Up and Running

OCTOBER 1, 2019

It might seem easier to put off thinking about your first essential new hires. Try to do it all and you’ll spend a lot of time learning new skills (that you’ll eventually hire for) when you should be focusing on growing your business. Hire someone who understands Generation Z (or your target demographic). A marketing maven.

Hiring 77

Hiring Technical Review Small Business Forecast 77

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 13, 2018

As part of The Startup Magazine Female Founder Series, we interviewed Ms. I wanted to be able to select clients that are a good fit and can benefit from my finance, IT and international experience. Our clients have more efficient operations, higher profits/value and streamlined processes after they work with us. Gabriela Rodil.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Founder Due Diligence Early Stage 84

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

Matt was the co-founder/CEO of Return Path. The founders of each company talked and, in between efforts to decimate the other, agreed it might be worth merging to survive. It’s a follow-up to his previous book, Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business. I’ve been working with Matt since 2000.

Fractional CTO 195

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 195

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

” — Phil Norton, Founder of Leave Dates In today’s digital age, software subscriptions have become integral to business operations. ” — Carl Jenson, Founder of Compare Bank. Carl Jenson, the Founder of Compare Bank, emphasises the importance of cutting meeting expenses by adopting virtual meeting solutions.

Software Review 138

Software Review Technical Review Retention Cost 138

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 13, 2018

As part of The Startup Magazine Female Founder Series, we interviewed Ms. I wanted to be able to select clients that are a good fit and can benefit from my finance, IT and international experience. Our clients have more efficient operations, higher profits/value and streamlined processes after they work with us. Gabriela Rodil.

Technical Review 67

Technical Review Founder Due Diligence Early Stage 67

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Quick summary: Be careful not to have too many co-founders. I don’t think VCs care as much about co-founders & economics as people think. Don’t hire a homogenous team. Don’t hire “relationship management” sales people too early. I think they care that there is a deep bench of talent.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

Doing Reference Checks on VCs “Try to speak to at least one founder that the investor has worked with in a failed investment. The Seed VC Decision Tree “If the market is attractive and there just isn’t great founder/market fit, we will be open minded as well. Hiring Your Team. This is not always easy to do.

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

On the heels of our research on HBS entrepreneurs , NextView’s Dimitri Dadiomov (HBS ’15) interviewed several top founders on the early stages of their companies. Matt Prince , Co-Founder and CEO, CloudFlare (Web performance and security to protect and accelerate websites; $72.1 On Launching and Finding Early Traction.

Founder 120

Founder Las Vegas Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

YoungUpstarts

JULY 22, 2018

Starting as a deckhand delivering cod and turbot from fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador, over the past forty years, Glen McKay has molded his career into one that focuses on entrepreneurship and leading the growth of companies operating in a range of industries. Hire people who have strengths to offset your weaknesses and empower them.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Ecuador Chile Founder 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” Operate with a comparable level of integrity. Carry minimal historical baggage.

Partner 140

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 140

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2014

Not because they’re all operating in stealth or pre-product – in fact some already are earning $1m+ in revenue per annum. Hiring Has Changed: Before the press was a way of generating interest for hiring. Most of the startups we’ve backed at Homebrew don’t rush to announce their funding.

Technical Review 117

Technical Review CTO Hire Finance Stealth 117

View from Seed

MARCH 1, 2016

As an adult, I know the world operates on story first and logic second. Investors and smart hires will always do appropriate diligence before investing money and time, but they won’t bother doing that unless they are excited about your story. Tiny Speck decided to sunset Glitch and began winding down its operations.

Founder 120

Founder Technical Review Cofounder Non-Compete 120

The Next Web

JANUARY 30, 2014

In many cases, these entrepreneurs are on the hunt for co-founders to help them build their businesses. I previously wrote about various roles and responsibilities within a startup’s management team , so figure out what role your desired co-founder can fill. The problem? What skills are you lacking? How to go about it?

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Chicago 136

YoungUpstarts

MAY 27, 2019

by Christopher Grey, co-founder and COO of CapLinked. Implementation is different to theory and ideas, so you need to be able to bring operational performance and many other skills to the table. Often young founders don’t think about basic concepts like unit economics, which is selling something for more than what it costs to make.

Cofounder 170

Cofounder Private Equity Software Review Equity 170

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 7, 2018

by Humberto Farias, CEO and co-founder at Concepta. The problem, is historically, the investment in time and resources required for traditional digital solutions can feel out of reach, and the type of programs used by corporations aren’t practical for SMBs for daily operations like reporting, inventory, or accounting. Automation.

Artificial Inteligence 164

Artificial Inteligence Analytics SCRUM Cofounder 164

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 9, 2019

Operating your business under the assumption that it’s already profitable will establish critical workflows and business practices that ensure your startup succeeds in the long term. The following six rules will ensure your startup stays ahead of the curve and operates like a profitable business from day one: 1. Predict expenses.

Technical Review 81

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Finance 81

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Recently, I’ve been working with a few of our portfolio companies to help them think about how to recruit and interview their first analytics hire. Analytics vs. Finance?—?what’s Many founders confuse the two as they both involve lots of numbers. what’s the difference (and what do you need)?

Analytics 149

Analytics Hiring SQL Forecast 149

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

Amongst the most often asked questions I get from founders is, “How much money should I raise?” Reflexively founders want to raise as much money as they can because they figure it will give them more resources, better chances of competing and a longer runways before they have to do the often painful job of asking, yet again, for money.

Pre-Money Valuation 292

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Early Stage Startup 292

Up and Running

AUGUST 30, 2021

Entrepreneurs have to get really comfortable with rejection, especially as a first-time founder. This is what most founders do. It can be a small and nimble startup like Origin, or a company with 50 employees and hiring more every quarter. Talk to the people who are experiencing the problem, and then build your solution.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Lean Colorado Engineer 132

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Running a company is distinctly different from simply having operating experience – (working in bus dev, sales or marketing.) Board skills (Startup coaching, mentoring, strategy, operational/growth). Early-stage Venture Capital firms grow their partnerships in different ways, some hire: partners from other firms.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 332

Hearpreneur

MARCH 15, 2023

4- To provide reliable funding solutions Photo Credit: Fred Winchar As a co-founder, president, and CEO of MaxCash Title Loans, I have a passion for providing access to financial resources to those in need. I started MaxCash Title Loans to give people secure access to finances. Thanks to Jonathan Rogers, Credexel ! #4-

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Finance Affiliate Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. According to one study a decade ago, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company. Hire more help than helpers.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

Companies that have managed to do this have a distinct advantage over those dependent on financing from external sources. Many of these businesses operated on shoestring budgets and tiny margins, which the pandemic’s challenges all but obliterated. Is it worth losing an experienced hire over remote working arrangements?

Bankruptcy 165

Bankruptcy Startup Agile Technical Review 165

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 28, 2010

Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup is the new book by David Cohen , founder and CEO of TechStars, and Brad Feld , managing director of Foundry Group. Below is his chapter, Avoid Co-Founder Conflict. A perennial favorite is to decide that each founder should own an equal share. You can set up a board.

Cofounder 128

Cofounder Founder Equity Dilution 128

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

However, there is hope for all you startup founders. You may need bookkeeping for small business tools to ensure you are handling finances with growth and success in mind. Hire Experience. A common thought would be to just train new hires fresh out of college. That’s a pretty startling statistic. Always Be Learning (ABL).

Technical Review 182

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Demand 182

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 10, 2019

Malicious third parties can gain access to these files and use the information stored in them to commit fraud, endangering the finances of both the business and its clients. says David Holmes, Founder at Boiler Guide. “If Businesses should therefore look to hire regular cleaning staff. Clean offices are part of a brand’s image.

Software Review 212

Software Review Security Social Media Cost 212

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

Matt was the co-founder/CEO of Return Path. The founders of each company talked and, in between efforts to decimate the other, agreed it might be worth merging to survive. It’s a follow-up to his previous book, Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business. I’ve been working with Matt since 2000.

Fractional CTO 70

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 70

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 22, 2019

Without the resources to hire a full time bookkeeper and little understanding of how to get their heads above water, many of these small businesses will founder having struggled due to lack of cash flow and poorly managed accounts. One-stop-shop” accounting software. Interact with a range of industry specific Apps.

Software Review 176

Software Review Due Diligence Startup Stock 176

Rob Go

JANUARY 18, 2012

In a prior post about what it’s like to be a VC I made the claim that even if an investor has operating experience, that experience gets stale after a few years. This led to the following question in my comments: “You mention that operational skills begin to decline 2 years into the job. Couple observations.

Operations 50

Operations Technical Review Investment Bankers Cofounder 50

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 21, 2013

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the unsung hero of many start-ups: the other founder. A lot has been written about the founder/CEO and her growth and evolution as a company grows. Larry Page is the other founder. The other founder usually begins with a particular range of responsibilities that comliment the founder.

Cofounder 45

Cofounder Founder Part-Time VPE Portfolio 45

The Startup Magazine

JULY 1, 2020

Here’s another from The Startup Magazine Founder Series. Additionally, I created one stop shop of products for energy efficient programs and brought in experienced leaders to streamline overall operations and finance. TSM: As your company grew, what other issues were the primary challenges? Entrepreneur Peter Agarwal.

Green 179

Green Founder Distribution Business Model 179

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 4, 2019

When the time comes to hire a complete management team or other personnel needed to scale, the right personality and experience fit are critical. Often, the wrong people are hired for the wrong roles, or early team members can’t evolve in line with the company. One of the biggest causes of startup failure is related to team dynamics.

Framework 127

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 127

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2016

Speaking intelligently about your company’s current (and future) performance means regular check-ins with your finances. Whether it’s burn rates, balance sheets, or P&L and cash flow statements, financial documents say a lot about your operations — and you need to be able to speak the language. Read your books from cover to cover.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Burn Rate IP Intellectual Property 124

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 4, 2022

Cameron is t he founder of the COO Alliance, the World’s Leading Network for Seconds in Command. Key Takeaway: The Chief Operating Officer is the second in command to the CEO – they’re the go-to person that should be running the business. Marketing Podcast with Cameron Herold. 3:38] How would you define the job title COO?

CTO 79

CTO Cofounder Networking Operations 79

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

The key to being able to run a business that isn’t yet profitable (on operating margin) is availability of capital to finance losses and preferably at a cost that isn’t too punitive to the founders and employees. That is what finances rapid growth. But none of this matters if you run out of money.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Here’s the punchline: if you run your company as if you have closed a VC equity financing round even though you actually closed a convertible debt round, you’ll be in much better shape when it comes time to raise your Series A financing. The investors, founders, and “community” are all super excited about ASC.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152