VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Top-line metrics are indicators of success, not the one bar to clear to raise funding for your startup. In SaaS the main benchmarks being measured are revenue growth, sales efficiency (unit economics), churn and burn rate. Example of Baremetrics revenue per user benchmarks. Benchmarks for deep tech startups.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Revenue 434

Revenue Valuation Viral Retention 434

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

The most common business entity used for startups is a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), which is the cheapest and simplest to manage. All startups, including non-profits, need revenue to thrive, such as such as from subscriptions, retail, online, licensing, or services. They want to see revenue to share in the return.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Management 322

Management Entrepreneur Forecast Stock Options 322

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2017

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a long time ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content. Seed viral activity.

Campaign 167

Campaign Cost Viral Marketing 167

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. business calculated risks entrepreneur smart risks startup'

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Having enough revenue to finally give yourself a salary is an inspiring event, and one that you should savor. New business models that provide an ongoing revenue stream, or a secondary stream from advertising, raise your margins and can give you some additional satisfaction. Celebrate the ability to pay yourself a salary.

Sweat Equity 296

Sweat Equity Startup Salary Viral 296

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Paul Graham’s Startup Curve – avoid the “through of sorrow”! Growth Hacking isn’t viral marketing (although viral marketing is part of it). Growth Hacking isn’t viral marketing (although viral marketing is part of it). First Steps in Growth Hacking for Startups.

API 167

API Viral Startup Retention 167

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

A common pain of startups after an exhilarating first surge of early adopters is a long and frustrating plateau of slow growth, where it seems like nothing you do will get your business to profitability. Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially.

Startup 335

Startup Social Media Metrics Viral 335

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup? If you buy that Amazon is a tech startup then essentially you’ve already answered the question. In short — how the hell did we raise $30 million?

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Los Angeles Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2016

In fact, investors recognize that founders usually learn more from mistakes than from success, so a well-explained startup failure can improve their odds of funding the next time around. As an active angel investor and startup advisor, I’ve seen many of the same stumbling blocks repeated all too many times.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Forecast Angel Investor 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2021

There is also more going on in every location, so this personal need and super sensitivity to the local community has spawned a new breed of Internet startups, called “hyperlocal.” What’s more difficult than building one successful startup? Try building 50 successful startups. Expanding city-by-city is expensive.

Finder 361

Finder Startup Curation Seattle 361

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

As part of our Lean LaunchPad classes at Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia and for the National Science Foundation, students build a startup in 8 weeks using Business Model Design + Customer Development. How To Build a Web Startup – The Lean LaunchPad Edition. Use the Startup Tools Page as the resource for tool choices).

Lean 333

Lean Web Coder Business Model 333

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2023

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Valuation 235

Valuation Revenue Viral Retention 235

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

This is Part 5 of the 5-part series: 5 lessons from 150 startup pitches. Ask a technical founder about his startup, and he'll proudly describe his stunning software — simple, compelling, useful, fun. We're putting a 'Retweet' button inside the product to encourage viral growth.". Infection built-in, not bolt-on.

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2016

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400B. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Revenue 145

Revenue Valuation Startup Viral 145

View from Seed

AUGUST 30, 2016

For those of us that have been working in the startup and technology space for at least the past 10 years, these addresses mean two things. Despite that data, we don’t compete in one of the largest opportunities (in terms of sheer number of people using the product) that the startup and technology world has to offer. 1 Hacker Way.

Social Media 185

Social Media B2B North America Media 185

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Commitment & urgency are key drivers of success in startup businesses. I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. Revenue Metrics. On measurement.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup Acquisition SEM 346

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

In it, I got asked a question I often hear: “What if we have a web-based business that doesn’t have revenue or paying customers? And without revenue how do we know if we achieved product/market fit to exit Customer Validation?” However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Both have worked.Google reached $1 billion in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400 billion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit.

Revenue 246

Revenue Entrepreneur Valuation Viral 246

View from Seed

MARCH 22, 2016

However, as someone who’s spent the past several years covering startups, I can tell you absolutely what not to do. Even if you’re in the pre-revenue, pre-seed or seed stage, there are still ways to get on a reporter’s radar. That means avoiding a pitch to a software-centric publication about your biotech startup. Pitch late.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage San Francisco Startup CTO Hire 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

If you have heard the lingo, but most of these are not in your startup business plan, you are already in jeopardy as an entrepreneur: Blogging. Viral marketing. Viral marketing costs real money, but is often worth it. Rates per click are very low, so don’t try to live on ad revenues until visit rates are very high.

Internet 239

Internet SEM Wiki Viral 239

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

While this reaction to such a valuation is understandable, to anybody who has seen the meteoric rise in consumer demand and actual revenue the valuation is much less surprising and may turn out to be quite conservative. I think it’s quite possible that Bird could be the fastest growing company to reach a billion dollars in run rate revenue.

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Technical Review Los Angeles 256

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2020

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. With the success of Facebook and Twitter, I still see new social media startups almost every day, with most destined to fail. The fallacy of formulas that “can’t fail,” and holding on to troubled ventures, is alive and well in startups.

Intellectual Property 310

Intellectual Property Startup Bankruptcy Viral 310

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Great marketing is required to generate revenue and grow every business, especially new businesses which have no brand recognition nor loyal customer base. Usually these are described as revenue growth drivers, as outlined in a new book, “ The Revenue Accelerator: The 21 Boosters to Launch Your Startup ,” by Dr. Allan Colman.

Marketing 333

Marketing Revenue Matching Viral 333

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

You can have all traction in the world—acquire, activate, and retain users, but until your startup earns money, you are doing charity work, not running a business. Even if you are just starting to consider building a SaaS startup , you’ve probably used products with either freemium pricing or a free trial. Choose wisely.

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2023

But the insights I see from her book and elsewhere are equally applicable to startup founders of all ages, and businesses of all ages. Viral marketing campaigns to lure new customers will cost you big money. Look for operations that are hogging resources without generating significant revenue. Look for hidden sources of revenue.

Viral 232

Viral Revenue Distribution Campaign 232

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2021

These days, if your startup does not have an Internet home base up and running, you are not ready for business or potential investors. Viral marketing needs a website. But word-of-mouth and viral marketing doesn’t work without a web site. On the other hand, don’t assume that viral marketing is the only marketing you will need.

Web 349

Web Viral Naming Internet 349

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. The most common failures are solutions looking for a problem, lack of a defined market, or an inadequate revenue model. Revenue model. Sales/Marketing.

Business Model 256

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. With the success of Facebook and Twitter, I still see new social media startups almost every day, with most destined to fail. The fallacy of formulas that “can’t fail,” and holding on to troubled ventures, is alive and well in startups.

Intellectual Property 314

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Viral 314

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

The main thrust of the post is that with YouTube taking a 45% of revenue and talent taking 70% of the remaining revenue, YouTube Networks didn’t have sustainable businesses unless they invested heavily in technology as a tool to increase margin and provide defensibility. As I point out frequently, people want to consume video.

Video 339

Video Technical Review Distribution Aggregator 339

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 8, 2023

TikTok and Influencers One viral video on TikTok can reach 1.5 million people and generate monthly revenue. 3 Watch out for Startups and Emerging Markets Analyzing competitors’ activity in the market is essential, but businesses should think outside the box and keep track of startups and emerging markets.

eCommerce 185

eCommerce Technical Review Software Review Analytics 185

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2020

But the insights I see from her book and elsewhere are equally applicable to startup founders of all ages, and businesses of all ages. Viral marketing campaigns to lure new customers will cost you big money. Look for operations that are hogging resources without generating significant revenue. Look for hidden sources of revenue.

Viral 430

Viral Revenue Distribution Cloud 430

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2010

Rates per click are very low, so don’t try to live on ad revenues until visit rates are very high. Viral marketing. Viral marketing costs real money, but is often worth it. As entrepreneurs and business people, it behooves us all find and adopt changes which can improve our startup. Marty Zwilling.

Internet 224

Internet SEM Wiki Entrepreneur 224

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs look for that one magic bullet -- an exciting new technology, perhaps, or their own determination to make the world a better place -- to override any shortcomings in their startup model. Such failures ignore the essential business elements investors look for before committing to a startup.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Technical Review Distribution Viral 120