Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

And if their initial guesses were wrong, they needed a process that would permit them to change early on in the product development process when the cost of changes was small – the famed “pivot”. And if the company does go public, the valuations are at least 10x of the last bubble.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year. In this case, the primary cash outflow would be for product development and operating expenses, with potentially enough runway to build the initial product, get a patent, attract some early adopters, and build the initial revenue stream.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2017

In today’s fast moving market, the basic product development cost and time are critical to survival. They come at the early stage while a startup has no revenue or valuation, so professional investors are hard to find. Quick low-cost design and fabrication alternatives are extremely valuable.

Technical Cofounder 153

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Wiki Cofounder 153

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

In today’s fast moving market, the basic product development cost and time are critical to survival. They come at the early stage while a startup has no revenue or valuation, so professional investors are hard to find. Here are some key positives from an entrepreneur perspective: Shorten the time and cost from idea to prototype.

Startup 397

Startup Cofounder Incubator Early Stage 397

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

This term is currently applied to recent startups who profess a current valuation which exceeds $1 billion. Frothy startup valuations. This term refers to an initial venture-capital investment, often wrongly sought to seed early product development. Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat. Seed-round investment.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year. In this case, the primary cash outflow would be for product development and operating expenses, with potentially enough runway to build the initial product, get a patent, attract some early adopters, and build the initial revenue stream.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

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. Switch your focus from product development to sales.

Merger 379

Merger Due Diligence SEC IPO 379

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

” Below are our favorite pieces from the past few years, divided in to a few key categories: fundraising, company building, product development, industry trends, and the life of a VC. What Are Your Valuation Expectations? So, we decided to aggregate NextView’s “greatest hits.” ” (Rob Go).

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 22, 2023

This trend is only set to increase in the coming years, and I expect to see more companies focusing on sustainability in their product development and business practices. Consumers are becoming more conscious of their impact on the environment, and are looking for brands that align with their values.

Artificial Inteligence 122

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Social Media 122

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

These lost startups land higher valuations, have larger teams, outsource more product development and spend more money on customer acquisition than their peers. Before you indulge in marketing, sales and blinged-out offices, find product-market fit.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Who would not want to joint the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Building your public image and presence should start even before product development, through your website, logo, and blogging. Establishing your brand with interactive social media.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Outside investors are most interested in scaling a proven business model, not research and development. Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Most founders bootstrap product development. Fabulous solutions require great technology.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

With a present valuation of over $35 billion, the frozen food market is likely to increase in size by 1.3% That is a 40% increase in value from the market’s 2018 frozen food business valuation of $260 billion. Even though they sell other frozen items, they are mainly known for their breakfast products.

Valuation 151

Valuation Demand Business Plan Social Media 151

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 15, 2022

Whether they were critical to product development, marketing, or a successful exit, each of these individuals can have a significant impact on the amount of money the business is worth. The first step in creating a business plan to sell your startup to an acquirer is to create a valuation of your company.

Merger 128

Merger Acquisition Due Diligence Valuation 128

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

On the other hand, if you arrive at a VC pitch without a comprehensive understanding of the industry you’re hoping to compete in, or without a clear path to profitability or a thoughtful product-development road map, you’ll likely leave empty-handed. Investors want to feel confident that they’ll see a return on their investment.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 22, 2024

The latest funding brings ElevenLabs’ total raised to $101 million and values the company at over $1 billion after it received a $100 million valuation in June. Who are ElevenLabs?

Artificial Inteligence 85

Artificial Inteligence Poland Cofounder Startup 85

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

Asset valuation. The concept of asset valuation may seem counterintuitive, but it is an important idea. Most financial valuation formulas value an asset by discounting the asset using the cost of capital (interest rate) to the present day. Compared to Accounting, Finance is ruthlessly forward looking.

Founder 117

Founder Valuation Dividend Startup 117

Berkonomics

JANUARY 3, 2013

Sometimes, products are designed to make all of their profit upon the recurring revenues from supplies or support. We immediately recall the razor and blade analogy to illustrate the point when planning product development and release.

Revenue 79

Revenue Software Review Vertical Valuation 79

VC Adventure

MARCH 17, 2022

Perhaps you raised at what historically have been very attractive valuations (we certainly have companies in our portfolio that have raised well, well above the historical averages). Use time and capital to your advantage, accelerating product development as needed, gaining valuable insight on your go-to-market motion.

Balance Sheet 121

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Metrics 121

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Everyone moved to earlier stage – part of the decline in late stage investing is the ‘baggage’ of companies that previously raised money at inflated valuations that they would struggle to justify in today’s market. That’s yet another reason for micro funds to move earlier in the fundraising timeline.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 1, 2020

Snyk was founded with the mission to help developers make their code secure, providing a platform to automatically assess and remediate open source vulnerabilities. The company’s success has been largely driven by its developer-led freemium model, going from Series A funding to a valuation of $2.6B in just 30 months.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Open Source Development Team Review Security 62

David Teten

MAY 1, 2013

There are some automated valuation tools on the web like valuate.com and estibot.com that use search traffic, backlinks, and other data to appraise the value in the domain name. Still, deciding on the right price for a target domain name is almost entirely an exercise in negotiation, not valuation.

Naming 114

Naming Semantic Venture Capital Startup 114

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

You get increasing growth by optimizing the viral loop , and you get revenue as a side-effect, assuming you have even the most anemic monetization scheme baked into your product. The spread between your LTV and blended CPA determines either your profitability or your rate of growth, and a high valuation depends on balancing these two factors.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

David Teten

JUNE 25, 2012

I’m looking for an entrepreneur to start a company to provide this product, or a development shop which wants to bid on this project. The big vision: one of the reason for the high valuation of Box and Dropbox is that they render the underlying hardware irrelevant; you trust them with their data.

Developer 144

Developer Venture Capital Startup Valuation 144

ConversionXL

MAY 1, 2017

Past Product: Lackluster Marketing Causes Growth Stalls, Too. These pitfalls are not limited to product development. Often, erosion of customer loyalty has been going on for years but the company has failed to perceive it—until it’s too late. Swimming with Sharks. Growth teams are like those sharks.

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Algorithm Channel Analytics 127

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. Furthermore, as I was proving the viability of Recycler Spotter through the free version, I could have pre-sold the paid membership at a discount for another layer of validation that would have also helped finance product development.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

When times are really good for fund raising many teams delay to maximize their valuation. 5 million raised at a $9 million pre-money valuation or 35.7% How do you push valuation? What might future markets hold in terms of valuations? Today’s $15 million pre-money valuation might be tomorrow’s $20 million.

Pre-Money Valuation 303

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation PR 303

David Teten

JUNE 25, 2012

I’m looking for an entrepreneur to start a company to provide this product, or a development shop which wants to bid on this project. The big vision: one of the reason for the high valuation of Box and Dropbox is that they render the underlying hardware irrelevant; you trust them with their data.

Developer 114

Developer Venture Capital Startup Valuation 114

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Convertible debt financings have become an increasingly attractive approach for seed rounds because it delays the valuation discussion, costs less from a legal standpoint, and is an easier financial instrument to “keep raising more small amounts of money” on. It’s enough time to hang yourself if you are not careful.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

Berkonomics

MARCH 21, 2019

[Email readers, continue here…] Most VC’s look for a 10x opportunity – that is – a ten times increase in the valuation from investment to liquidity event. Here’s a valuation example for you based on amount to be raised. When multiplied by 10x, the target valuation at exit would be the $40,000,000 quoted above.

Hockey Stick 63

Hockey Stick Liquidity Event Valuation Balance Sheet 63

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Keep the valuations consistent with company progress. The bottom line is that the pedigree of your investors will have much to do with your ultimate valuation and with your enjoyment of the startup experience. Your Product Plan must fit into context of your overall business mission.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2014

In today’s fast moving market, the basic product development cost and time are critical to survival. They come at the early stage while a startup has no revenue or valuation, so professional investors are hard to find. Here are some key positives from an entrepreneur perspective: Shorten the time and cost from idea to prototype.

Entrepreneur 246

Entrepreneur Detroit California Cofounder 246

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 20, 2020

You can discuss every relevant thing including the product development as well as thorough research in your problem research. The data science consultancy company Erbis has a wide array of domain knowledge so that they are able to deliver the solution regardless of the differences in your business niches.

Artificial Inteligence 91

Artificial Inteligence Software Engineering Analytics Engineer 91

The Startup Toolkit

AUGUST 30, 2012

The valley only has about 4x more VC deals than London (although average valuations are admittedly 2x higher): The valley is not 1000x better. 25% during product development. 60% are for revenue generating companies with a sellable product. But check it. The truth is, good companies get funded. Everywhere.

Silicon Valley 52

Silicon Valley San Francisco New Jersey India 52

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Focus on Product Development First. We prioritized validation from our customers by listening carefully to what our customers wanted and focusing on early-stage product development. During the ten years we spent as a self-funded company, we worked tirelessly on product development. It certainly was for us.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2012

New product development process. Longer-term, enhanced product value begets superior company valuation through your organization’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio. Without risk, there can be no innovation. Innovation teams perform best when they trust that failure or a pivot will not result in punitive measures.

Intellectual Property 247

Intellectual Property IP Valuation .Net 247

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

This allows you to skip the complicated valuation calculations. 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. You can also show how you plan to make money.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52