Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2016

If you don’t yet have a hundred investors knocking on your door, it’s time to put more focus on viral marketing, closing customers, and exponential growth. Don’t be afraid to give up equity to get a small share of a very large pot. When top tier investors compete for a piece of the action, the price can go up exponentially.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Merger Exit Strategy 120

The Equity Kicker

DECEMBER 23, 2013

Pandodaily just published an analysis of The 20 most viral companies of the last decade. So the big takeaway here is that, seductive as it might be, a spurt of amazing viral growth and becoming everybody’s darling often doesn’t get you very far. More important is to deliver real and enduring value to customers.

Viral 102

Viral PR Media Customer 102

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

As Jared notes, To hedge against this predictable outcome, more founders should adopt longer vesting cycles for themselves and the earliest (big equity) employees. Stretching things out to a six-year vest helps to prevent co-founder abandonment.

Founder Vesting 59

Founder Vesting Vesting Cap Table Founder 59

The Equity Kicker

JUNE 18, 2014

These three conditions for creating virality were listed on Founders Notebook a month or two back: The most powerfully growing products do three things at once: 1.They They make you look smart to the people you invite. They give real value to you when the people you invite join.

Viral 102

Viral Customer Founder Product 102

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 6, 2012

Boston University’s business incubator has produced numerous success stories, including HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals with two drugs in Stage 2 clinical development to treat blood disorders and viral-related cancers, as well as Modular Genetics, a biotechnology company focused on sustainable gene engineering. Syracuse Student Sandbox.

Incubator 202

Incubator New York City Boston Intellectual Property 202

Software By Rob

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

Advertising doesn’t build traffic “equity.&# They’re “new,&# “revolutionary&# and “viral.&# And realize that these viral sources require a large amount of ongoing time and passion that most people cannot maintain in the long run. It doesn’t sustain at all. 1 in 100,000 at least.

Viral 55

Viral Software Review RSS Bootstrapping 55

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Helps content publishers and advertisers launch campaigns that develop viral distribution attributes and therefore gain “buzz.”. Of course none of these funds (my own included) want to be lumped into just one category because we all move across the spectrum. Total raised: $29.5mm. Read more: CrunchBase profile , TechCrunch.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

David Teten

MAY 1, 2013

First, any branding and SEO equity you built up under the old name are jeopardized. Another option is to give equity; Aaron Patzer knew that Mint.com was a valuable domain name, but couldn’t afford it initially. So he gave the owner some equity in his startup, which was worth a few million dollars when Mint exited.

Naming 114

Naming Semantic Venture Capital Startup 114

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2013

Those at the other extreme don’t look up from the grindstone long enough to notice whether all their work is producing sweat equity or just sweat. Word of mouth advertising and viral marketing cost big bucks these days so budget for it. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy. Marketing is top priority. Reign-in expenses.

Sweat Equity 251

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup Viral 251

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2012

Those at the other extreme don’t look up from the grindstone long enough to notice whether all their work is producing sweat equity or just sweat. Word of mouth advertising and viral marketing cost big bucks these days so budget for it. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy. Marketing is top priority. Reign-in expenses.

Sweat Equity 256

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Viral 256

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

Would you take a check from a corporate raider whose private equity dollars come with mass layoffs and union-busting? You don’t want to have to go into witness protection just because you couldn’t get your app to go viral.) A lot of people make their money in ways that you wouldn’t necessarily feel great about.

Cap Table 163

Cap Table Cofounder Private Equity Finance 163

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2016

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Surprisingly, word-of-mouth and viral efforts require more work and a larger budget than you would expect.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Salary Startup Viral 120

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

You mention social / viral aspects at both Google Photos and United Online. For consulting work, I have done several projects with Lou Sokolovskiy of Genero Capital , a boutique private equity firm. Google is impressive in that in many ways they operate more like a startup than many smaller companies. Tell Rod about the LA CTO Forum.

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

Haystack

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

Earlier this week, in the wake of Y Combinator’s Demo Day, I saw a tweet go viral and generate lots of chatter. Most of the rounds I participate in today are priced equity rounds. The tweet was written by YC’s President, Michael Seibel. His tweet reads: New weak investor move.

Seed Stage 76

Seed Stage Seed Capital Equity Europe 76

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

It is a platform to help brands building viral marketing campaigns. Summit is a hugely respected firm in Silicon Valley and a long-term “institution&# but they’re better known as more of a “private equity&# investor meaning that they do later stage investments in much larger companies that are profitable.

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2015

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Surprisingly, word-of-mouth and viral efforts require more work and a larger budget than you would expect.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Salary Viral Leadership 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Those at the other extreme don’t look up from the grindstone long enough to notice whether all their work is producing sweat equity or just sweat. Word of mouth advertising and viral marketing cost big bucks these days so budget for it. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy. Marketing is top priority. Reign-in expenses.

Sweat Equity 222

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Viral Salary 222

mashable.com

OCTOBER 16, 2010

Movies music myspace ONLINE VIDEO politics pop culture privacy Search small business social good social media social networking social networks software sports tech television trending tv twitter verizon video video games viral video web video Wordpress Yahoo youtube Join More Than 2.8 What will you find here?

Angel Investor 84

Angel Investor Venture Capital Social Media Technical Review 84

mashable.com

OCTOBER 16, 2010

Movies music myspace ONLINE VIDEO politics pop culture privacy Search small business social good social media social networking social networks software sports tech television trending tv twitter verizon video video games viral video web video Wordpress Yahoo youtube Join More Than 2.8 What will you find here?

Angel Investor 83

Angel Investor Venture Capital Social Media Technical Review 83

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . In the private equity universe, most Partners have primary training as deal-makers, not as managers. (To see the video above, please click the image, and then click on the Play button.).

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

abovethecrowd.com

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Awareness of the service was clearly spreading virally through word of mouth. I began covering Dell as an equity analyst for First Boston in early 1994, and over the six years that followed, Dell’s stock would appreciate 100x; a remarkable and perhaps unprecedented run of value creation.

eCommerce 62

eCommerce Technical Review North America San Francisco 62

mashable.com

MAY 5, 2011

“Once that product is built, you will probably have given away a lot of equity.&# In exchange for $150,000 to $300,000 of work, each startup has given Kayweb 14% to 40% equity. ); // Welcome to Mashable! Sign in with Facebook or Twitter to get started!

Equity 74

Equity Engineer Technical Review Social Media 74

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers Technology Roles in Startups Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Investors my tell you that, but what they can look at your product on paper and tell what it does and they will understand if it can be built.

Technical Cofounder 338

Technical Cofounder Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 338

Austin Startup

MARCH 19, 2020

There are five general things you can do now to make your business coronable: survive and thrive in a viral world. We don’t know how long this will last, so make sure that you tap all your lines of credit, raise new equity, sell assets you don’t need, etc. to make it easier for people to buy what you have. and please do so now.

Texas 62

Texas Viral eCommerce Equity 62

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 5, 2010

I have a ready excuse for squeezing in a little “sweat equity” — I need to get in shape to know my customers’ issues. But take this too far and your productivity drops off the cliff. As founder of a run/bike app startup, I can write off my workouts. However, I also know firsthand that exercise increases total productivity.

Sweat Equity 208

Sweat Equity Startup Viral Equity 208

The Equity Kicker

JULY 9, 2014

He lists the four (paid, viral, SEO, sales – for B2B) and then ‘other’ in which he says: There’s the odd partnership, like Yahoo/Google, that can help make or break a startup – but these are rare and situational. Andrew Chen has a great post up detailing the ways to scale user growth. But sometimes it happens!

Viral 122

Viral B2B Early Stage SEO 122

Growthink Blog

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

While the JOBS was signed in April 2012, it did not allow for equity-based Crowdfunding until the SEC approved certain regulations. For example, "accredited investors" can now make equity-based Crowdfunding investments. Yes, I am 100% confident that Crowdfunding will continue to rapidly grow. Here’s why.

Accredited Investor 89

Accredited Investor SEC Equity Viral 89

ConversionXL

MAY 27, 2022

Obsessing over going viral. Creative agency founder Dan Kelsall has helped many of his clients go viral. Curious about the impact of virality on revenue, he dug into demand generation campaign data. In most cases, viral posts generated less demand. Don’t focus on this at all.

Demand 124

Demand B2B Distribution Channel 124

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 19, 2010

There are two interesting things at work here: first is that an “old&# brand with historically low brand equity can be updated for modern audiences and marketed to a new demographic by using effective spokespeople, humorous messages, and cross-platform strategies.

Small Business 112

Small Business Viral Social Media Customer 112

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 19, 2010

There are two interesting things at work here: first is that an “old&# brand with historically low brand equity can be updated for modern audiences and marketed to a new demographic by using effective spokespeople, humorous messages, and cross-platform strategies.

Small Business 112

Small Business Viral Social Media Customer 112

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 19, 2010

There are two interesting things at work here: first is that an “old&# brand with historically low brand equity can be updated for modern audiences and marketed to a new demographic by using effective spokespeople, humorous messages, and cross-platform strategies.

Small Business 112

Small Business Viral Social Media Customer 112

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Only, I didn''t spot a hot deal any more than anyone makes a viral video. Videos don''t start out viral. And now that I''m an investor out on my own, one of my best performing companies is an investment that the founder could hardly give the equity away for in the beginning.

Columbus 112

Columbus Venture Capital Viral Term Sheet 112

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 23, 2012

The study ranks the world’s brands by their dollar value (based on financial data, market intelligence and consumer measures of brand equity). 5 great viral marketing campaigns (and what small businesses can learn from them!). Interestingly, four of the top five and seven of the top ten are technology companies.

Small Business 98

Small Business Viral Equity Campaign 98

Up and Running

AUGUST 1, 2017

Venture capitalists essentially buy equity in your brand, which means they now have a say in how you operate. In 2005, Claus Moseholm co-founded GoViral, a Danish company which specializes in harnessing the internet to promote advertisers’ videos and make them go viral. You give up some control of your company.

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Cofounder Finance Security 113

Cracking the Code

MARCH 12, 2010

4) Cash balance increase indicates a focus on M&A to drive further growth The past few months have also been marked by a few high profile equity and debt announcements - most notably SuccessFactors, Taleo and Saleforce.com. Popular Media: the key to viral marketing. Software 2.0: How the use of internet is transform.

Software Review 63

Software Review Technical Review Cloud Forecast 63

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. The game has started getting some traction already, and has a good virality index.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Venture Chronicles

DECEMBER 6, 2010

Social Media Monitoring evolved out of the explosion of non-traditional media channels developed in the last decade combined with the increased velocity of information flow as a consequence of viral information sharing. Paid media is advertising while Earned is how brands affect their public equity through the independent news cycle (e.g.

Social Media 60

Social Media Media Viral Channel 60