Steve Blank

JULY 11, 2017

Before the rapid rise of Unicorns, (startups with a valuation over a billion dollars), when boards were still in control, they “encouraged” the hiring of “adult supervision” of the founders after they found product/market fit. The founders. Founders are comfortable in the chaos and disorder. Adult Supervision.

Part-Time VPE 308

Part-Time VPE Liquidity Event Stock Engineer 308

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 14, 2022

At this stage, the founder mainly raises funding from their sources or family and friends. Here, the company’s valuation benchmark is set, and funding is solicited accordingly. At this stage, since the company has created a presence for itself, the founder turns to Venture Capitalists to secure funding for further company growth.

Technical Review 145

Technical Review Due Diligence India Startup 145

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 14, 2021

Round sizes increased significantly across all stages, as did valuations. We have seen more and more interest from people working in tech to become founders and pursue their passion with their own start-ups. We had our first IPO ( Coinbase ), quickly followed by a second one ( Cazoo ).

Technical Review 87

Technical Review North America Portfolio IPO 87

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. I’ve decided to take all of my private conversations and subjective points-of-view on the topic and make them public in a keynote speech at the Founder Showcase in San Francisco on June 15th. That’s stupid.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I recently spoke at the Founder Showcase at the request of Adeo Ressi. I said that at the Founder Showcase, too. In addition to FOMO it is partly driven by massive increase in valuations for earlier-stage companies who raised money at bit seed prices but who still have product risk. This post originally ran on TechCrunch.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

What Are Your Valuation Expectations? But mainly we did it because these corporate VCs were among the only groups willing to invest at PayPal’s somewhat inflated post-money valuation, during the middle of the dot-com crash when traditional VCs pulled back sharply and other sources of funding were constrained.” ” (Rob Go).

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

ReadWriteStart

JULY 15, 2020

Startup founders are trying to figure out how to fundraise through a pandemic and economic crash. New talk of capital efficiency is gratifying, but there was another lesson from pre-COVID-19 valuation struggles. Venture capitalists and early-stage investors have told all of us, founders are critical to a startup’s valuation.

Valuation 91

Valuation South Carolina San Jose Balance Sheet 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2018

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to stay low, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. I suspect the exuberance for an IPO is still being driven by the highly visible successes of a few companies several years ago, including Facebook, Yelp, and Twitter.

Exit Strategy 128

Exit Strategy IPO Initial Public Offering SEC 128

VC Cafe

AUGUST 2, 2022

Tim Sweeney, the founder and CEO of Epic is a long term visionary of our online future and the Metaverse. Tim Sweeney, Epic Games’ founder and CEO. In March 2022, Yuga Labs , the company behind BAYC, raised a $450M seed round at $4 billion valuation led by A16Z with the aim: create a better Metaverse.

IP 206

IP Cofounder Valuation Acquisition 206

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 20, 2021

Everyone (investors and founders alike) has underestimated the size of the addressable market for tech over the past decade. Looking back at V1’s first IPO, an unusual investment at the time: Coinbase. Our top three topics from the year: . 1/ Is 10x the new 3x? Announcing Fund IV and Ops Fund II. 2/ Climate and energy.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review IPO 60

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2018

How do you find the balance between not too small to prove itself but not too big to have an off-putting valuation? You’ll find exceptions to this rule, like Snapchat, which was operating at a loss at its IPO, when it experienced high initial trading prices due to its huge popularity and untapped monetization capabilities.

Valuation 145

Valuation Technical Review Exit Strategy Metrics 145

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. two founders in a garage?—?(HP

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 23, 2017

by Joe Duncan, founder of Duncan Capital LP. PC and mobile interfaces dynamically display portfolio valuations and exposures, along with system-generated investment recommendations tailored to a specific client’s financial goals and risk appetite. At least for investment banks the answer is not so clear cut.

Technical Review 154

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Software Review IPO 154

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

VCs like acquisitions as much as IPOs because the acquiring companies often can rationalize paying large multiples over the current valuation of the startup. However, these nosebleed valuations make it even more important in getting the acquired company integrated correctly. Predicting Success or Failure of an Acquisition.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 18, 2020

[I originally published this on Medium pre-IPO, so the tense is outdated, but I think the framework holds]. Every big tech IPO results in predictable Twitter chatter. Meaning, she knew the Year One performance required to sustain that valuation was beyond the company’s likely results over the next quarters.

IPO 90

IPO Stock Retention Valuation 90

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2021

It’s enough to see the rapid adoption of new social platforms from Signal in messaging to Clubhouse’s $1 billion valuation in less than a year. I’m excited to back the founders that are building the future in this space. In 2021, optimism on investing in social media has returned.

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Audio Forecast Social Media 207

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

GameFly filed in 2010 and remains in registration, though 2011 has seen a positive start for VC-backed IPOs with 14 in Q1 2011. Kayak was started here in my backyard of Boston… co-founder & CTO Paul English and the product/engineering team is based here in Concord MA. Post-money valuation probably no higher than $12M (2).

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 29, 2021

We can trace the Midwest’s renaissance to Sprout Social’s successful initial public offering (IPO) , which saw the company debut on public markets at a price of $17 per share and rise to over $120 per share today. billion company and has built up this valuation outside the Silicon Valley scene. Today, Sprout is a $6.6

Silicon Valley 174

Silicon Valley Kansas City Chicago Denver 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

When you see startups like SpaceX and Pinterest grow from a low valuation to a billion dollars in just a few years, it’s easy to assume that if you just keep doing what you are doing, you can get there as well. Then there is the pressure to go public ( IPO ), and open your investment to thousands, maybe millions, of small investors.

Merger 379

Merger Due Diligence SEC IPO 379

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

A normalization of the venture capital market will bring more rational valuations over time but should produce more stable companies and better returns for VCs and LPs. It doesn’t feel like that now because we’ve entered a mini bubble in pre IPO valuations for a segment of the tech market but this, too, shall pass.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Angel Investor 289

View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2019

Over the last 10 years, we’ve been in a bull market with considerable froth in late stage financing activity and valuations. The cases of WeWork and Uber cast a cloud of doubt over funds that are largely driven by one or two outlier companies that may have a tremendous valuation, but shaky underlying business metrics.

LP 256

LP IRR Distribution Portfolio 256

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

More and more angels will be minted as the 2019 IPO class emerges. Also during this time, the underlying metrics in that business can change positively, potentially trapping companies to accept the initially-agreed upon valuation. by a mile, continued to soar in volume and valuation.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.] The Valuation Question.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

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. Asset valuation. The concept of asset valuation may seem counterintuitive, but it is an important idea. venkatarag. getfilecloud.

Founder 118

Founder Valuation Dividend Startup 118

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

billion valuation. They only recently raised $30 million at around a $300 million valuation and THAT raised eyebrows. The investor isn’t disclosed (or I haven’t seen it) but it’s rumored to be DST, the Russian investors who invested in Zynga and Facebook (at a $10 billion valuation).

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Affiliate Valuation San Francisco 271

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Every Flexible VC structure allows founders to access immediate risk capital while preserving exit, growth trajectory, and ownership optionality. . Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Start Up Blog

MAY 13, 2019

Last Friday night, I did a TV interview on ABC regarding Uber’s long awaited IPO. An IPO is when a company first becomes a publicly traded stock that anyone can buy and hold. The Valuation: Uber was priced at $45 USD per share giving it a valuation of around $82 billion USD.

IPO 48

IPO Valuation Stock Cost 48

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

” If you invested at $8m pre-money and put $2m in (thus you own 20% of a company at a $10m post-money valuation) and if you put another $2m into a round at a $40m valuation raising $10m ($50m post) you end up with half your money at $8m pre and half at $40m pre thus your average price goes up dramatically.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

It’s almost exactly 5 years since Aileen Lee first coined the term “unicorn” in reference to startups with $1 billion+ valuations. To analyze what’s become of the OG Unicorns, it’s first worth noting that at the time of the 2013 post about 2/3rds of the 39 on the list had already been realized via IPO or $1B+ acquisitions.

IPO 120

IPO Valuation San Francisco Silicon Valley 120

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

They should heed the age old advice that raising slightly more money while you can is always better than trying to optimize future valuations. Should VC’s really be impacted by public market valuations when the money that they’re investing today should be for returns in 7-10 years? Short answer – yes.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

We both agree that the later-stage valuations are being driven up to a point that feels irrationally priced [he uses b-round SaaS valuations as an example and I am willing to be even more broad based]. Video 1 is here : Late stage valuations are in a mini bubble. This can’t all be driven by increased company performance).

Valuation 309

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Later Stage Non-Compete 309

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). Google is still a private company (their IPO was Aug 2004). Yes… he was a very successful PayPal exec and previously co-founder & VP Product of SocialNet.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

David Cohen

SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

The three founders (Isaac, Tim, and Jose) were based in the Los Angeles area when they moved the company to Boulder for the Techstars Boulder Accelerator in 2009. In 2019, SendGrid become the first ever company from any accelerator program to IPO, valued at over $1 billion. Here’s their demo day pitch. 2: Uber (2009).

San Antonio 171

San Antonio New York City Seattle Los Angeles 171

Version One Ventures

JULY 20, 2015

I often get asked about how to determine the valuation for a marketplace startup that is starting to scale. Our assumptions for this valuation: Scale: > $1b GMV. immediately following its IPO). Bessemer offers a good overview of current valuations for different business models: SaaS, marketplaces, consumer, and ecommerce.

Valuation 60

Valuation Early Stage IPO eCommerce 60

ReadWriteStart

JULY 21, 2011

They really wanted to invest, but it was the beginning of the bubble, and I wanted (what was then) an absurd valuation. All we had were six slides, and I wanted a $10 million post-money valuation. We had gone back and forth with them on valuation, but this was a new firm and they wanted to close a deal with us. Discuss.

Post-Money Valuation 122

Post-Money Valuation Valuation IPO Venture Capital 122

The Equity Kicker

JULY 15, 2015

on Monday taking its market cap above $250bn just three years after its IPO and eleven years after it was founded. Bloomberg and other sites are lauding Zuckerberg and co for beating current record holder Google’s eight years from IPO to $250bn valuation. Facebook’s share price was up 2.4%

Valuation 60

Valuation IPO Cofounder Video 60