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What Founders Need to Know: You Were Funded for a Liquidity Event – Start Looking

Steve Blank

While you might be interested in building a company that changes the world, regardless of how long it takes, your investors are interested in funding a company that changes the world so they can have a liquidity event within the life of their fund ~7-10 years. (A You’ve been funded to get to a liquidity event.

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Startup Stock Options – Why A Good Deal Has Gone Bad

Steve Blank

We slept under the tables, and pulled all-nighters to get to first customer ship, man the booths at trade shows or ship products to make quarterly revenue – all because it was “our” company. Founders take a lot less risk, raise multimillion-dollar seed rounds and have the ability to cash out way before a liquidity event.

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When should you go for equity financing?

Berkonomics

There is a rather new term for those large, individual investors who are usually former entrepreneurs made rich through sale of their previous ventures. For early stage investors, the usual expectation is seven years from investment to expected liquidity. Individual super angel investors. And the one thing in common?

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10 Keys To Investor-Friendly New Venture Financials

Startup Professionals Musings

Find some credible opportunity statistics that can support your own revenue expectations of between $20 million and $100 million in the fifth year. If you insist on projecting $100 million in sales the first year, smart investors will likely run for the nearest exit. Assume margins and prices that are realistic in your target market.

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Looking to be acquired? Think the 10/40 or 20/20 rules.

Berkonomics

Sales organizations may or may not be combined, but senior sales management is consolidated so that commissioning, territorial management and product management functions all harmonize. Facilities may become redundant or oversized after these efforts, allowing for consolidation of facilities as well. The post Looking to be acquired?

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Fund Raising is a Means Not an End

Steve Blank

These are great, but they are not repeatable by a sales organization. What are revenue strategy and pricing tactics? In a perfect world, you would never need investors and would fund the company from customer revenue. How much do they need to own at a liquidity event? What problems do they want solved?

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How to Fund Your Startup Without Losing Control

Up and Running

By contrast, obtaining a pre-money valuation of $5 million for a business with a new viable product and even very minimal sales is somewhat reasonable. That is to say, they’d want to be able to control costs and revenues at a high level. Conclusion.