View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Foster product development and marketing which creates organic (or somewhat organic) user traction. Rather, the conclusion is that it’s best to explicitly define what the fundraising milestone strategy is during the seed stage. They are: 1. Build Audience Momentum. Are you building on hype and promise?

Syndicate 333

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Startup 333

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 22, 2012

In a way, you can think of BD as “sales when you don’t know what the product is yet.” It’s basically working with potential outside partners to reach your business goals--which could be revenue, distribution, financing, product development, awareness, etc.

PR 160

PR Technical Review Seed Stage Design 160

Austin Startup

JANUARY 25, 2020

So after the prototype, I took my rideshare & delivery earnings (I had taken up driving on the side before and after my after-school job to fill the money blanks) and threw it into product development to get something truly functional, a test version. After that, we had something much better?—?it it was now clickable!

Delaware 62

Delaware SEC New York City New York 62

Hippoland

AUGUST 17, 2016

In general, I’m a big fan of convertible notes or convertible securities for seed stage founders. We hold this to be true in product development, and it should also hold true when raising your seed round. Just do a Google search. You just don’t have time or money to worry about making things clean now.

Equity 48

Equity Convertible Security Silicon Valley Technical Review 48

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. The Product Development Diagram Emerging early in the twentieth century, this product-centric model described a process that evolved in manufacturing industries.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 269

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

What’s the difference between an angel round and pre-seed round and why do I believe we’ll see more pre-seed rounds taking place in 2024? While the answers are somewhat semantic, the pre-seed funding round is making a comeback in 2024 startup financing.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

Pre-Seed Investments. Investing in a startup at the pre-seed stage is a great way to get in early on to the next big thing. This is done by evaluating the product’s potential market, the sales process, and the company’s team. Seed funding is usually used to support product development, sales, and marketing.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

The Equity Kicker

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

Completing product development and hiring team members definitely helps, but it’s dangerous to assume that will be valued by new investors. With seed stage investments and later it’s usually obvious how value will be created – by maintaining current growth in revenues or engagement.

Seed Stage 60

Seed Stage Later Stage Early Stage Partner 60

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

A Seed round today — like the Series A round of yesteryear — requires some kind of traction or product. In contrast, you *don’t* need much to qualify as a Pre-Seed stage company. Pre-Seed investors should *not* be looking for any kind of traction. A Pre-Seed company certainly hasn’t met the same bar.

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

And from my perspective as an engaged seed stage venture investor, this makes them unfundable. Selecting value-added angel investors and advisors can also help with the camaraderie issue, as they can provide advice and counsel during the solitary period of hard-core coding and product development.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

When I reviewed a recent product development book, it immediately shot up to Amazon sales rank 300. Seed-stage investors are learning the metrics of traction, and are getting better at identifying those companies that are really achieving validated learning about customers. My blog has over 14000 subscribers, for example.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Etc… At the pre-seed stage, a big way to stand out is if you have a V3 statement (as opposed to a V1 statement). At the pre-seed stage, there is no way to prove that your thesis is right or wrong. The way you get to a V3 statement is to start running the business and charging customers. And that’s ok.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Business Model B2B Email 48

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Etc… At the pre-seed stage, a big way to stand out is if you have a V3 statement (as opposed to a V1 statement). At the pre-seed stage, there is no way to prove that your thesis is right or wrong. The way you get to a V3 statement is to start running the business and charging customers. And that’s ok.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Business Model B2B Email 48

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

For example, my company decided early on to hire a UI designer, which has helped tremendously with our product development. Then we allocated the saved money into hiring the highest quality developers available — especially those who have experience working with a distributed team. Getting funded is hardly the end-all.

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79

Scott Edward Walker

JUNE 26, 2011

Seed stage investing is a people business – so you have to be local; you have to be connected; you have to know each other and meet each other physically.” You want to be very up-front about product development; make sure you have something to show – a carrying-card that is a real product.” Show, not tell.”

Silicon Valley 53

Silicon Valley San Francisco Seed Stage Entrepreneur 53

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

AgileZen – project management visually see and interact with your work Kanbanery – Simple online team or personal kanban board LeanKit Kanban – Great for visualizing work of product development Kanban Pad – “Nice and lean” and free online Kanban tool Banana Scrum – A tool simple as Scrum itself.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Great for visualizing work of product development. Seed Stage Valuation Guide. project management visually see and interact with your work. Kanbanery â?? Simple online team or personal kanban board. LeanKit Kanban â?? Kanban Pad â?? Nice and leanâ?? and free online Kanban tool. Banana Scrum â?? Kanban Tool â??

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53