Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

We funded one in 2005 and lost a lot of money. Sure, our revenue is growing, but is that enough to raise an internal round? Dilution / valuation. I hate when companies publish too much information about the total stock option allocations, the company valuations, the dilution faced in every round, etc. Sorry, brah.”

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 23, 2012

After I sold Smart Bear, that division has increased revenue and profit every year, for five years, even through the 2008/2009 economic disaster. And the same thing happened after we sold IT WatchDogs in 2005. GroupOn’s engine that turned capital into revenue growth was a form of force-feeding rather than building a product).

IPO 240

IPO Flash Bootstrapping Private Equity 240

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

Many companies that are raising B or C venture capital rounds right now raised their initial money in 2005-2008. Talk openly about valuation and what they’ll accept so you know what you’re dealing with. If you want to raise venture capital more easily the advice could be quite practical and counter-intuitive. It is 2010.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Pre-Money Valuation 289

Software By Rob

JANUARY 8, 2019

And to do this without the headache of traditional fundraising, loss of control, or the pressure to build a unicorn ($1B valuation) or even raise another round of funding. We don’t have a maximum revenue cut-off, but if you’re generating $150k in annual revenue then you’re probably able to make things work on your own.

Early Stage 46

Early Stage Valuation Seed Capital Revenue 46

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 28, 2011

Convergent streams The most effective marketing strategy not only focuses on a core market and differentiators, it also finds ways to build multiple streams of recurring revenue. The deal ends this Saturday April 30. Note: There have been some updates since I published th. 5 Practical Tips for Gett. : 5 Steps to Successful Fac.

Marketing 69

Marketing Valuation Differentiation Lead Generation 69

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Yes, it’s true that FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving some irrational behavior and valuations amongst uber competitive deals and well-financed VCs. LP contributions to VC firms shrunk from 2000 and by 2005-2008 had stabilized to around $30 billion per year. 2012 virtual good revenue is expected to top $12 billion this year.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

You probably thought that valuations would be roughly the same as they were the last time you raised money. Perhaps you are caught in the “Series A crunch” or perhaps you are a consumer company and expected that you would be valued on users rather than revenue like the last time. 3/31/2005: 22.8. But they most certainly are not.

Down Round 73

Down Round Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation 73

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 19, 2012

The data shows that there were over 150 such exits for US companies, up from around 100 per year in the previous peak in 2005-2007, whereas Europe has yet to exceed the 40 or so deals at this level we were seeing at that time. One of our slides today showed VC exits over $100 million since 1996, split between the US and Europe.

LP 97

LP Europe Portfolio Private Equity 97

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

There are two reasons to raise money: You have a killer idea that is only partially validated, that you think can get to $50M+ of revenue in 5 years with 80%+ gross margins (if margins are lower, you need a lot more revenue)and you need money to get to product-market fit, or. Not all startups need outside investment to grow.

Cofounder 433

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 433

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

You probably thought that valuations would be roughly the same as they were the last time you raised money. Perhaps you are caught in the “Series A crunch” or perhaps you are a consumer company and expected that you would be valued on users rather than revenue like the last time. 3/31/2005: 22.8 But they most certainly are not.

Marketing 36

Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation Down Round 36

Bryce Dot VC

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

What that meant is that six companies a year could achieve a hundred million in revenue or a billion in valuation. Back in 2005 we started a venture firm called OATV, O’Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures, myself, my partner Tim O’Reilly, and my partner Mark Jacobson. I think that’s dangerous. or someone else. So we have.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Valuation Los Angeles Chicago 40

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

Friendster’s valuation set the tone for the entire social networking space. we had no revenue. As a result, we knew that our pitch would need to steer into investors’ biggest concern: the lack of revenue. And remember, LinkedIn was a consumer internet play with moderate consumer traction and without a dime of revenue.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Viral Revenue Networking 111

Altgate

DECEMBER 11, 2008

@altgate Startups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between Skip to content Home Furqan Nazeeri (fn@altgate.com) ← Great Startup Event In Boston A Squeeze On Boston Venture Valuations → White Collar Crime Spree Posted on December 11, 2008 by fnazeeri What is going on with the rash of “white collar&# crime? Bernie Madoff.

SEC 28

SEC Boston Nashville Illinois 28

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

But of course, the model had us requiring only $10M equity to breakeven and to achieve $185M in revenues in 2008 (the magic Year 5 in all business plans). In looking back at the old financials, at the end of Q2 2005, our cash balance was a whopping $546. offering to invest $75K if we could find another $250K by September 30, 2005.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

Altgate

MARCH 8, 2009

Growth stage investors are usually the Series B or C investors who come in when the product is in the market but there is little or no revenue and the team is probably in the 20-something range with the goal to ramp it up to 40-50 employees with the new money, build out a sales team, etc. Also, the $1.5

Later Stage 34

Later Stage Early Stage Venture Capital Portfolio 34

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

November 2005 Venture funding works like gears. There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. Another concept we need to introduce now is valuation. I say "in theory" because in early stageinvesting, valuations are voodoo. As a company gets more established,its valuation gets closer to an actual market value.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

March 2005 (This essay is derived from a talk at the Harvard ComputerSociety.) If you give an investor new shares equal to 5% ofthose already outstanding in return for $100,000, then youve donethe deal at a pre-money valuation of $2 million. A rich companyis one with large revenues. This money isnt revenue.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

www.currentlyobsessed.com

MAY 28, 2010

Valuation is an important aspect of VC deal terms, and a major determinant of your ultimate outcome. I unexpectedly found that it was more helpful to think about the company valuation as an output variable in the fund-raising equation. The net effect was more money raised, higher valuation and the same percentage of equity sold.

Valuation 42

Valuation Channel Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 42

Software By Rob

AUGUST 18, 2010

The only thing that seemed to be consistent about my growth was that my revenue was relatively flat while my user base kept growing. This turned out to be a good move since it doubled their revenue that month. He has a great stats page that shows everything from monthly revenue to the breakdown of users by plan type.

Software Review 78

Software Review Software Revenue Cofounder 78

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Valuations were enormous relative to progress in companies. Companies with less than $2 million in revenue were asking for $50-60 million valuations and getting them. I spent my days meeting companies, figuring out what areas of the market interested me and trying to get a sense for how VCs thought about fair valuations.

Stock 305

Stock Technical Review Marketing Greece 305

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

I believe the massive valuation increases in cryptocurrencies we’ve witnessed of late are not based on any fundamentals other than speculation and a drive for a quick profit by many who have gained from the market hype. Why would pouring hundreds of millions into even earlier stage startups with even less or no oversight be a good idea?

Government 280

Government Distribution Stock United States 280

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

(there’s a great story from Jonah in the video but you have to watch to hear it :)) But it’s undeniable that it has become a digital media powerhouse having raised around $500 million in capital with a valuation reported at $1.7 billion and revenues likely exceeding $250 million (Wikipedia lists 2015 revenue at $167 million).

Media 210

Media Los Angeles Russia Viral 210