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

MAY 22, 2020

If the company has been around for more than a couple of years, and still has no product or revenue flow, there better be a good explanation. Look for examples of similar companies and revenue multiples achieved from acquirers. When did this effort really start, including pivots? How much and when can I reasonably expect a payback?

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2020

When it occurs, the consequences can be swift and devastating, wreaking potential havoc on a once steady stream of revenue. More than revenue, a client account is a window into the competition, providing valuable insight that can strengthen internal processes and methods of communication. Work to win them back.

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Customer Development Team Review Advisory Board Private Equity 347

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

For example, Mark McClain, cofounder and CEO of SailPoint Technologies , created an employee growth culture resulting in growth of forty percent a year, with more than $100 million in revenues. The company has since gone public, and is still a market leader. Plan a long-term strategy, and avoid crisis moves.

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Technical Review Technical Cofounder Advisory Board Cofounder 400

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. Think of these alternatives as paying interest on a loan, and manage them wisely. Be a miser with contract services and facilities.

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Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t attempt to scale it until you have a proven repeatable business model that predictably generates revenue.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

Short-term earnings per share may be low, even as revenues and cash burned are high. In many cases, growing the ecosystem is so important that your best competitive move may be to invest in facilitating “competition,” such as Tesla Motors giving away their battery patents to other auto providers, without royalties, to build the ecosystem.

Software Review 355

Software Review Algorithm Global IPO 355

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold. Every young entrepreneur needs an experienced partner for credibility with investors, and as a trusted cohort for strategy and growth discussions. Member of the Advisory Board.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2020

Recurring revenue is the foundation for growth. Investors love this and other recurring revenue models because they facilitate growth through scaling. Markets change rapidly these days, so the strategy that brought you success the first time, may lead to your demise the second time.

Technical Review 324

Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence Business Model 324

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2020

Even good social causes need to bring in revenue to continue their worthy efforts. All your friends may love your idea on how to find the nearest bar or gym, but how many people are willing and able to pay money for your solution? Ask domain experts to quantify value for you. Choose projects with financial resources within your reach.

Technical Review 434

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Internet 434

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Experiments on today’s revenue engine necessarily focus on short-term financial goals. The trick is not to sweep everything aside, but to balance relevant aspects of now while making room for what is new. Sponsor experiments and measure like new investments.

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Framework Engineer Leadership Revenue 402

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

Yet don’t assume that any of these will override the basic need of every business to be self-sustaining via revenue to meet expenses over time. A single bad or inconsistent experience will jeopardize their brand loyalty, and a history of positives will generate real “value” that rises above cost and other decision criteria.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Opportunity and revenue projections based on deep market and customer analysis are a smarter risk. Providing everything free, and growing users to the max for years, like Twitter and Facebook, is a high risk approach requiring deep pockets.

Forecast 304

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 304

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Before you bring on partners, develop intellectual property, raise capital, or generate revenues, you need to establish an official business entity. Minimum viable products (MVPs) are recommended for validating the market, with iterative enhancement to quickly meet market feedback.

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Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2022

MySpace, for example, boomed after launch for five years without a revenue model. When their deep pockets went empty, Facebook stepped in, but demanded revenue from ads. This simply means you need to be sensitive to costs, revenue projections, and a timeline, such that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Revenue 297

Revenue Widget Angel Investor Early Stage 297

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

Your revenue plans are no longer valid. What’s your monthly cash burn at your new low revenue level? The CEO should dial through as many of the largest existing customers to get a firsthand understanding of the magnitude of any revenue shortfall. The ripple effects won’t be obvious at first. External Assessment.

South Korea 334

South Korea Salary Business Model China 334

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2021

Many startups see initial revenue from customers, and love the fast growth, but fail to anticipate the cost of early vendor payments, monthly overhead costs, and later taxes. Thinking you are profitable once money begins to flow in. Considering the job done once a client has been invoiced.

Technical Review 379

Technical Review Finance Startup Salary 379

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2022

One 11-year study of over 200 companies over a decade ago, detailed in the book “ Corporate Culture and Performance ,” found that those working on their culture improved revenue by 516%, and increased net income by 755%. Building an ethical business is more than just compliance and meeting legal requirements, and it has big paybacks.

Software Review 291

Software Review Offshore Entrepreneur Leadership 291

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

You need a stable customer base with an automatically renewing revenue stream, such as the subscription model. Strive to make real customers your best advocates for the initial rollout. Minimize one-time sales in your business model.

Merger 386

Merger Acquisition Software Review Social Media 386

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

For the rest of us, here is my prioritized list of key strategies that I believe every business leader can benefit from as a starting point in making the current inflation economy less of a negative impact on their business, or maybe even a pleasantly surprising positive: Solicit follow-on revenue from existing customers.

Technical Review 239

Technical Review Revenue Social Media Cost 239

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

For example, I commonly see metrics to keep track of revenue per employee, overtime, and absenteeism, but I don’t often see measures of overall customer satisfaction with individual employees. Yet, as a business consultant, I often find minimal focus on improving employee engagement and assessing their customer-facing performance.

Customer 369

Customer Technical Review Metrics Employee 369

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Business agility is simply to ability and intent to make small changes, on a daily basis, to penetrate new markets, add new revenue streams, reduce costs, and prune out products that are no longer carrying their weight. Managing an agile business means managing change, not solidifying a status quo.

Agile 379

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 379

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2021

Some startups not only ignore this and don’t budget for it, but they actually plan on the free viral marketing to generate enough revenue from click-through advertising to fund operations and future growth. That’s a double death wish.

Viral 348

Viral Marketing SEM Campaign 348

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

If you can convince investors that your startup will generate a solid revenue stream, and the market won’t go away any time soon, they may see an opportunity for an ever larger return. The buyer has the challenge of scaling the business, and managing all the operational growth requirements. You can kick-off your next startup.

Exit Strategy 376

Exit Strategy Startup Private Equity Equity 376

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Should SaaS companies trade at a 24x Enterprise Value (EV) to Next Twelve Month (NTM) Revenue multiple as they did in November 2021? We drew this conclusion after a meeting we had with Morgan Stanley where they showed us historical 15 & 20 year valuation trends and we all discussed what we thought this meant.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2023

Even though many of these challenges may seem obvious to you, I still see them often overlooked by aggressive business leaders, resulting in a large percentage of expensive new initiatives that fall well short of growth and revenue expectations. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 05/11/2023

Product 354

Product Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Dividend 354

VC Cafe

MARCH 1, 2024

Digital Wallets – Digital wallets could grow select vertical software platforms’ revenues to $27-$50bn in 2030. Generalizable robotics represent a $24 trillion-plus global revenue opportunity. Reusable Rockets – Satellite connectivity revenues could exceed $130bn per year in 2030. trillion by 2030.

Artificial Inteligence 176

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Generative AI 176

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

With the best solutions, the customer gets value which exceeds your revenue. Too many entrepreneurs, especially ones with work-at-home schemes and multi-level marketing, believe that someone has to lose to help them win. Like many salespeople, they see themselves as hunters. You are not the servant of your customer.

Sales 348

Sales Startup Bootstrapping Technical Review 348

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

A recurring expense was turned into a recurring revenue. A few years ago, Safeway and other big retailers struggled with the growing problem of plastic bag cost and pollution, before realizing they could actually sell reusable cloth bags to customers, as a win to all. Openly acknowledge current challenges in your business.

Social Media 330

Social Media Entrepreneur Revenue Internet 330

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? To reduce the impact of dilution, the expectation is that startup valuation should more or less double between the pre-seed to the seed, and seed to series A (ideally backed by reasonable traction/ revenue multiples). A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”?

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Price-to-Sales (P/S) Ratio The price-to-sales (P/S) ratio measures the market cap relative to a protocol’s revenue, similar to traditional finance metrics. This metric is especially useful for DeFi projects generating revenue through transaction fees.

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Metrics Valuation API Distribution 144

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

The post 7 Tips To Build A 7-Figure Revenue Startup appeared first on Young Upstarts. Leah Wise shares seven tips that can help put startup founders on the pathway to wealth and long-term success.

Revenue 242

Revenue Startup Founder Entrepreneur 242

YoungUpstarts

JULY 19, 2022

The post How To Properly Manage Your Hospice Billing And Revenue appeared first on Young Upstarts. A well-functioning RCM can mean the difference between a thriving hospice and one that is struggling to make ends meet.

Revenue 246

Revenue Management 246

YoungUpstarts

JULY 14, 2022

Looking to boost your revenue as a SaaS startup? The post 5 Ways To Boost Your SaaS Startup’s Revenue appeared first on Young Upstarts. Adopt various strategies in your operations to grow your business.

Revenue 242

Revenue Operations Startup Marketing 242

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2023

Recurring revenue is the foundation for growth. Investors love this and other recurring revenue models because they facilitate growth through scaling. Markets change rapidly these days, so the strategy that brought you success the first time, may lead to your demise the second time.

Technical Review 229

Technical Review Due Diligence Business Model Demand 229

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2022

In addition, research shows that companies that fail to align their marketing and sales departments have less ROI, and lose 10% or more of their revenues per year. Here there is no substitute for independent analysis from experts outside the organizations involved. Buyer behavior is difficult to predict and quantify.

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Acquisition Cost Customer Sales Cycle 250

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

The most successful venture studios are founded by entrepreneurs that have previously built companies with $10+M in revenue and had 100+ employees. While there are no hard-and-fast rules, I advise entrepreneurs to ask these four questions: Is the studio run by a former founder and does it have former founders as full-time employees?

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Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368