Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. Here are some key points to consider in finding one for you: Look for accredited angels and groups rather than individuals.

Angel Investor 322

Angel Investor Valuation Syndicate Syndication 322

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 forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. In my view, savvy “super angel” investors such as Mike Maples, Jr. ,

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? 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? A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”?

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Things will cost more than you expect. Always add 20 percent to your best estimate of funding requirements when approaching investors. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Buffer your projected resource requirements.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

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. Don’t count on finding investors willing to support growth alone on your new startup. MySpace wasn’t ready for this, and it soon faded.

Revenue 297

Revenue Widget Angel Investor Early Stage 297

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Join a startup incubator.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 11, 2021

In my 15+ years as a startup founder, investor, and advisor — and now in my role as CEO of a bookkeeping and accounting startup — I’ve come across countless businesses whose accounts aren’t accurate or GAAP-compliant because they’re making the same four mistakes: Relying on spreadsheets to track their revenue and expenses.

Small Business 208

Small Business Startup Cofounder Vertical 208

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Excuse the typos and cleanup -- I’ve been too busy to finalize.”

Business Plan 273

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Social Media 273

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

What most managers miss is that every month cut from the time it takes to perform such tasks cuts the cost by the value of a month’s worth of fixed overhead or burn. How about young or pre-revenue companies? Lots of good jobs were lost and many investors including me were left with the question. first appeared on BERKONOMICS.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 17, 2020

Many companies seek angel investors, venture capital and even family and friends’ money when they’re planning to start a company. an entrepreneur should have about 6 months worth of fixed costs on hand at the beginning. Financial intelligence is important to anyone starting a company. office space, legal fees, payroll, etc.)

Finance 217

Finance Forecast Balance Sheet Angel Investor 217

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Join a startup incubator.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Things will cost more than you expect. Always add 20 percent to your best estimate of funding requirements when approaching investors. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Buffer your projected resource requirements.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. In my view, savvy “super angel” investors such as Mike Maples, Jr. ,

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Join a startup incubator.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Excuse the typos and cleanup -- I’ve been too busy to finalize.”

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Angel Investor Business Plan Social Media 310

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

The cost of rolling out a business has never been lower – it only takes a few hundred dollars to incorporate a Limited Liability Corp (LLC) online, create your own website, use social media to get attention, and you are in business. In the early Internet days, it would cost a million dollars to get this far.

Technical Cofounder 184

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Most of these investors are members of Angel groups that have a rigorous filtering and screening process, to select the top 3% and most fundable proposals. Build an investor presentation and summary.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Jason looks at the issues around "sunk cost." Great stuff.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

YoungUpstarts

JULY 6, 2017

No business owner should enter into an agreement with an investor before learning about the terms they offer and their reputation. ANGEL INVESTOR : These are individuals who offer capital to startups in exchange for equity, partial ownership or convertible debt. SYNDICATES : Syndicates are single-purpose investment funds.

Syndicate 127

Syndicate Syndication Software Review Angel Investor 127

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Things will cost more than you expect. Always add 20 percent to your best estimate of funding requirements when approaching investors. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Buffer your projected resource requirements.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

That means there are far more entrepreneurs looking for money than there are investors, and entrepreneur entitlement is not a realistic expectation. Angel investors look for prior domain and startup experience. This requires a visible focus on the company’s revenue model, the costs to get there, and cash on hand.

Angel Investor 269

Angel Investor Cram Down Intellectual Property Venture Capital 269

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

As a former angel investor, I look for this level of alignment and understanding in every funding presentation I hear. Every business needs revenue to provide investor returns and offset costs. Free” is not an attractive revenue model to investors. It shows you how everyone works in synergy.

Business Model 334

Business Model Intellectual Property Angel Investor Channel 334

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2019

Too many startups have experienced early financial losses and technical glitches, like Uber and the Zynga IPO a while back, which antagonized individual investors and startup executives as well. In addition, most ordinary investors are convinced that IPO rewards only go to insiders. Going public is an expensive process.

IPO 210

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 210

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. In my view, savvy “super angel” investors such as Mike Maples, Jr., Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Angel Investor Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Traction means that you have achieved one or more significant milestones, which will give you credibility with investors. Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. Get a real customer and real revenue. Only real results count.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. In my view, savvy “super angel” investors such as Mike Maples, Jr. ,

Startup 161

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 161

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

As an angel investor, what I’m looking for is key data from your business plan, including financial projections, how much money you are looking for and a quantification of my potential return. Skip the fuzzy marketing terms, such as "easier to use," "lower cost" and "disruptive technology."

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2015

As an angel investor, I certainly see continuing evidence that this phenomenon hasn’t changed much in the past couple of decades. Technologists forget that investors are buying a chunk of the business, not the product. Investors want proof of a business model and real customer revenue, as well as a product.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Startup Angel Investor Social Media 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Build a prototype product.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Up and Running

MARCH 14, 2018

I know what it’s like to pitch to investors—both angels and venture capitalists. I’ve raised close to $1 million from angel investors for my previous technology startups. Sometimes you only get 10 minutes to pitch your business opportunity to the investors (or less in some cases). Your revenue or business model.

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Angel Investor 164

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

It won’t work, it costs time and money, and hurts your credibility when you need them later. They are not trying to make money, but simply to recoup their costs over time. Separately at this stage, you may look for small funding amounts from angel investors , called seed investments.

Incubator 305

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 305

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2012

ABC Shark Tank Angels via Elite Daily. Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Build an investor presentation and summary. Like the business plan, a financial model is required as much for your own use as to impress Angel investors.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 179

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Unless you are bootstrapping everything, you need to have a clear plan on what networking and documents are required to get to friends and family, Angel investors, and institutional investors. Billing and revenue collection. Here is another often overlooked area of process that kills many startups, both in cost and time.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Build a prototype product.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249