View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

At NextView Ventures we have written many pieces about venture capital — how to raise it, build your business, engage with investors, iterate your product, navigate expanding industries, etc. What Are Your Valuation Expectations? Rethinking the Standard Fundraising Deck “I’d make it crystal clear what your product actually does.

Seed Stage 178

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 178

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

In a new book, “ The Leadership Capital Index ,” Dave Ulrich, a best-selling author, business consultant, and business school professor, provides some real insights and metrics on what makes up the elements of goodwill in the minds of top valuation experts. I have paraphrased his key points here as follows: Leader personal impact.

Leadership 120

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation 120

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

by Lu Zhang, founder and managing partner of Fusion Fund. If you can check these boxes and convince venture capitalists that you’ve achieved product fit in a market with plenty of room for growth, you have a real shot at securing funding. Do you lack the skills needed to develop a viable product? Prepare to prove your worth.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Metrics like Return on Net Assets, Return on Capital and Internal Rate of Return are the guiding stars of the board and CEO. As Harvard professor Clayton Christensen noted, these efficiency metrics provided wise guidance for times when capital was scarce and raising money was hard. We legalized robbing the corporate treasury.

Private Equity 329

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 329

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

by John Vrionis, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. What’s critical for entrepreneurs to understand is that valuations for startups do not increase at a linear rate; they increase geometrically based on achieving the right milestones. It’s part art, part science.

Valuation 100

Valuation Dilution Chicago Technical Review 100

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. That used to be called A-round investing.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 26, 2022

How to Scale Unicorns With Partner David Zhang, TVC. Joining us for this episode is our partner David Zhang, Partner at TCV (( Technology Crossover Ventures ). I’m a partner at TCV, which we founded in 1996. We come in after a product has landed and found product market fit and has some escape velocity.

Partner 132

Partner Cofounder Retention Acquisition 132

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Who would not want to joint the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Investors and partners now look only for a framework of your business essentials, within the context of your opportunity, solution, and financials. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. This structure allows for alignment on the front end, and real-time flexibility for performance metrics,” says Samira Salman , a family office investor and advisor. . Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Of the Inc. raised from angels.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2020

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are so focused on their technology, that they display no interest or credible understand of the financials and metrics of growing a business. This can be mitigated by introducing a partner with the necessary complementary skills and focus to balance the equation.

Entrepreneur 312

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Valuation Leadership 312

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

Max and his partners interviewed and analyzed over 650 early-stage Internet startups. Founders that learn are more successful : Startups that have helpful mentors, track metrics effectively, and learn from startup thought leaders raise 7x more money and have 3.5x Startup Genome Report. Some of their key findings : 1.

Technical Cofounder 334

Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 334

ConversionXL

AUGUST 11, 2021

In that sense, you need to look at it like selling a product. Regardless of whether you’re seeking sponsorship for a product, event, book, or podcast, the overarching aim of attracting corporate sponsors remains the same: you need sponsors that engage your audience. Your most obvious asset is the product itself. Asset valuation.

Audience 139

Audience Social Media Email Ruby 139

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

Bessemer Venture Partners Expands BVP VII Fund. 26 Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), the oldest venture capital practice in the United States, today announced the closing of a $350 million supplement to its current fund family, BVP VII, which closed in June 2007. 2009 Bessemer Venture Partners. SaaS 13 Index Valuation.

Software Review 48

Software Review Partner United States Venture Capital 48

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

Image via Pixabay As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Document processes and metrics for economies of scale.

Silicon Valley 215

Silicon Valley Bankruptcy Metrics Valuation 215

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 10, 2020

See below for a good description of what we like to see in deals at Forward Partners and what makes us different from other VCs. An interview with Nic Brisbourne, Forward Partners. Every good VC looks for the same three things: a great team, a great product, and a large and attractive market. That must matter more than ever.

Partner 68

Partner Early Stage Portfolio Metrics 68

Genuine VC

JULY 19, 2010

I think that the number of players in this devloping class of what I’d call “Micro VCs” will continue to increase over the coming years: the model fits into an opportunity on the capital supply side, as well as more importantly becomes the right product for many entrepreneurs on the demand side.

Seed Stage 175

Seed Stage Technical Review Dilution Offshore 175

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

My Obsession With The Product - Feld Thoughts , May 3, 2010 For some reason I’ve been doing a lot of interviews lately. The Yin and Yang of Product and Engineering - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 22, 2010 For a tech company, product and engineering are the heart and soul of the business. What should I do?’.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Yes… he was a very successful PayPal exec and previously co-founder & VP Product of SocialNet. Not long after the product launch we began the initial conversations with VCs for a Series A round. round which closed in November 2003, and the pre-money valuation between $10 million and $15 million. It was a $4.7M

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

PEVCTech is partnering with Blue Future Partners to run the first large-scale survey of VCs’ technology stack. Johann Kratzer of Blue Future Partners , a fund of funds, observed, “The majority of the hundreds of funds we’ve diligenced rely predominantly on their relationships to source deals. Greylock Partners.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

The sales productivity ratio (measured with the Customer Acquisition Cost or CAC ratio) are also fairly similar for the two groups (except for a small cap dip in Q4 09) and therefore do not explain the difference Why is scale so much rewarded by public markets? Philippe Botteri Accel Partners London, UK My Bio. SaaS 13 Index Valuation.

Software Review 101

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Europe 101

View from Seed

MAY 31, 2019

My partners and I most often talk about defying gravity in the context of fundraising. Some of the founders in our portfolio have an exceptional ability to raise additional capital (and at loftier valuations) remarkably ahead of where the underlying metrics of the business current would yield.

Valuation 150

Valuation Portfolio Metrics Founder 150

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 16, 2012

Philippe Botteri Accel Partners London, UK My Bio. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. "10 Things Every CEO Needs to Know About Product D.

Software Review 95

Software Review Europe Technical Review Spain 95

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Low supply of companies with traction drove the valuations and deal sizes up. Valuations are rising to match. A typical seed round valuation may be $6M pre, raising $2M for an $8M post, or even as high as an $8M pre, raising $2M for a $10M post. If it doesn’t have the product fully baked yet? Seed stage was super tough.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Cracking the Code

AUGUST 3, 2011

Philippe Botteri Accel Partners London, UK My Bio. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. "10 Things Every CEO Needs to Know About Product D.

Software Review 67

Software Review Europe Technical Review Search 67

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

This is pulled from NextView’s board deck resource, which was compiled using a combination of real startup board decks and input from NextView’s founding partners: Rob Go , David Beisel , and Lee Hower. The Challenges/Setbacks section should be completely transparent to set up a candid, productive discussion.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

But the emphasis of our program is the direct one-on-one interaction with NextView partners to help push the company forward. When the culmination of an accelerator is a Demo Day show, then that is what teams prepare for and the resulting metrics by which they’re measured.

Cofounder 178

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 178

View from Seed

DECEMBER 11, 2019

“I’m thrilled to announce that I’m joining [New Firm] as a Partner where I will continue to invest in great Founders across the industries I care about.”. “I In any professional service industry, there is natural shuffling in the junior roles, as the race up the pyramid towards a Partner title is like musical chairs.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Cap Table Partner LP 205

Genuine VC

MAY 29, 2014

Many in the blogosphere including my partner Rob have drawn the distinction between large VCs making low-velocity high-conviction investments and large VCs writing machine-gun velocity option bets. Some are pre-product, while all the way on the other side of the spectrum, some have meaningful revenue and clear up-and-to-the-right metrics.

Syndicate 166

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Valuation 166

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

Philippe Botteri Accel Partners London, UK My Bio. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. "10 Things Every CEO Needs to Know About Product D.

Software Review 59

Software Review Technical Review Europe Cloud 59

Cracking the Code

DECEMBER 1, 2009

Philippe Botteri Accel Partners London, UK My Bio. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. "10 Things Every CEO Needs to Know About Product D.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Cloud Europe 48

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Philippe Botteri Accel Partners London, UK My Bio. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. "10 Things Every CEO Needs to Know About Product D.

Software Review 54

Software Review Technical Review Europe Venture Capital 54

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 9, 2009

Impact of the recession on SaaS Sales&Marketing productivity. However, if the SaaS & Cloud computing industry is doing relatively well in this downturn, the recession has severely impacted the sales&marketing productivity of these companies, with longer sales cycle, smaller deal size and limited upsells opportunity.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Cloud Europe 48

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

Something standard like a SaaS company where the exits scenarios and valuations are well-understood may not need a slide here, but the more non-traditional or unique the venture is, the more information which a Founder can fill in the blanks of “what could be” are helpful. Traction Deep Dive : If you’ve got it, flaunt it.

Seed Stage 167

Seed Stage Retention Restful Valuation 167

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition In the many thousands of articles advising entrepreneurs on what they have to focus on to build successful startups, much has been written about three key factors: team, product and market, with particular focus on the importance of product/market fit.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 14, 2010

Philippe Botteri Accel Partners London, UK My Bio. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. "10 Things Every CEO Needs to Know About Product D.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Europe Venture Capital 48

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 28, 2008

We pitch to potential partners, vendors, publishers, conferences, employees, and even lawyers. Its different from selling a product, because it is not part of our regular business practice, is not something that relates to our core competence, and tends not to happen in a repeatable and scalable way. how big is the market?

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 128

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2015

You should be counting only those people who fit your target customer demographic and paid full price for the product or service, without any prior connection to you or the business. Especially for free or freemium products, the rate of new signups is critical. Is your customer-acquisition rate accelerating?

Acquisition 120

Acquisition Valuation Angel Investor Stock 120