2012, venture-backed initial public offerings raised $21.5 Yet 2013 is still projected by The Fiscal Times as a difficult IPO opportunity for startups, due to choppy markets, continuing fiscal uncertainty, and the Facebook fiasco.

Venture Capital 252

Venture Capital IPO Elevator Pitch Initial Public Offering 252

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

With the current volatile economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 261

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 261

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2021

I was reading an old article written by marketing guru Seth Godin a while back where he mentions that “it takes about six years of hard work to become an overnight success”. had its initial public offering, raising $33.8 Yet we always dream that we are the exception to the rule. In April, 1996, Yahoo! Marty Zwilling.

Initial Public Offering 317

Initial Public Offering California .Net Business Plan 317

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still less than half the rate of 15 years ago. Startup founders don’t fit in a public company.

IPO 120

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

In the old days, every entrepreneur planned on taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is finally up from the dead zone of the last two decades, and is now double the rate back in 1999.

IPO 245

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2014

With the recent apparent successes of several startups in taking their company public (initial public offering) and raising billions of dollars, I’m hearing a groundswell of enthusiasm from new entrepreneurs to follow in their footsteps to fund their companies and become billionaires overnight.

IPO 236

IPO Initial Public Offering Startup Small Business Administration 236

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

An exit strategy is a method by which entrepreneurs and investors, especially those that have invested large sums of money in startup companies, transfer ownership of their business to a third party, or by which they recoup money invested in the business. See Also 3 Things Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Exit Strategies.

Exit Strategy 117

Exit Strategy Lock-up Period Merger IPO 117

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2015

The visibility of Google, Facebook and a few others continues to propagate the myth that the ultimate objective of every entrepreneur should be to take their startups public via an initial public offering at the earliest opportunity. The public is not an easy master to satisfy.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering Entrepreneur Private Equity 120

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 29, 2021

We can trace the Midwest’s renaissance to Sprout Social’s successful initial public offering (IPO) , which saw the company debut on public markets at a price of $17 per share and rise to over $120 per share today. The national labor market has evolved since the pandemic. Today, Sprout is a $6.6 Conclusion.

Silicon Valley 172

Silicon Valley Kansas City Chicago Denver 172

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2012

I was reading an article written by marketing guru Seth Godin a while back where he mentions that “it takes about six years of hard work to become an overnight success”. had its initial public offering, raising $33.8 Yet we always dream that we are the exception to the rule. In April, 1996, Yahoo! million, by selling 2.6

Entrepreneur 263

Entrepreneur Initial Public Offering California .Net 263

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. Even though the Initial Public Offering (IPO) alternative for a successful startup seems to be coming back into vogue, it is relatively rare. IPOs in 2008, the market was up to a still trivial 159 in 2011.

Exit Strategy 239

Exit Strategy IPO Investment Bankers Entrepreneur 239

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2019

I was reading an old article written by marketing guru Seth Godin a while back where he mentions that “it takes about six years of hard work to become an overnight success”. had its initial public offering, raising $33.8 Yet we always dream that we are the exception to the rule. In April, 1996, Yahoo! Marty Zwilling.

Initial Public Offering 277

Initial Public Offering Startup California .Net 277

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. Even though the Initial Public Offering (IPO) alternative for a successful startup seems to be coming back into vogue, it is still extremely rare. Don’t be driven by greed to the wrong alternative.

Exit Strategy 235

Exit Strategy IPO Investment Bankers Entrepreneur 235

crowdSPRING Blog

JANUARY 3, 2011

2011 is going to be a great year for entrepreneurs – even better than 2010. The survey indicated that the VCs surveyed felt the best prospects were for entrepreneurs in emerging markets like China, Brazil, and India. International entrepreneurship will see strong growth while the US market may plateau.

Technical Review 93

Technical Review Venture Capital India Startup 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Merger 198

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2013

I was reading an old article written by marketing guru Seth Godin a while back where he mentions that “it takes about six years of hard work to become an overnight success”. had its initial public offering, raising $33.8 overnight success entrepreneur startup Seth Godin business' In April, 1996, Yahoo!

Initial Public Offering 297

Initial Public Offering Startup California .Net 297

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2018

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to stay low, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. The market for recent IPOs also remains extremely volatile, and as a result many of them are currently trading below their opening price.

Exit Strategy 128

Exit Strategy IPO Initial Public Offering SEC 128

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is not for entrepreneurs already out of money. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur.

Merger 246

Merger OTC IPO Stock 246

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. Even though the Initial Public Offering (IPO) alternative for a successful startup seems to be coming back, it is relatively rare. business entrepreneur exit founder IPO startup' Marty Zwilling.

IPO 224

IPO Founder Exit Strategy Investment Bankers 224

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of someday taking their startup public, and making it a multi-national powerhouse. In my view, the key reasons that IPOs have lost their luster from an entrepreneur and investor perspective include the following: The US IPO process seems broken. Marty Zwilling.

IPO 242

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Angel Investor 232

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 232

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2016

I was reading an old article written by marketing guru Seth Godin a while back where he mentions that “it takes about six years of hard work to become an overnight success”. had its initial public offering, raising $33.8 Yet we always dream that we are the exception to the rule. In April, 1996, Yahoo! Marty Zwilling.

Initial Public Offering 148

Initial Public Offering California .Net Business Plan 148

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2016

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to decrease, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. Concerns over valuations being reset to a new normal, and a soft exit market, are seen as key drivers. Analysts want escalating profits.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering SEC Stock Options 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2019

According to current Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship , the share of new entrepreneurs who started businesses to pursue opportunity rather than from necessity now exceeds 86%, more than 12 percentage points higher than ten years ago at the height of the last recession. Initial Public Offerings (IPO) are back as an exit strategy.

North America 320

North America Incubator Initial Public Offering Exit Strategy 320

Pascal's View

AUGUST 28, 2010

… Four of the twenty companies with the largest market capitalization in the U.S.—Microsft, capital markets for listed equities have been in systemic decline since 1997, while every other major international equity market has been growing. Microsft, Apple, Google, Cisco—have been funded by venture capital.”.

Venture Capital 56

Venture Capital America Initial Public Offering IPO 56

Pascal's View

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

capital markets are essential and intimately linked to new funding commitments to basic scientific research. Now, the mistake: “Venture capitalists are sitting on plenty of cash and are good at bringing startups to the market. Slywotzky makes an important assertion about venture capital that is incorrect. ” FULL STOP.

IPO 38

IPO Venture Capital America Marketing 38

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

None of these investment banks offer traditional banking services, as you would expect from one of the following: Retail banks Commercial banks Credit unions Savings and loans As startup founders, you first need to deal with one of these traditional banks, probably a commercial bank. investment bank entrepreneur startup funding IPO'

IPO 205

IPO Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering 205

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2011

I was reading an article written by marketing guru Seth Godin a while back where he mentions that “it takes about six years of hard work to become an overnight success”. had its initial public offering, raising $33.8 Yet we always dream that we are the exception to the rule. In April, 1996, Yahoo! million, by selling 2.6

Initial Public Offering 295

Initial Public Offering California .Net Business Plan 295

Gust

DECEMBER 28, 2011

If the company was successful, this quickly led to an IPO – a very happy ending for the entrepreneur, the angels, and the venture capitalists. The two major differences in the exit environment in the past decade are (1) the disappearance of the IPO market and (2) the rapidly increasing size of the average VC fund.

IPO 153

IPO Venture Capital Entrepreneur Angel Investor 153

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

Entrepreneurs love the art of the start. Initial Public Offering (IPO). Even lifetime entrepreneurs can decide that enough is enough. There may be a natural catastrophe, like 9/11, or the market you counted on could implode. Remember that equity investments are not like loans with interest.

Exit Strategy 241

Exit Strategy Initial Public Offering IPO Startup 241

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2018

According to the 2017 Kauffman Startup Activity Index , the share of new entrepreneurs who started businesses to pursue opportunity rather than from necessity reached 86 percent, more than 12 percentage points higher than in 2009 at the height of the Great Recession. Thus a record number of entrepreneurs (and team members) are getting rich.

Entrepreneur 166

Entrepreneur Valuation Incubator Initial Public Offering 166

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Matching 120

Matching Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

Entrepreneurs often ask me why investors expect financial projections for a new startup even before the product is built and while the market is still being defined. Five-year revenues, based on your volumes and prices, should penetrate at least 10 percent of the target market segment. Neither extreme is good.

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Startup Initial Public Offering Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2013

is already well above the dot.com bubble of 15 years ago, although we have slipped a bit this year from the high point of 320 new entrepreneurs out of 100,000 adults in 2011. Thus a record number of entrepreneurs (and employees) are getting rich. Initial Public Offerings (IPO) are back as an exit strategy.

IPO 273

IPO Entrepreneur Social Media Startup 273