Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2021

Anduril founder Palmer Luckey has sardonically noted that the only defense companies to reach unicorn status in the past 30 years have all been founded by billionaires able to endure long gaps in funding. Palmer Luckey’s Anduril has aggressively pursued financing to sustain growth. Recently public enterprise-AI firm C3.ai

Artificial Inteligence 326

Artificial Inteligence Marketing Startup Silicon Valley 326

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

There is a myth among first time tech founders that product is everything. Here are five financial concepts that every startup founder should know to build an everlasting company. Compared to Accounting, Finance is ruthlessly forward looking. Asset valuation. Alpha generation. To create Alpha, you need a market edge. venkatarag.

Founder 118

Founder Valuation Dividend Startup 118

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. Key elements: .

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Founder’s perspective. You’ll get empathy. Experience. Relationships.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 28, 2022

Our homeownership programs help people build momentum with their finances , and we hope to continue building momentum in our business for years to come! My business name „Finanzentdecker“ (Finance Explorer“) was created in front of the whiteboard in a long night full of ideas, that just weren‘t good enough. Photo Credit: Roy Morejon.

Naming 150

Naming Entrepreneur Jordan Merger 150

Transformify

APRIL 21, 2017

Developers, designers, and finance experts from around the world go through a rigorous process that includes live screening and weeks-long test projects before being invited to join Toptal’s network. And we’ll be expanding into more business verticals soon. Why did you prioritize finance over another capability?

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Cofounder 40

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Co-founders, Laura Maly and Michael Anderson, struck a deal with Galvez that led to the acquisition of Merger Labs , effective January 1, 2018. The acquisition opens the door into a new vertical, allowing the co-founders to accelerate growth and lay the foundation for additional vertical expansions.

Merger 113

Merger San Diego Mali Private Equity 113

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

In the last three posts, we drew the relationship of market risk and invention risk with vertical markets and pointed out verticals where customer development would be useful. would look in each of the verticals. Seed and Follow-on Financing – How do your finance it? Manufacturing – How do you build it?

Vertical 122

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 122

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 22, 2017

My recent years have included many thousands of hours of mentoring, coaching, advising, teaching, and encouraging startup founders with prospective ventures across a wide range of disciplines. In those situations, I have watched over business issues and opportunities so the founders have been able to stay focused on their visions.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Incubator Software Review Vertical 48

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Parallel6 is already clocking over $1 million in revenue and is looking to enhance its customer acquisition and also raise some financing. I suggested going for larger companies and also to pick some verticals where the value proposition really shines through. Statisco Economic Analytics.

North Carolina 116

North Carolina San Diego Entrepreneur Balance Sheet 116

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing. Too often, however, I have found CTO / Founders paired with business people who not only don't add value, but frequently detract from the value of the business. So my advice to CTO / Founders?

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 6, 2011

This curriculum is based on the various questions entrepreneurs have asked me over these 64 sessions, spanning financing, positioning, customer acquisition, marketing, sales, channel, and various other early stage, startup-related issues. He is looking for financing for the show. And that is what I advised J.J.

Vertical 115

Vertical Web San Francisco Entrepreneur 115

View from Seed

AUGUST 13, 2014

So to successfully raise a seed round of capital, founders should possess at least a basic understanding of the different types of angel investors they’ll encounter. It can also help founders better approach angels in the first place. Cons: Potentially not much value-add beyond initial financing round. The Domain Angel.

Angel Investor 334

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 334

Hunter Walker

MAY 4, 2014

We were always earnest in our interest and since our default engagement mode is to give feedback, I’d like to think that these meetings were of some value to the founders, but in more of these cases the initial partner should have applied more rigor and conviction. New VCs are vulnerable to fashionable verticals.

Software Review 100

Software Review Vertical Seed Stage Portfolio 100

VC Cafe

DECEMBER 1, 2022

From the Money in the Metaverse (crypto and web3 finance) panel. As the underlying technology for the Metaverse continues to evolve, we will see more and more use cases brought to life across verticals. remain to be solved. Samuel Huber ( LandVault ) discussed the importance of onboarding and increasing participation.

Generative AI 88

Generative AI Vertical Early Stage PR 88

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As a founder, ask yourself – does your business actually warrant VC funding?

Early Stage 113

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 113

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

As an investor (who was also once a first-time entrepreneur), I have noticed several key areas where founders either overestimate or underestimate the value to their company. 5 things founders often underestimate. Founders should stay involved in every hiring decision for as long as possible. 4 things founders overestimate.

Founder 60

Founder Due Diligence Vertical Early Stage 60

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Version One Ventures

MARCH 4, 2014

The right investor should help a founder with all three of those questions: 1. The best investors are instrumental in helping founders recruit the perfect team. When I first started out as an investor fresh from operating my own start-up ( AbeBooks ), I often focused on helping founders figure out operational details and processes.

Portfolio 154

Portfolio Vertical Operations Hiring 154

View from Seed

AUGUST 30, 2017

Source: Google Finance). We think it’s inevitable that this vertical will undergo the same digital transformation as every other major commerce category and we’ve made two investments behind this thesis ( Paintzen and Renoviso ) and will be expecting to do more around the construction and renovation space in the years to come.

Denmark 244

Denmark Vertical eCommerce Internet 244

Haystack

JULY 8, 2018

After reflecting on it for a day, I began to understand why — even though this topic has been written about many times, “technology” as a sector and industry now has gone from vertical to horizontal, entirely pervasive across industries, across sectors, across geographies and cultures.

Early Stage 95

Early Stage Dilution Private Equity Common Stock 95

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2018

These include operational systems, production systems, sales and marketing systems, finance and legal systems, strategic alignment systems, idea decision systems, rapid research systems — and the list goes on. He is founder of the Eureka! But ideas can’t be random. He’s been named one of America’s top innovation experts by Inc.

Intellectual Property 174

Intellectual Property Engineer Flash Vertical 174

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

What makes an individual a great startup founder (versus an employee) has been something I had been thinking about since I retired. A Day in the Life of A Founder For those of you who’ve never started a company, let me assure you that it never happens like the pleasant articles you read in business magazines or in case studies.

Founder 297

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 297

Hunter Walker

MARCH 4, 2014

Ones which bring the efficiency of software into traditionally unsexy verticals via a new mobile app. These are all wonderful businesses that may create great value for their founders, perhaps even turn them into millionaires. The profitable seventeen person company with an enterprise value of $20 million, 90% owned by its founder?

Seed Stage 134

Seed Stage Venture Capital Vertical Finance 134

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Richard Ma , CEO and Co-Founder at Quantstamp , says, “We focus on helping our customers stay safe and succeed because our philosophy is that technology is only a tool to solve people’s problems.” Another movement we’re seeing right now is DeFi, or Decentralized Finance. All SXSW Pitch events take place at the Hilton Austin Downtown.

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Cofounder Colorado Security 97

Hunter Walker

APRIL 24, 2017

What outsiders don’t realize is that much of the most intriguing seed startups go through a financing process that’s “dark” – not seen by most investors because it’s either competitively privileged to a few firms or so against traditional patterns that the walk is more random.

Cap Table 71

Cap Table LP Seed Stage Vertical 71

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 30, 2015

HW: In 2006 you created Wallstrip, an online video company focused on the finance vertical. It takes a very special founder to build a media business long term. If you could ask a founder just one question to try and qualify the quality of the deal, what would it be? Wallstrip was purchased the next year by CBS.

San Diego 48

San Diego Arizona Media Founder 48

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

André Flórido , Betmarkets’ Co-Founder & COO, answered questions about his company, shared some book recommendations, and explained why he thinks obedience is overrated. As someone who is passionate about finance and automated decision-making, I had a great time reading “ Thinking, Fast and Slow ” by Daniel Kahneman.

Portugal 62

Portugal Investment Bankers United States Cofounder 62

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

André Flórido , Betmarkets’ Co-Founder & COO of Betmarkets, answered questions about his company, shared some book recommendations and explained why he thinks obedience is overrated. As someone who is passionate about finance and automated decision-making, I had a great time reading “ Thinking, Fast and Slow ” by Daniel Kahneman.

Portugal 62

Portugal Investment Bankers United States Cofounder 62

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 31, 2021

Early adopter verticals — such as software development and tech sales — is mostly in Gen 3. Some of the largest markets including construction, health care, finance and agriculture are moving into Gen 1 and 2, with specific toes dipped carefully into 3.

Software 116

Software Vertical Framework Software Developers 116

VC Cafe

JULY 4, 2011

Following the success of Ycombinator and TechStars, in recent years we have seen literally hundreds of regional incubators set up in the rest of the US and Europe , across campuses and within vertical industries, such as mobile or finance. NESTA Report - Founders guide to European accelerator programmes.

Incubator 97

Incubator Entrepreneur Startup Vertical 97

The Equity Kicker

MAY 9, 2016

It’s a great romp through the history of entrepreneurial ventures and how they were financed – starting with loan deals brokered in coffee shops and ending with the PC boom which established venture capital as an asset class in 1970s and 1980s. I just read Nicolas Colin’s Brief History of the World (of Venture Capital).

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Venture Capital eCommerce Startup 60

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

My particular POV is that piggy rounds, just like party rounds, are risky choices for most founders (and have my own obvious bias in this statement). Often these funds are attempting to build out a reputation or gain exposure to a new vertical. 1) Large Funds Are Chasing Potential Outliers Earlier.

Later Stage 95

Later Stage Valuation Semantic Institutional Investors 95

Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

Entrepreneurs are fearless, persistent and uninhibited about asking – whether it’s asking to assemble a team, get financing, sell customers, etc. On a more serious note, any tips on attracting founders? BTW, I personally would _never_ “find&# a founder over the web. You haven’t missed a thing.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 19, 2016

They also need VCs capable of financing their entire life cycle — on average, SaaS startups raise between $80 and $100 million before an IPO. SaaS startups need to have a VC that understands the SaaS model, including market development strategies, upsell dynamics, sales incentive plan, etc.

API 48

API Silicon Valley Europe Differentiation 48

Up and Running

APRIL 30, 2013

Still, if a founder picks the right advisors, she will receive a wealth of benefits. Time spent advising is a great opportunity for the founder and advisor to audition each other as potential partners. A founder with a good idea and solid strategy will have her pick of potential advisors in exchange for equity.

Equity 89

Equity Vertical Naming Networking 89

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

These two young founders chose their space well and were already global leaders in their niche. In the previous six months, I’d read several articles in finance blogs or newsletters about yet another company that had just been financed in their specific vertical.

Vertical 48

Vertical Finance Valuation Global 48