VC Cafe

JANUARY 15, 2024

M&A/ Exits – This situation is compounded by a narrowing window for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings (IPOs). Ready to IPO – there are several Israeli startups with over $200 million of ARR who are waiting to IPO when the window opens.

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IPO Valuation Private Equity 88

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

For most startups, it’s no secret that a significant part of their long-term plans is to go public and become the next market darling for investors. Here are three IPO lessons and what they hold for today’s startups. The obvious lesson here is to make sure that your startup’s financial house is in order.

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IPO Startup Stock Initial Public Offering 147

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

If you startup is your dream, why would you want to think about an exit? Assuming your startup takes off, you will probably find that the fun is gone by the time you reach 50 employees, or a few million in revenue. The job changes from creating a “work of art” to operating a “cookie cutter.” Initial Public Offering (IPO).

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Exit Strategy Initial Public Offering IPO Startup 241

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of someday taking their startup public, and making it a multi-national powerhouse. According to an Ernst & Young report , the number of startups that have gone public in the US over the past decade is down about 75% from the previous decade, to about 10% of startup exits.

IPO 242

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2011

If you startup is your dream, why would you want to think about an exit? Assuming your startup takes off, you will probably find that the fun is gone by the time you reach 50 employees, or a few million in revenue. The job changes from creating a “work of art” to operating a “cookie cutter.” Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Exit Strategy 231

Exit Strategy Initial Public Offering Startup IPO 231

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 11, 2015

But it’s an important consideration, especially for companies that plan to offer alternative compensation such as employee stock options, which will usually require a 409A valuation. Startup companies are often cash poor and have little in the form of current monetary compensation to offer their employees.

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Valuation Stock Options CPA Merger 100

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

What are they, how do they differ and what can startup do to take advantage of them? Paths to Liquidity: a quick history of the four waves of startup investing. The Golden Age (1970 – 1995): Build a growing business with a consistently profitable track record (after at least 5 quarters,) and go public when it’s time.

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Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

We expanded to Houston, San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles within months, and we were generally doing all the things and seeing all the things that a startup needed to do and see in order to feel good about VC funding prospects. startups with billion-dollar valuations) in recent years. Certainly. It’s not my goal to bash anyone.

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Silicon Valley Technical Review Venture Capital San Francisco 48

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

With this capital, the company propels itself to $50 million+ in revenues, and to either a sale to a strategic acquirer or to an initial public offering. By definition, companies that receive venture capital cannot fund their businesses from operations, and thus need to seek outside capital.

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Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

Social value alone is not normally a sustainable advantage for a startup with limited resources, since big players can jump in with more money to replicate your social value and add more innovation. Investors look for a team with business, financial, marketing, and operational skills, as well as a social passion.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Initial Public Offering Merger Acquisition 48

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 rule of thumb is that marketplaces at scale are valued at roughly 1x annualized GMV (typically about 6-8x annual revenue). Consensus estimate of approximately $270M for 2015 revenue. YoY growth of at least 30%.

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Valuation Early Stage IPO eCommerce 60

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

And from a financial perspective, any investor would be better off buying stock in Amazon than buying and share of a corner bookshop; if you invested $100 in Amazon’s 1997 initial public offering (IPO), those shares would have been worth about $120,000 in 2018. The second is a lack of operational scalability.

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Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

Nevertheless, this is when you get the startup money to kickstart your business with the bare essentials needed to begin making and fulfilling your first sales. Necessary machinery, an initial website, your first batch of inventory-things you can't function without. Series B is the round that follows series A in early stage financing.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88