Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

ConversionXL

JANUARY 18, 2022

Both brand marketing and product marketing are important to a well-built marketing strategy. Product marketing informs strategic positioning and ensures alignment across the company. Product marketers own a variety of marketing responsibilities, which can be roughly divided into two broad categories: pre-launch and post-launch.

Marketing 110

Marketing Product Audience Equity 110

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In his tenure as CEO of DataSift we have never missed a monthly revenue figure. He has grown our US operations from 1 employee (him) to a global organization of 75 employees that will finish the year with 8-digit revenues (90+% recurring) and more than 350% year-over-year growth. Wallflower – yours truly. Always seek input.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. If you consider yourself a technologist, you probably believe and may be propagating one of the following myths: The first priority for funding should be to develop the technology.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

On the other side of the equation, there are a growing number of design, development, and digital media shops who are hungry to expand, or swap focus, to building a company that’s more than just a service shop. Can a shop work for just equity? A blend of cash and equity? So, can an entrepreneur pair up with a dev shop?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Developer 60

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2014

When I was going through the co-founder “dating” process, I’d found a potential partner through my network who seemed to be perfect. At the end of the month, we’d evaluate the partnership and discuss equity. And from this pool of talented people, I ultimately ended up with another co-founder—this time one that would stick.

Partner 113

Partner Cofounder Equity Metrics 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales.

Mezzanine 244

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 244

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”? especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? In smaller funds, ticket sizes tend to be lower, so pre-seed is the only stage where micro funds are able to secure their minimum equity targets.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

When seeking equity investments, the source of capital is, for the most part, tied to the stage of capital being raised. You see, equity capital is raised in stages or rounds. Mezzanine Financing Most companies that raise equity capital and are eventually acquired or go public receive multiple rounds of financing first.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

And, oh by the way, we also really like the idea of the 1M/1M entrepreneurs building valuation and negotiating leverage through these business development efforts, instead of signing off large chunks of their company in form of equity early on. million in revenue. The business is already profitable with $2.9

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Tempted by large sums of money and the perceived validation that comes along with being funded, founders turn to venture capitalists to accelerate their company’s growth. Founders don’t have that luxury — for founders like me, the consequences of failure are more dire. Focus on Product Development First.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

They’re looking to be paid properly in the context of the overall salary structure, including cash, benefits, and equity, and to be paid commensurate with performance. Kalanick, former investor BFF turned highly disappointed by founder behavior. You must choose what and how to measure yourself as a founder and your company.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

See how many you have personally experienced already, or are currently mentioned in your business plan: Crowd-sourcing equity. Sites like KickStarter have for years offered rewards and pre-sales for crowd investments, but real equity won’t be legalized until sometime this year for people other than accredited investors. Gamification.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Silicon Valley Angel Investor 274

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Instead of hearing from your long lost third-cousin, you will be inundated with an avalanche of ‘congratulatory’ emails, calls and letters from people who want to relieve you of the burden of your hard-earned equity round. Such positions include: PR, Sales, Product Development, Lead Generation, Strategic Planning, Fund Raising, etc.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales.

Mezzanine 141

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 141

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and Founders being replaced, to their chagrin. By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales.

Mezzanine 240

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 240

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 7, 2021

However, on a more granular graph, the introduction phase would be preceded by a product development stage. This stage is used to determine the viability of your product and confirm when it should go to market. You want to tell people that your forthcoming product is solving real problems. Consistency.

Product 142

Product Marketing Software Review Social Media 142

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales.

Mezzanine 120

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 120

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

I’ll start with all the questions I can think of, from many different perspectives: founders, LPs, the press, and even other VCs. Unless every aspect of product development is covered by founders who are only receiving equity, there are other parts of building a product that will require hiring highly qualified people.

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

Software By Rob

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Geoffrey Moore Author of Crossing the Chasm and four other books, Geoffrey Moore has been thinking about high-tech product development longer than most of have been doing anything on a computer. Simplicity is mostly a way to avoid looking like you’re releasing a product that lacks features. Subscribe via RSS On Twitter?

Software Review 47

Software Review Software San Francisco RSS 47

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Not surprisingly, the list above also is ranked from least to most equity stake in an investment for the investor, relative to the cash they invest. What are the terms of their relationship with the founder? How would one set up such a startup to eventually raise capital from outside VCs, who will be wary of ‘dead equity’ (i.e.,

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

ConversionXL

MAY 27, 2022

Then they increased their revenue from $2M to $6M in six months. In this article, you’ll learn how to build a demand generation funnel that fuels the pipeline, shortens the sale cycle, and generates revenue. Your number one metric for any marketing initiative should be revenue. Like SEO, demand generation is a long game.

Demand 124

Demand B2B Distribution Channel 124

The Equity Kicker

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

If the founder is great that’s all they need to know to write a cheque. We always say that the minimum requirement to back a company is a great founder AND a great idea, then for us a great idea encompasses an inspiring product vision in a large market. At Forward Partners we don’t go that far.

Seed Stage 60

Seed Stage Later Stage Early Stage Partner 60

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

If you have a technical background and you are focused on product development, consider a co-founder with a sales and marketing background that can focus on selling your world class product. Don’t make everyone a founder. Be sure to leave plenty of equity for investors. Early Stage. Seed to Series A.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 10, 2020

Sometimes you get great founders with an average idea; but because they’re so good, they make it work to a degree. They find a niche in the market where they can grow some revenues and then they raise some more money. So having both a great founder and a great idea at the outset is super important. We call it “Applied VC”.

Partner 68

Partner Early Stage Portfolio Metrics 68

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

In fact, SaaS industry revenue is projected to grow from $49 billion in 2015 to $67 billion in 2018, a compound annual growth rate of approximately eight percent. We created UpKeep to fill this void—a cloud-based solution that was affordable for any size business.” – Ryan Chan, founder of UpKeep.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Software By Rob

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

This morning Seth Godin published a post titled Debt, equity and a third thing that might work better. That’s when you find one or more (future) customers that help fund your product development in exchange for input into the process and free or highly discounted use of the software. But who needs revenue?)

Equity 42

Equity Software Review RSS Widget 42

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 18, 2006

In a lot of startups (especially good ones) the founder/CEO/leader is a customer-oriented sales person. After the idea/product/service is built, and the market mapped, the company begins to grow. Its amazing how fast this happens, especially in companies with short product development cycles in non-medical industries.

Harvest 60

Harvest LBO Investment Bankers Wisconsin 60

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 30, 2008

Not just about expenses, about increasing revenue. Offer equity instead of cash. Make sure for planned revenues you have "leading indicators" to know if you will hit it. This can take the form of a traditional sales pipeline or a registration-activation-revenue chart. Voluntary salary reduction program.

Lean 121

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 121

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. And I tried to evaluate the idea and figure out: What did the founder really need here? Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 7, 2022

By establishing a company dedicated to inventive and speedy product development, I am able to use cutting-edge technologies and consistently innovate faster than competitors. My co-founder and I have both been professional matchmakers for over 20 years each when we started our business. Thanks to David Wurst, Webcitz ! #3-

Entrepreneur 118

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Non-Compete 118

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

Or should I launch products and a startup for each of them, focusing on only 1 product at a time? I would focus on one product and set a goal to generate $1M in yearly revenue from it. Do that – nothing else but one product / company / focus and get to $1M in sales with atleast $15% net profit. do something else.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

Listen to this episode if you want to hear about a founder who has a product and users and paying customers … and is trying to figure out how to take his company to the next level and grow faster. I first did it for the founder. After that, I did it for a private equity firm then we became a part of a larger corporation.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220