Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

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. That should equate to an adequate valuation for a $2 million follow-on Series-A round, without giving away all the equity.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. This structure offers some of the benefits of traditional equity VC, without some of the negatives of equity VC. Rational burn profile, up to 50% of revenue at close, scaling down.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

Research shows that companies with greater gender and racial diversity drive nearly 15x more sales revenue than companies with homogenous teams, proving that it literally pays to build an inclusive team. When you think you’ve found the right hire, do your due diligence to ensure it’s a two-way fit. Look to organizations like i.c.

Hiring 100

Hiring Technical Review Silicon Valley Due Diligence 100

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Client work serves as an additional source of revenue to form new startups. This outside work provides a valuable source of revenue able to be used to fund operations. Over time, this revenue reduces the dependency on outside venture capital sources. It also provides critical domain experience in a variety of business sectors.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

Short-term earnings per share may be low, even as revenues and cash burned are high. That means that many companies are now forgoing the rush to go public (IPO), in favor of major equity investments from specialized venture capital funds, such as Japan’s SoftBank. Select new hires with attention to values.

Software Review 355

Software Review Algorithm Global IPO 355

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Cofounder Founder Venture Capital 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment. If the company has been around for more than a couple of years, and still has no product or revenue flow, there better be a good explanation. When did this effort really start, including pivots?

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

Sophisticated VC and private equity funds have a wide array of options for leveraging outside operating executives. – Hire more non-Partner staff. – Hire more Partners. For a VC fund to be actively engaged in a large number of investments, it needs to hire more Partners to sit on more boards.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 4, 2018

Late last year we passed $100M in annual recurring revenue. That revenue is in on 75,000 customers, earned through the hard work of 500 employees across six offices on three continents. This week we closed $250M in financing from Silver Lake , the premier technology private equity firm. We just announced a few more things.

Engineer 152

Engineer Revenue San Francisco Security 152

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Most founders like to talk about their many months or years of sweat-equity , but cash invested is a stronger commitment. If the company has been around for more than a couple of years, and still has no product or revenue flow, there better be a good explanation. When did this effort really start, including pivots?

Sweat Equity 207

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 207

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 8, 2024

You may need funding for new equipment, hiring additional staff, expanding facilities, or investing in marketing and advertising campaigns. Utilize Debt for Strategic Investments Use debt to invest in revenue-generating assets that generate a positive return on investment for your business.

Finance 123

Finance Technical Review Metrics .Net 123

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

The right advisor can have a greater impact on the success of your small business than any other hire you ever make. Here are seven ways that advisors can immediately help your small business achieve the next level of success: Assist With Strategies & Connections to Have Record Revenue & Profit in 2016.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Small Business Hiring 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

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. That should equate to an adequate valuation for a $2 million follow-on Series-A round, without giving away all the equity.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold. Every young entrepreneur needs an experienced partner for credibility with investors, and as a trusted cohort for strategy and growth discussions. Member of the Advisory Board. Personnel Manager.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund and mutual fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. High-frequency trading, algorithmic by its nature, is estimated to account for at least 50% of US equity markets trading volume. . But we’re doing it slowly.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

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. That should equate to an adequate valuation for a $2 million follow-on Series-A round, without giving away all the equity.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

The average amount per startup has been $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment. The vehicle of choice is most often a convertible note, which is really a loan with a specified duration and interest, with an option to convert it to equity when professional investors come in later.

Sweat Equity 274

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Startup Equity 274

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Projecting from the seed stage, there are two types of team-building topics you want to address – key senior hires and org-level team building. As the company progresses through product market fit (PMF), you will want to highlight other key senior hires required to scale and round out the functional expertise of the exec team.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

The cost of giving up more equity early is often more than offset by the increased flexibility to recover from mistakes. Pay people with equity or future revenue. Another one to avoid cash burn for software development is a contract for percent of future revenue. Great strategy. Do it yourself and barter for services.

Burn Rate 232

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 232

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Employee Equity: How Much? The most common comment in this long and complicated MBA Mondays series on Employee Equity is the question of how much equity should you grant when you make a hire. For your first key hires, three, five, maybe as much as ten, you will probably not be able to use any kind of formula.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2011

The cost of giving up more equity early is often more than offset by the increased flexibility to recover from mistakes. Pay people with equity or future revenue. Another one to avoid cash burn for software development is a contract for percent of future revenue. Great strategy. Do it yourself and barter for services.

Burn Rate 231

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 231

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

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 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

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. That should equate to an adequate valuation for a $2 million follow-on Series-A round, without giving away all the equity.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2020

With one of the many new tools , and a dose of sweat equity, you can create a website for almost nothing -- and you are on your way to success with ecommerce, your latest invention or personal services. With the unlimited access to “how-to” videos and detailed instructions on the Internet, you shouldn’t need to hire experts for most things.

Hockey Stick 423

Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 423

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2021

The average amount per startup has been $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment. The vehicle of choice is most often a convertible note, which is really a loan with a specified duration and interest, with an option to convert it to equity when professional investors come in later.

Sweat Equity 346

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Equity Venture Capital 346

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold. Every young entrepreneur needs an experienced partner for credibility with investors, and as a trusted cohort for strategy and growth discussions. Member of the Advisory Board. Personnel Manager.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor 266

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 21, 2014

They can help vet what you''re building, give you credibility in the hiring process and help assess candidates. Go find someone technical you could probably never hire. What you can offer is interestingness, a thoughtful challenge, and a little bit of equity. This is where a good technical advisor can help.

Founder 120

Founder Software Developers Software Development Venture Capital 120

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders? IV: Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing?

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

I had lunch last week with Tom, the CEO of a startup that was quickly becoming a large company – last year’s revenue was $40M, this year likely to be $80M maybe even $100 million in ad revenue. to drive traffic to their site, which they then turned into ad revenue. Next write your new hire job description.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

On the other hand, they could be the opposite—much more focused on near-term cash distributions than long-term equity appreciation. They might not understand how a pre-revenue startup could be worth anything, let alone be valued at $5mm. What’s Simply Hired, you ask?

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

The Startup Toolkit

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

false As a cheatsheet, the “normal” equity structure is: Founder terms: 4 year vesting, 1 year cliff, for everyone, including you. Getting equity structures right. When it comes to equity terms, there are only 3 things to understand: vesting, cliffs, and acceleration. Everyone who has equity should really, really be vested.

Vesting 56

Vesting Equity Cofounder Technical Review 56

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. When you accept outside money, particularly a private equity (PE) investment, however, that changes. When you accept outside money, particularly a private equity (PE) investment, however, that changes.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2013

Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. Every outside hire increases your cost and risk. Hire experts, not help. startup control equity bootstrapping Rich Christiansen business' Do it yourself.

Equity 241

Equity Bootstrapping Startup Merger 241

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. Sometimes these will ask for 5%-15% of your equity for their support services. This normally means more than 30 employees, and more than $1 million in revenue. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Incubator 305

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 305

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

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 1, 2023

As I've taken the time to invest in companies and programs that can manage various facets of my business on my behalf, I've been able to increase my revenue and provide better financial insulation for my firm to help it withstand the negative effects of a recession. This will keep them sustainable should revenues take a dive.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Software Review Technical Review Revenue 96

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

It’s among the most-asked questions on startup forums, and an issue we’re dealing with right now at WPEngine as we bring on new employees: How do you decide how much equity (shares) to give a new employee or partner? The question is further complicated when the new hire is getting a salary. What about $Y/mo?&#

Equity 276

Equity Salary Hiring Institutional Investors 276